Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Release Date: February 1, 2015

Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 400
Source: ARC for Review

ISBN-10:  0062310631

Rating: 3

Book Description

"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."

Review

Short and Sweet:

Despite its potential, Red Queen falls short of being great.

To Elaborate...

I've been looking forward to reading Red Queen since I saw THAT cover. All in all this story line is exactly the kind that I love to read. So I really thought I would LOVE this book. I didn't love it, I also didn't exactly dislike it. It fell right in between for me on the like scale.

Red Queen was at times enjoyable, but throughout the story I felt that there were holes that made me wonder if my copy was missing pages. The transitions between scenes felt choppy and confusing. In one scene, 2 characters crawl out of a theater through a ventilation system of some sort to secretly meet with the rebels, but then they get a ride back to the castle later.
No big deal.

No questions asked.

The guards outside the theater didn't seem too concerned that the royalty they were guarding had just *POOF* disappeared from the theater box.

It's not weird that they were missing all day long.

Moments like this were super distracting and took me out of story. I'd have to flip back to see if I had skimmed or missed something. Almost without exception, I hadn't. Maybe it's just me, but I NEED transitions.

The story definitely reminds me of The Selection, as mentioned in the blurb. However, it also reminded me of Cinder, The Young Elites, The Hunt and even Throne of Glass a bit. It was like a mash-up of stories I've already read and loved and maybe that is why I found myself so underwhelmed.

In regards to the story itself, I think that the concept is wonderful. The red bloods vs. the silver bloods concept is intriguing, but again I feel as though there were big holes missing in regards to when the silver blooded humans began evolving. I didn't understand the world that the characters were living in enough to identify with them and it influenced my opinion and enjoyment. As the book moves further along there are some answers and a few twists that I was genuinely shocked to read, but overall I think my confusion was the driving force in finishing this one. I wanted to love it, but I just couldn't get there.

Overall, Red Queen had a TON of potential, but it ultimately falls short. I'll likely read the next installment, because I'm curious to see where the story goes. I'm hoping for much more world-building and clarity as the story progresses further.