Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"In the fairy tales, the poor girl smiles when she becomes a princess. Right now, I don't know if I'll ever smile again."

Red Queen follows the story of Mare Borrow in a world where discrimination runs high. In this world, the reds and the silvers are at war, the silvers being in power. People are grouped by the color of their blood. The silvers have special, supernatural powers, while the reds are more like the traditional "humans." Mare is a red, living in difficult conditions. Her life changes when she unknowingly meets a silver who "saves" her by getting her a job at the palace. When Mare learns she is not like the reds and has qualities of the silvers, her life forever changes. She ends up in a royal war, like many queens do. However, she also finds herself in a war between two brothers who are lined up for the throne.

Overall, the idea for this book was interesting. I liked the whole "rags to princess" story with a twist. I liked the post-apocalyptic feel and the premise of the red and silver bloods. However, this book never really grabbed me. I had trouble finding an emotional connection to Mare, even though the story was told in first person. For this type of narration, I just felt very distant from the protagonist. I also was not super involved in the love story the author weaved. There wasn't really a deep connection built either way, and I had a hard time buying into the love triangle.

The last one hundred pages of the book definitely picked up. The plot was exciting and there were a lot of twists, which I did really like. I still was never fully invested in the main character. I hope that the sequel to this book picks up with the same pace as the ending of this book because then I think the series would get a higher rating from me. Overall, this is an okay young adult read, but it is lacking the emotion and connection I look for in this type of work.

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