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Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)

Victoria Aveyard

Start date: May 1, 2021

Finish date: May 31, 2021

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Discussion leader: Leigh

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What Members Thought

Jul 02, 2014 Renuka rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, dystopia, adventure, romance, action, paranormal, magic, e-book, cliff-hangers

Actual Rating: 3.5

I say well done Ms. Aveyard, I really enjoyed that!! The ending was pretty fabulous, and I loved the changes in Mare's character. However, it took me a little too long to really get into this book. Some of the world building didn't happen until midway through (Techies? Gray Town? The Capitol?). Still a fantastic debut though!! Review to come. ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Oct 16, 2014 Yzabel Ginsberg rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-supernatural, arc-netgalley, romance, dystopia, young-adult

(I got a copy from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

3 to 3.5 stars. I mostly enjoyed this book, but I wish some aspects had been more developed, and I can only hope they will be in the next installment. (Which I would gladly read.)

The weak points, first:

- In general, the ideas and world-building weren't too original. The novel is very close to many dystopian YA novels, with typical elements: class divide, a war, a group of rebels, the love triangle (square?)... In all fairness, had I ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jul 17, 2014 Lauren⁷ 💜 rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult-teen-new-adult, library-has-a-copy, fantasy-science-fiction

The powers of the X-Men. The politics of Game Of Thrones. The far flung futuristic world of the Hunger Games. They all combine in this book. And how do they all combine? Very well! I will admit that it took me some time to get into this book, but once I did, did I ever! I was thoroughly impressed by this book and that's no small feat. I'm seldom super impressed by the books that I read, that's not to say that they're bad or that I hate them, they're not and I don't, but they don't impress me. So ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 02, 2015 Angie Taylor rated it really liked it

I liked this story, I really did. But I didn't love it. I think it was because the storyline felt a little too similar to a combination of a bunch of stories like: The Hunger Games, Through The Never Sky, An Ember in The Ashes, etc. I loved those stories because they were so original and stood on their own. But the Red Queen felt like a tweaked story of other good books. The writing was good enough. But I felt like the details were rushed at times and I wasn't able to get an emotional picture of ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Aug 20, 2014 Monica Millard rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kick-butt-chic, character-love, cover-envy, own-paper, anticpating, heavy, sci-fi, dystopian, fantasy, cover-love

I like Red Queen, but I had such high expectations that I was a little let down. I could see the betrayal coming from the very beginning and it was a let down to be right. Hopefully the next in the series will make up for it.

3 likes · Like · see review

Aug 02, 2014 Stormi (StormReads) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, winter-coyer-2014-15

I was really hoping to be wowed by this one because a lot of bloggers I know really enjoyed it but it just didn't hit the mark.

Mare is a Red which means that she has red blood. Those that rule are Silver and they have silver blood. If your lucky and get an apprenticeship and learn a trade then you don't have to go into the army and go to war. The war is a never ending war that just really kills Reds because they are the ones with their lives on the line. Mare is head towards Conscription which I was really hoping to be wowed by this one because a lot of bloggers I know really enjoyed it but it just didn't hit the mark.

Mare is a Red which means that she has red blood. Those that rule are Silver and they have silver blood. If your lucky and get an apprenticeship and learn a trade then you don't have to go into the army and go to war. The war is a never ending war that just really kills Reds because they are the ones with their lives on the line. Mare is head towards Conscription which means she doesn't have an apprenticeship. Her friend Kilorn had a job but lost it and is now heading towards the front line.

Mare wants to fix things if she can get enough money rounded up to save Kilorn and herself everything would be fine. But a serious of events due to things that she does sets her life in a different direction. She finds herself working at the Hall and while their discovers that she is not like any other Red, she has Silver abilities.

The King and Queen think they can use her to help further their cause against Reds and the Scarlet Guards.

It's a wicked game they are all playing and no one is to be trusted. Mare finds this out the hard way. Mare is a decent character she is tough, and a bit sassy. Some times that gets her into a bit of trouble.

Not sure what type of love triangle this was starting out to be but I was beginning to think she was going to fall for every guy she met. Kilorn, Cal, Maven I could never really tell which one of those I might have liked by the end I think I might have figured it out..lol.

The story ran a little slow for me up until about the last 20% or so and then that is where all the good action, etc is. It is that last part that put my rating up .5 instead of a straight 3 star. I was really getting a bit bored with the story and it reminded me a little too much of Pawn by Aimee Carter. I know some others make references to Selections but I haven't read that one. But because it reminded me so much of Pawn I couldn't get into the story as much as I hoped too.

The part I really enjoyed about the story is the Silver abilities and Mares ability. It's like they are super human and I found that interesting. The writing is decent and I think it was a good attempt at a debut novel. It ends leaving you wanting to know what will happen next and even though I wasn't wowed I will probably try the next book to see what happens.

If your into Dystopian fantasy type novels then you might like this one.

On my blog it got a 3.5 rating. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

May 01, 2015 Stephanie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

Anyone can betray anyone. What a phrase and what story. While Red Queen is not reinventing the wheel when it comes to medieval fantasy, the story told here was well done and entertaining. The characters could certainly do with some development, but for the most part I was with Mare Barrow as she struggled to fit in with this fantastical world she finds herself in. I listened to this on audiobook across several days and the performance was outstanding. Overall well done, I look forward to the nex ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 13, 2016 Dannell rated it liked it

Definitely not a lot new going on in this series, love triangle, fierce struggles against authority/poverty/'the man', unknown powers that occur by accident; however, with all the usual things going on this novel still felt fresh. I really liked the characters, even when they were making poor choices for the greater good. I hope that in subsequent novels we get to see more of Farley and learn more of her story as well as learning about Shade and how his powers developed. ...more

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