Red Queen (ARC Review)

Red Queen: Red Queen | Victoria Aveyard

Published by: HarperTeen, February 10th 2015

Genre: YA, Dystopia, High Fantasy (sorrrrrta)

Pages: 383

Format: Ebook

Source: HarperTeen, via Edelweiss

Mare Barrow’s world is divided by blood—those with red and those with silver. Mare and her family are lowly Reds, destined to serve the Silver elite whose supernatural abilities make them nearly gods. Mare steals what she can to help her family survive, but when her best friend is conscripted into the army she gambles everything to win his freedom. A twist of fate leads her to the royal palace itself, where, in front of the king and all his nobles, she discovers a power of her own—an ability she didn’t know she had. Except…her blood is Red.

To hide this impossibility, the king forces her into the role of a lost Silver princess and betrothes her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks her new position to aid the Scarlet Guard—the leaders of a Red rebellion. Her actions put into motion a deadly and violent dance, pitting prince against prince—and Mare against her own heart.

From debut author Victoria Aveyard comes a lush, vivid fantasy series where loyalty and desire can tear you apart and the only certainty is betrayal.

Alright beginning, hella cool middle, disappointing train wreck of an ending.

I really liked Red Queen at one point. I was loving Maven, and the tension was building, and the world was starting to grow on me. The rebellion plot was a bit overdone but I liked the powers part, so I rolled with it.

But then the ending happened. The one shining light of the book for me was Maven. He was legit the only one I cared about. AND THEN HE WAS RUINED. I liked him because he was sweet and caring in a world of YA alpha males. He stood out for his quiet strength. But then the book villainised him and ruined all that. Normally I love villains (just look at my track record of faves) but Maven was special because he was good, and making him bad just killed this book (and series) for me.

Right now I'm not going to read the next book, but that could change. We'll see.

Overall: disappointed

Characters ★★★☆☆

Setting/world-building ★★★☆☆

Writing ★★★☆☆

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Reading round up (82)

Reading round up is a weekly journal where I record my daily reading progress, my thoughts on each book as I read it, and any books I've acquired during the week. 

Sorry for the day late update, folks. Totally thought I'd posted this!!

29th June

I'm reading Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, which I think I'm enjoying but I'm not 100%. I like Cal, and Maven, and Mare's fine. But I'm not sure about everything else. Today I read 23%, bringing me to 48%.

30th June

Today I read 28% of Red Queen, and I REALLY LIKE IT.

1st July

I finished Red Queen (25% read) and THE ENDING RUINED THE WHOLE BOOK. There's a 75% chance I won't read the next book now.

2nd July

I read 9% of Invasion of The Tearling by Erika Johansen and I am really disappointed by the fact she's dumped a dystopian story in the middle of a high fantasy series. My interest in this went from 70% to 1% so it's pretty likely I'll DNF. Which is pretty sad snce I love the tone of the fantasy scenes.

BUT I started The Young Elites by Marie Lu (88 pages) and it's perf. Perf, perf, perf. Did I mention it's perfect???

3rd July

I read 114 pages and I LOVE ENZO PLEASE HELP ME GOD. 

4th July

I read 106 pages of The Young Elites and holy hell everything hurts and things are going to go to shit SO FAST. Don't keep secrets, kids!!!

5th July

Today I finished The Young Elites and W H Y Y Y Y Y Y ? ? ?

I also picked up Graceling by Kristin Cashore again (21 pages read) because I'm in the mood for more high fantasy. I stalled at page 47 with this one last March, so I'm hoping to finally read it now!

Books finished this week: 2
Books DNF'd this week: 0

For review:

HUNTER!!!! MERCEDES LACKEY!!!!! HELLA!!!!

And I got Lair of Dreams to kick me into reading The Diviners.

Bought:

I probably don't have to explain this. One of the best books I've ever read.

The Stars Never Rise (4 STARS)

Red Queen (3 STARS)

Reading round up (81)

Reading round up is a weekly journal where I record my daily reading progress, my thoughts on each book as I read it, and any books I've acquired during the week. 

22nd June

I'm reading The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent, which I'm really enjoying. I read 28% today and I reaaaally like Finn (though the body swap thing is making me feel ICKY. Like, you're kissing strangers and not really him...)

23rd June

Today I read 32% of The Stars Never Rise and finished it. It wasn't exactly what I expected but it was so, so good. I also started The Cage by Megan Shepherd (23%) and I like it so far.

24th June

I read 37% of The Cage and I am REALLY into the shiny gold alien. How could this happen? How could the attractive human be a complete jerk and make this metallic alien seem like a much nicer dude??? Megan Shepherd, why???

25th June

I read 23% of The Cage and I am 100% in love with Cassian, send help.

26th June

I finished The Cage (17%), and despite its imperfections it was perfect to me. I love it. 

I also started Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (13% read) because I am way overdue reading this and it felt like the right time to start it.

27th June

I read 12% of Red Queen, and I think I like it but I'm not sure yet.

28th June

Wasn't in the mood for Red Queen, so I started Invasion of The Tearling by Erika Johansen (7%). I totally forgot the heavy atmosphere of these books and how much I love it.

Books finished this week: 2
Books DNF'd this week: 0

For review:

Zeroes | Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, & Deborah Biancotti

Free on Amazon:

The Key | Jennifer Anne Davis

The Stars Never Rise (4 STARS)