Rating - ⭐⭐⭐
"This is a world divided by blood—red or silver. The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. That is until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace.
Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power. Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince.
Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime. But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance—Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart."
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is the first installment in the YA fantasy series of the same name.
I originally gave this book 3-stars and writing this review months later, I honestly don't know why I gave it that high of a rating. The downfall of this book was the characters (and the romance).
Mare was impulsive and in way over her head. She should have listened to Julian who was a godsend because this guy knew what was up. He would constantly warn her about things (which she ignored), and went things went wrong, she was completely caught off guard. He deserved a student way better than someone who doesn't listen to a single thing he says and someone who even tried to manipulate him to help her.
Her character can be easily summed up by this quote - "But now I know you're not different, not anymore. You're just the same as all the rest. Heartless, selfish, cold- just like us. They taught you well."
To make things worse, we have the romance. There was no evidence for attraction, ZERO, so when romancing happens I don't believe it. This was made worse by throwing in a love triangle because a love triangle never makes things better. It felt like one of those romances where the feelings occur off-page because their attraction sure came from nowhere. I don't want to assume that they became attracted to each other at points that happened outside of the book, I want to evidence of it written in the story because otherwise, it just feels fake.
The best thing about the book was Maven. Out of everyone, he had the best story arc and best character dynamics. His story was by far the best thing that happened in this.
All in all, will definitely not be reading the rest of the series especially when I can barely remember the book.
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