Red Queen Review

“The truth is what I make it. I could set this world on fire and call it rain.”

The world is divided by blood, red and silver. Reds are commoners while Silvers are the elites gifted with power. Mare Barrow is a red girl living in the Stilts and ravaged by poverty. She has no hope of change until she gets a job working in the Silver Palace. There she discovers her unique and deadly power: one that could change the balance of their entire world. The crown tries to hide her as a lost Silver princess and she is given careful instructions to maintain the rouse, or else. Despite the danger, she begins passing information to the Red Guard. Can Mare stay one step ahead of the game and win the day? If she succeeds what would it mean for her world?

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard reminds me of a fantasy version of The Hunger Games. The themes and overall plot are very similar. Red Queen starts off as something very familiar and ends up as something completely different! It took me a little bit to get into the story but once you’re in you’re going to want to see it through to the end. I think the world building could have used some improvement, as I have a lot of questions about the world in general. Some clarification on different elements would have been nice too but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I found the magic system to be very intriguing as well. The characters are enjoyable and they have a fantastic journey throughout the series. While I would not consider Red Queen a groundbreaking book, I did enjoy how Aveyard played with classic tropes in fantasy and made them her own. I also enjoyed Aveyard’s writing style. Red Queen and the rest of the Red Queen series is a very fun series with enjoyable characters and a great plot! There are also great audiobooks to go along with the books.

MAYA OEVERMAN

Editor Emeritus at The City Voice | MIPA Honorable Mention Award Winner

I am a Senior at City and I normally write the weekly book reviews! If I'm not reading, you can usually find me at the barn riding and taking care of the horses.