From the Bookshelf of Baltimore County Public Library Summer Reading BCPL SRC …

Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)

Victoria Aveyard

Start date: July 1, 2015

Finish date: July 18, 2015

Discussion: 2015 Summer Reading

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2015 Summer Reading

Maze Runner-Movie vs. Novel
By Jaquelin · 4 posts · 29 views

last updated Feb 08, 2016 01:51PM

WHY??
By Jaquelin · 5 posts · 59 views

last updated Aug 15, 2015 12:11PM

What Members Thought

Sep 27, 2023 Josiane Claremont rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: e-copies, not-manga, actiony, e-s-p, ya-f

Not at all what I was expecting; I certainly wasn't prepared for an action-packed ride through this totally awesome young adult fantasy adventure! The way I describe it is Hunger Games meets Shadow and Bone is like version of Throne of Glass where the Red Rising caste system exists. Lots of name-drops, but I'm thoroughly swept away!

The Reds live only to serve the gifted and powerful Silvers, who all hold some sort of ability from superstrength to plant growth. A kingdom at war may deploy their S Not at all what I was expecting; I certainly wasn't prepared for an action-packed ride through this totally awesome young adult fantasy adventure! The way I describe it is Hunger Games meets Shadow and Bone is like version of Throne of Glass where the Red Rising caste system exists. Lots of name-drops, but I'm thoroughly swept away!

The Reds live only to serve the gifted and powerful Silvers, who all hold some sort of ability from superstrength to plant growth. A kingdom at war may deploy their Silver children to gain experience on the front lines, but only unemployed Reds are conscripted and forced to fight to death. Mare Barrow is a local thief just weeks away from conscription, when by chance she is chosen to work as a servant for the Silvers. Unexpectedly stumbling her way onto the stage of a new revolution, Mare learns the ways of the noble Silvers and discovers that that she's not just an ordinary Red. The terrorist organization the Scarlet Guard has been making moves in the Silver towns, and as the Reds rise, Mare has a limited time to decide if she should hide with the Silvers or bleed with the Reds.

One more reference I hesitate to make is how the arena-like fighting conditions is greatly reminiscent of Godsgrave: the fighters are prominent Silver warriors fighting for entertainment and a display of skill and power to the lowly Reds, and our main character inevitably ends up in close proximity to the arenas because plot armor. While I flashed through the book, in retrospect the motive for the creation and maintenance of these arenas and even just the entire Silver vs. Red culture flattens out significantly in my memory recall. There's enough details to get by and use the arenas and fights as plot devices, but what is the significance of the arenas in the "current" culture in the story? (view spoiler)

The story strikes a great balance between action and romance, in that we get enough romance to think "wow, this is juicy, gotta read on!" and enough action to not be completely bored by political movement and rebels and abilities etc. Hence the slight similarity to Throne of Glass; in addition to (view spoiler). The similarity to the Hunger Games is quite obviously (view spoiler)

The book really did catch my by surprise at how readable it is, so the first moment I could I grabbed the other books in the series and I'm dying to read on. ...more

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