"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 betroths 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." - goodreads.com
Just like the synopsis, this story is about two different types of people, people who bleed red, and people who bleed silver. Not only are the silvers top of society but they also have abilities or 'gifts' such as controlling metal, fire, water, reading minds and other types of abilities. For the reds in society, they are poor, live in terrible conditions, slaves to the silvers and when you turn 18 you are sent to the front of the battle lines or help win the war unless you maintain a job. Mare Barrow is a red, with no job and about to turn 18. One day she runs in a man named Cal who gets her a job as a server to the royal silvers. This is where she discovers a power of her own, the ability to control electricity.
Now if you haven't read Red Rising by Pierce Brown this story will be original, amazing, and one of a kind. BUT if you have read Red Rising, then Red Queen will feel like the same story told from a female viewpoint. Red Queen had an interesting concept and was a good book for what it was, but because I read Red Rising, and thoroughly enjoyed it, it felt like a rip-off. Which I'm sure was not Victoria Aveyard's intention, it is just very similar on a lot of points. Even the saying in the story - Red Rising at Dawn.
Now with that aside, the writing was beautiful, fast-paced, and very well detailed. Victoria did a great job explaining in great detail the characters and their surroundings.
I won't be continuing on with this series.
I won't be continuing on with this series.
3 out of 5 stars!!
I'm a screenwriter/YA author who likes books and lists. This site is the nexus of my universe.
My book RED QUEEN will be published Winter 2015 from HarperTeen at HarperCollins. I'm repped by the incomparable Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc.
The genres I'm into include YA, Fantasy, Historical, Adventure, Apocalyptic - if people are dying, I'm buying.
Instagram - @Journey2Japan
Twitter - @Journey2Japan_
Red Queen was one of my highly anticipated book for 2015 but after reading a lot of reviews, I decided this book wasn't for me. I've red Red Rising too and it was great. And most of the reviews mentioned that it was like rereading Red Rising.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling that the people who really enjoyed this book hasn't read Red Rising, and they may feel like Red Rising is a copy of Red Queen. I would say give it a try, you may enjoy it but don't so much pressure on yourself to like it if you don't.
Delete