Power Is A Dangerous Game

I recently finished reading Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. This is book #1 in the Red Queen quartet.

~POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT~

  Rating: 3.75/5 stars

"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."

I didn't hate it, but I, sadly, didn't love it either. The reviews for this book have pretty much been split right down the middle. People either love it or they hate it and the complaints from those who hate it have been largely the same: it's been done before. I have to agree, but it didn't really bother me too much. Nowadays it's hard to write something completely original and I think that this book while it definitely was similar to others, it still was original (that being said, I haven't read Red Rising by Pierce Brown which is the main book this is being compared to).

But, I will say, this book was a combo of many of the YA fantasy and dystopian books I've read, mainly: The Selection by Kiera Cass, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, Throne of Glass by Sarah J, Maas. Just to name a few. This book was essentially a combination of all the best things about those books (and many others) paired with some original elements. I actually kind of enjoyed that though. I thought it made for a really interesting, fast paced plot that kept you guessing.

I enjoyed the writing style. The world building was pretty well done. I really enjoyed the fact that the plot of this book wasn't really romance driven but more so driven on establishing the world and the characters. However, I had a lot of trouble connecting to the characters. Well, not really characters, just Mare. I felt like she just kind of fell flat. I enjoyed the fact that she was a flawed heroine and thus, very realistic but I just could not really get a 'feel' for her, so to speak. I liked all the other characters though. It's clear that Victoria excels at writing those villains that you 'love to hate.' I just wish that I could've liked Mare more but I think that's something that can be fixed in the next book.

Overall, I did really enjoy this and I'm looking forward to the next book! I think most of the issues I had with this one can be fixed in the next one so I'll definitely be reading it!

Check out Red Queen, and discover how power is a dangerous game.

Happy Reading :)