Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (Jessica's Review)

Title: Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Hardcover, 382 Pages
Published February 2015 
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Read our interview with February Debut Spotlight Author Victoria Aveyard!
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Summary: 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 ofthose 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?

Victoria Aveyard was our February Debut Author Spotlight on the blog last month, and I finally was able to nab a copy of Red Queen to read. Just looking at all of the reviews on Goodreads (and I have found very few that are less than five stars) and through word of mouth with my friends, it seemed to me that everyone loved it.

Well, add me to the mix, too! Red Queen was so spectacular and awesome and different. It reminded me of a cross between The Selection series and some other series where everyone manifests certain powers by a certain age. (I KNOW the name of one of said series. I am just having the worst mind-block imaginable right now. So if you happen to know what I'm talking about, remind me in the comments down below!)

So like it said in the summary, the people with red blood are deemed worthless and are put as the lower, second-class citizens of this area ruled by a monarchy of silver-blooded people. Besides the color of their mutated special blood, silver-blooded people all have different kinds of powers. They can move metal, set fire, control water, shapeshift, disappear, etc. Tons of awesome stuff. All stuff that Reds can't do.

Until we meet Mare Barrow. She has the unfortunate luck of accidentally displaying her super awesome electricity powers in front of a whole crowd of Silvers.

There are two things wrong with this. One, none of them can create electricity from within like she can. Two, her blood is red. (If you're mentally sighing in pity for this poor girl, I definitely agree with you. If you aren't then you should be.)

I really, really loved this book. It was refreshing and different and just totally new. The fact that Mare was so different and defied all of the odds was awesome to read about as well. And Cal and Maven were both totally swoon-worthy, even when they were being complete idiots.

AND THAT PLOT TWIST. ***THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SPOILERS. SCROLL TO THE NEXT ONE TO AVOID THEM.*** Jesus, I knew that after Julian preached to Mare about how anybody could betray anybody, someone was going to stab her in the back. Really hard. But I NEVER in a million years suspected it to be Maven. I thought it was just going to be Cal after he refused to join the revolution and make his father step down from power. When that happened, I figured that was what the whole phrase meant. But after Maven made it clear that everything he said to Mare was a lie and he had just been setting her up to get what he wanted...well, shoot. I was so confused and angry and frustrated at him because GOSH DARN IT MAVEN I WAS JUST BEGINNING TO REALLY REALLY LIKE YOU. Victoria Aveyard is definitely the newly-crowned (heh, the irony) Queen of Plot Twists. That was a doozy, that one.

So yeah, I pretty much read this book nonstop after I stalked my library to make sure I was the first one to have it. And I couldn't put it down. I had a severe case of "one more chapter" syndrome with this one, and it was definitely worth it. I'm super bummed that I wasn't able to read Red Queen as an ARC but I'm still glad that I got to pick it up while it was still new.

And author Victoria Aveyard is a total sweetheart herself. Look at what she had to say about the relationship between the blogger and author communities!:

"I had little to no knowledge of the book blogging community before I found myself right in the middle of it and I have to say, everyone seems great. You guys really are the grassroots end of publishing, getting the word out and doing so much groundwork for books big and small. And when it comes to new authors like me who are just kind of running around like headless chickens, you guys are SAINTS. I personally feel so welcome and lucky to have this community all around me. Regardless of how people feel about anything I write, the blogging community are always professional, kind, and above all else, so dedicated. I'm constantly floored by the amount of work you put in, for nothing more than your love of books." -Victoria Aveyard

All in all, Red Queen was a spectacularly different novel about defying what man deems true and raising Hell until things are made right. (Even if you have a lot of Hell to raise.) Five out of five stars! Whether or not you're a fan of this sort of stuff, I encourage everyone to give this one a decent try. You won't be disappointed!

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