RED QUEEN by Victoria Aveyard [review]

Red Queen, the first book by debut author, Victoria Aveyard, is already one of my favourite books of the year. Just about everything was perfect: the pacing, the storyline, the characters, that frickin’ plot twist! (WARNING: Mild spoilers, nothing that will destroy the book for you).

That cover tho.

Set in a dystopian world, society is divided into two distinct castes- the low-born Reds and the elite, high-born Silvers, who just so happen to have a variety of amazing super powers.

If I had to compare this book to something else, I'd say that it's a good mix of Throne of Glass, Game of Thrones and X-Men. Sounds promising, right?

Well, Red Queen did not disappoint! 

Firstly, the protagonist, Mare Barrow, is extremely relatable despite her rather unfortunate circumstances. And while I don't possess the ability to shoot electricity out of my hands, I found that I was able to connect with her without really trying.

Now, I'm sure we've all heard of the overused cliché of love triangles. Now I'll admit that I did roll my eyes when I first heard that there was going to be one in this book, but upon reading I was pleasantly surprised! As soon as I met both of the love interests (well maybe not straight away for one of them) I didn't care that it was a love triangle- I was so excited to see where things were going to go.

Of course, as this is partly a dystopian novel, there were some political areas that were a mix of all of your favourite dystopian uprisings (I will say that this book contains some faint echoes of The Hunger Games, but not enough to make it seem like a copy) while presenting a twist of originality. I, for one, want to know more about those ruins of the old world! There wasn't an awful lot of that side of the book until near the end, and I think it's going to play a much larger role in books 2 and 3.

Overall, I rate Red Queen 4.5 out of 5 stars, but I'll let you be the judge. If you've read queen, comment what you think and I'd love to hear your views!

P.S. The plot twist broke me. Here's the only way I can express my feelings towards it: