Book Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.

Red Queen By Victoria Aveyard

Published:  February 10th 2015 by Orion

Hardcover, 383 pages

Genres: Ya Dystopian

Buy on Amazon, Goodreads.

The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.

To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?

Ahh, can we all agree this was one of the most hyped books of 2015? Unfortunately for me, this book did not meet my expectations.

  We began this novel in this dystopian world, where the reds are hard working civilians under the control of the powerful silvers, who hold great power from within themselves.Our protagonist, Mare is a pickpocket-er who has yet found a job which leaves her to be sent to war at the age of 18, much like her older brothers.Through some sticky events, Mare is left with the discovery of her own powers , as she bleeds crimson blood.The book follows the unstable class division and how Mare's powers can change it all.

This book had so much going for it.The synopsis makes this book so intriguing and original , yet less than 100 pages in, I feel hunger games vibes, I did not want to , but I did.Many characters in book felt like recycled from other established novels. Cal is much like Kai from Cinder and Kirlon is  Gale from the Hunger Games.The silvers in general were knockoffs of the Capital.

I did enjoy Mare, she was a strong protagonist, sassy at times and held her own ground.But when she was speaking about cal and their strong and mysterious connection , I couldn't help  but roll my eyes.Queen Elara is one of the few characters I was intrigued by and wanted to know more about her backstory.

The writing was okay but nothing spectacular.The Plot is what made me yank my hair. Multiply plot twists were mediocre, I could see it coming a mile away.The author wants reader to feel shocked but instead I just gave myself a pat on the back for catching it earlier, it didn't brother me that I spoiled the plot twist because I had little care for twists.Only one truly caught me off guard but did not make the book anything epic at all!
The whole love triangle(or square) is getting really old by now, the girl denying her love for one guy so she throws herself at another, no stop it authors please!!The world was confusing, I wished it was more flushed out explaining the world.But I did enjoy Mavens character up until the end, like come on he was a awesome character but he of course much like the rest of the book became a one big cliche.

One of the few things I did enjoy in this book was the betrayal, it was everywhere. This theme of betrayal gives me some hopes for the next book , becoming more than a YA cliche book, a kick ass trilogy. The whole one girl leading a revolution is unoriginal and not being well written in this book.I mean I love revolutions, but a good revolution, one that makes you want to be a part of it

I hated the start and the end , but the middle was pretty good, I wish the author pushed the plot more making it different and exciting because honestly for pages I was on the edge of my seat, but became disinterested by the lack of originality in characters and the plot devices.The foundation of the plot was good, but the characters are not so great.My mind was wishing for different things that could have made this book epic , ugh I really wish it was more unique.

I give it 3/5 Meows because the plot had something going for it , but due to lack of originality and guts , it was mediocre for me.An easy and captivating read , but was annoyed by the overused plot tropes, and was hoping for something more.At this point, I am   unsure if  I plan to continue the series.