Book Blog #160: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Title: Red Queen
Author: Victoria Aveyard
# of Pages: 383 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: 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?
Review: "'You want me to pin my entire operation, the entire revolution on some teenaged love story? I can't believe this.'"

Well, I sure can.

Based on the title and a quick glance over the synopsis on the back, I thought Red Queen would rival The Demon King. But a few pages in, I check a different online synopsis to find it being compared to the Graceling and The Selection. If you haven't reading either of this books, they're completely different. Despite the fact that I gave The Selection five stars (the same amount as Graceling), Graceling is in a completely different league than The Selection.

In hindsight, the online synopsis was fairly accurate. There are components from both books in Red Queen, and I would consider it better than The Selection (which is mis-rated) but not as good as the Graceling. Despite that lack of suspense and excitement throughout the plot (I found it very predictable), this book kept drawing me to it. I finished it in a reasonable amount of days, which may have been a result from the quality of the book, my YA deprivation these past months, or both.

I fell into the trap of believing in Maven. I saw the signs and recognized the foreshadowing, but I CHOSE to ignore all of it because I WANTED to believe he was good. With the three possible love interests (Cal, Maven, and Kilorn), I was rooting for Maven the most.

The revelation that he was evil didn't shock me but disappointed me. Mare probably knew it in the back of her mind too, but we both ignored the obvious.

Since its a YA book, I'm fully expecting her to end up with someone by the end of the series. However, I have no idea who she is going to be with. Maven is now out of the question; Cal, while appealing at the beginning of the book, isn't the best option either. Kilorn may be a good choice, but I don't feel as connected to him as other characters; I view him as the Gale of the series.

Mare isn't exactly that great of a person either. She has a hard time controlling her feelings (kissing two brothers in that small of a time span? C'mon!), and she's easily manipulated. Overall, not someone I look up to.

I would recommend this book (but not HIGHLY recommended).