Synopsis from Goodreads.com:
The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.
To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.
Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?
Dystopias! Dystopias everywhere!
Honestly, I should really stop reading dystopias. Some of them are starting to run together in my head and it’s getting a little confusing.
Red Queen is the first book in the latest dystopian trilogy and although it definitely has some stand out points, it’s really not that different from other dystopians I’ve read. And definitely not better.
If you’ve ever read The Selection series, Mare reminds me of America in The Elite. For those of you who’ve never read that series, this isn’t a good thing. Mare is rebellious, which is to be expected of the protagonist in a post apocalyptic world, but not in any way that’s constructive. She’s a Red thief who thinks poorly of all the Silvers but easily trusts people she shouldn’t.
She has little qualms about killing innocent people in the name of rebellion and her moral compass just seems to be haywire. She makes a lot of stupid and also careless mistakes and honestly I found it difficult to sympathize with her.
This being said I obviously wasn’t Mare’s biggest fan. Instead, however, I was a fan of Julian, Cal, Kilorn, Gisa, Shade, Mare’s parents, Evangeline, and almost every other character except Mare. If this story was told by a better protagonist I probably would’ve loved it. I loved all the twists and the crazy reveals. I liked that even though some things were really predictable there were a lot of things that also caught me off guard. More then anything, I like that I have no idea where this story is going to go. This trilogy is wide open and I can’t imagine what Victoria Aveyard is going to do next with it but I’m intrigued to know more.
It was hard to declare this book a borrow but Mare ruined it for me. Even so, overall I still liked it I just couldn’t love it.
Borrow or Buy: Borrow.
Favorite Line (SPOILER!):
I’ve been too busy trying to save others to notice how much Cal saves me. How much he loves me.
Stars:
Other Reviews
Zakiya N. Jamal 
You’re right, so many dystopia books out at the moment! This sounds interesting, but I think I’ll need to leave it until I’ve had a bit of a break from the genre.
http://libbycole.wordpress.com
Yeah it’s crazy how many there are and they keep coming.
This book was so unoriginal but I just couldn’t help but love it! I liked that Mare had to be callous and selfish to protect herself and the ones she loved. Great review 🙂
Thanks! I tried to sympathize with Mare because of her sucky situation but I just found her so infuriating. I’ll probably still read the next one though. Lol.
Haha yeah it’s one of those thing that you just WANT to know what happens next!
So true. That’s how they get you.
I kept thinking how similar this book was to The Hunger Games at first, down to the illegal activities with her childhood friend – but I actually really enjoyed the plot twist as you did. Great review 😀
Thank you! I could definitely see the similarities to The Hunger Games but I saw it as more similar to The Selection. Either way not that different from other dystopias.
I really disliked this book when I read it. I had a slew of reasons, but I never even realized how much I disliked Mare until you mentioned it just now. She’s such an awful protagonist! But did you also find that this book was SO SIMILAR to The Hunger Games? Is that just me?
You’re actually the second person to say it’s like The Hunger Games. I feel like I have to reread it and look for the similarities. It totally went over my head but I could see it. Especially with the sweet little sister aspect.
It was mostly the arena bit for me, and all the training that followed. It was very Hunger Games-esque.
True. I didn’t even think of that. Red Queen is like a mix of so many dystopian novels.