[Blog Tour] Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

A world divided by blood and color. The Silvers who are the rulers and the Reds who follow, inferior, slaves. It was the way the world works, until a Red girl named Mare came along.

Title: Red Queen (Red Queen Trilogy #1) by Victoria Aveyard
Release Date: February 10th 2015
Published by: Harper Teen
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Summary:

Graceling meets The Selection in debut novelist Victoria Aveyard's sweeping tale of seventeen-year-old Mare, a common girl whose once-latent magical power draws her into the dangerous intrigue of the king's palace. Will her power save her or condemn her?

Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood--those with common, Red blood serve the Silver- blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.

To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard--a growing Red rebellion--even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction. One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.

Mare just wants to escape. Having been born a Red, her only choice as she turns 18 is to serve in the military like her older brothers because she had no other talents. But Mare doesn't want that, and so she would do anything in her power to avoid it. But Mare doesn't have the money nor the ability to do so, the only way she can help feed her family is when she picks pockets. Until one day she meets a mysterious boy, compassionate enough to give her help in a way Mare couldn't forget. But the boy isn't what he seems, and when Mare finds herself working inside the palace, amidst the mighty and superior Silvers, Mare finds out that she might be something else entirely. And the boy who helped her? He happens to be the heir to the throne, the boy she can never have, even as she became a part of the family to protect her secret.

See, Red Queen had this hypnotic quality that just pulls you in the moment you start reading. Everything about this book intrigued me. Mare is a girl one can easily sympathize with, fierce and loyal to her family and right from the start she wanted something more for herself, to break free of the life given to her just because her blood runs red. Her strong personality became more evident especially when she found herself smack dab in the middle of the Royal family, and with her new found ability, she was tested over and over as she familiarizes herself with the very same people she hates: the Silvers, their world, the powers they possess, the rebellion, all while Mare tries to keep herself alive and protect herself as she tries to make the lives of her people, the Reds, better.

While reading Red Queen, I learned early to be wary like Mare, but no amount of vigilance and readiness prepared me for when I encountered Cal and Maven, Silvers and Princes, possessing great abilities harnessing the power of fire. An older brother with the burden of ruling a country divided, a younger sibling who has always existed in the shadow of the first born. They fought for attention and though their personalities are in total contrast with each other, there's much to love and admire on both brothers. That is, until conspiracies, secrets, hatred and betrayal got woven in the story. I loved how Victoria Aveyard managed to make me lose focus enough to not figure out which brother isn't what he really seemed. And boy, the shock I got when I figured it out was something that made me love this book more.

The author managed to build a believable world, full of strife and conflict, and there's a lot of elements worth discussing aside from Mare's complicated relationship with the Royal family. The world Mare sees, it's social hierarchy, the way the society functions under the premise of the superior ruling and subjugating the weak, where one's place in life is dictated with the color he/she bleeds, and the obvious disparity in life when it comes to privileges and power. There's this palpable impact seeing all of these through the eyes of someone who was once that, a Red and now suddenly a Silver as the readers get to see both sides of the story. Even Mare's struggles as she became someone who was neither of the two, still with that burning desire to right the wrongs done to her people is noteworthy. There's absolutely nothing in this book that isn't worth paying attention to, even the minor characters. (Officer Samos deserves a special mention!)

Red Queen is an addictive read. If the political or royal intrigue and family dynamics isn't enough to make your heart race, then the action scenes will. It's not so much about the explosions and uprisings, but the consequences and complications they create, and the impact they have on Mare who exists in a lie in order to live. Nothing is certain. People betray even those they hold dear, and death is always on their heels. No guarantees, no promises. It's a cruel, cut throat world, and I loved reading every single minute of it. Victoria Aveyard's debut novel convinces the readers of her talent and the potential for this book to become a hit is really high. Thoroughly enjoyable, with breath taking, heart breaking romance set in a fascinating, futuristic world, Red Queen is definitely a favorite of mine this early in the year!

One of the very few downside of this book? Waiting for the sequel. How do we past time now?

Content (plot, story flow, character):

This book could have been close to perfect were it not for that one aspect of Mare's personality that I didn't really like: that single minded desire to "avenge" her people, ignoring everything else which leads her to being an irrational person more often than not. Combine that with her complete inability to choose between Maven and Cal which caused her a lot of problems, that feeling of love consuming such a big part of her that she loses focus, until it was too late.
.5

Shining: Worthy of a Goddess' Love!

Book Cover:
This cover speaks volumes, and it makes so much sense when you read the story. What a perfect representation of the story as a whole.

I have extra content for the followers and readers of this blog! I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to ask Victoria one question. What is it? Check out the graphic below:

And if my review made you want to read the book, you can check out the video that the wonderful folks over at Epic Reads made to find out more about Red Queen:


Thank you so much to HarperCollins International for letting me be a part of this tour! Follow and check out the rest of the international tour stops by checking out the list below:

2/2 http://amaterasureads.blogspot.com (Philippines)

2/3 http://staybookish.net/ (Philippines)

2/4 http://ghostgrrrl.wordpress.com (Malaysia)

2/5 http://iliveforreading.blogspot.com (Singapore)

2/6 http://thedailyprophecy.blogspot.com (the Netherlands)

2/8 http://spellsaab.juice.ph/ (Philippines)

2/8 http://defiantlydeviant.blogspot.com (Philippines)

2/9 http://www.carinabooks.blogspot.com (Norway)

2/12 http://www.booksloveme.com/​ (Malaysia)