From the Bookshelf of What's the Name of That Book???…

Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)

Victoria Aveyard

Why we're reading this: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com …more
[close] https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Apr 11, 2015 Nadine in NY Jones rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy-and-sci-fi, everyone-loved-it-except-me, dystopian-and-post-apocalyptic

“Say nothing. Hear nothing. Speak to no one, for they will not speak to you.”

This. Was. So. Bad.

First person present tense!! Smirking anti-hero!!! Tell-don't-show!!!!! Continuous info-dump!!!!!! It's the Quadfecta of Badness!!!!!!!! I pledged to myself to give it 90 pages to get better.

So here's a thought experiment: what if the oppressors in the Hunger Games were X-men, who had powers similar to the characters in Percy Jackson? What if these X-men held their own gladiator contests among th ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Oct 08, 2014 Emma rated it it was ok

Life as a Red in Norta is not easy. Reds are normal in every way--forced into poverty and manual labor while Silvers, the silver-blooded elite with nearly inconceivable abilities, rule the land. Mare Barrow doesn't like anything about the Silvers but she understands that they are unstoppable; impossible to fight.

But Mare is also almost eighteen and with no job prospects beyond petty theft in her future, she knows that she will be drafted into the military soon to fight in the decades long war ag Life as a Red in Norta is not easy. Reds are normal in every way--forced into poverty and manual labor while Silvers, the silver-blooded elite with nearly inconceivable abilities, rule the land. Mare Barrow doesn't like anything about the Silvers but she understands that they are unstoppable; impossible to fight.

But Mare is also almost eighteen and with no job prospects beyond petty theft in her future, she knows that she will be drafted into the military soon to fight in the decades long war against the Lakelanders. The same thing happened to all of her brothers before her.

Mare is resigned to her fate until one false step reveals that Mare, like the Silvers, has a shocking ability never before seen in a Red. Suddenly Mare is drawn into the middle of Norta's class warfare disguised as a long-lost Silver princess. While rebellion brews and the Silver king tries to keep the unhappy masses in check, Mare will have to balance the dazzling luxury of the Silver world with everything she holds dear and everything she is willing to sacrifice for freedom for herself and her people in Red Queen (2015) by Victoria Aveyard.

Red Queen is Aveyard's debut novel. It is also the first book in her Red Queen trilogy.

Red Queen is being marketed as Graceling meets The Selection which in many ways is very true as this book includes special abilities and romance at court. It is, however, much darker in tone than The Selection with a much stronger focus on rebellion and revolution. For that reason The Hunger Games is a comparison that makes a bit more sense.

Obviously, Red Queen has quite a few similarities to other fantasy titles. It also, however, has a very unique world as conceived by Aveyard. The dichotomy between Reds and Silvers is explained well and takes the story in interesting directions as she walks the line between Red and Silver throughout the story. Unfortunately the division between Reds and Silvers remains very one dimensional for most of the story as Silvers are generally seen as ruthless and calculating while Reds are oppressed and exploited. Both are true but it felt heavy-handed to say that every Silver would follow these sames ideals and ways of thinking despite class divisions among the elite.

Mare is a frank narrator but she is also often reckless to the point of harming herself and those she cares about. Her motivations throughout the story--when she chooses to join the Red rebellion or during her rather fuzzy love triangle--are murky at best. Readers learn early on why Mare wants to fight the Silvers, why she is drawn to the person who holds her affections, but it never feels quite sincere enough or believable enough to justify the risks Mare takes.

The pacing in Red Queen is not perfect either. Scenes of lavish court balls and machinations alternate with high action fights or training sequences that make the middle part of the novel choppy. The narrative loses all sense of urgency as Mare moves between learning basics of Silver protocol and planning acts of rebellion in an often aimless manner.

Red Queen is a strong debut both for Aveyard and for this trilogy. While not ideal for readers who like their fantasies to have a lot of nuance, Red Queen is ideal for anyone seeking the next big action-packed series that is sure to have everyone talking.

Possible Pairings: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, The Selection by Kiera Cass, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Legend by Marie Lu, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 07, 2016 Kate rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: age-ya, audiobooks, fantasy, 2016

An interesting twist on the Cinderella tale with a race war. Mare is a Red - one of the poor, working class. Not gifted intellectually, she faces conscription - forced to be a soldier in a long-running war, alongside her older brothers. Her sister, on the other hand, works in the palace for the Silvers - the elite race. Silvers have silver blood as well as superpowers, which they use to suppress the Reds. When Mare's friend Killorn loses his apprenticeship and faces conscription, Mare decides to An interesting twist on the Cinderella tale with a race war. Mare is a Red - one of the poor, working class. Not gifted intellectually, she faces conscription - forced to be a soldier in a long-running war, alongside her older brothers. Her sister, on the other hand, works in the palace for the Silvers - the elite race. Silvers have silver blood as well as superpowers, which they use to suppress the Reds. When Mare's friend Killorn loses his apprenticeship and faces conscription, Mare decides to break into the palace to steal enough money for him to run away, along with her sister's help. But things don't go as planned, leading to Mare ending up as a servant in the palace and discovering that somehow, impossibly, she has superpowers too. Now she is forced to play the part of a Silver princess, engaged to Prince Maven, the younger of the two princes. Mare has feelings for the elder prince Cal, but she's growing to like Maven as well. Add to the mix a terrorist/rebel group called the Scarlet Guard.

This book had echoes of so many recent stories. The protagonist who believes herself totally ordinary, even sub-par, until she discovers that somehow she is "special." (Think Divergent). The love triangle. The issues of race without actually having characters of different races (how much harder would this have hit home if it had been a "white" race and a "black" race?). In this case race was determined by the color of the blood rather than the color of the skin, but it isn't a far jump. The "special" girl who becomes the face of a rebellion, and televised stadium fights to the death (Think The Hunger Games). And the Cinderella-esque aspect of the poor girl who becomes a princess. There's even an evil stepmother. I even had a moment toward the end where I thought this could have been the story of Thor and Loki (the Marvel Cinematic Universe versions, anyway).

However, I like all the stories this reminded me of, and there was enough difference and a nice fast pace and interesting characters. After all, there are no original stories left to tell, right? The action pushed right up till the end, and while there wasn't a "cliffhanger" per se, it was enough that I need to read the next book very, very soon. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 25, 2017 Kate rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: age-ya, fantasy, signed-copies, 2016

For my thoughts on the story, please see my review of the audiobook edition.

I was so excited to meet Victoria Aveyard at the Boston Teen Author Festival this year, she was lovely! Unfortunately I missed her panels but the festival as a whole was great and much more organized that the last time I attended. I can't wait for next year! ...more

Like · see review

Dec 31, 2018 Kate Wutz rated it liked it · review of another edition

If I have to read the words “little lightning girl” again, my mind might break. That aside, this book/series would be fun fun for fans of Red Rising, The Selection and Hunger Games.

Like · see review