A Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Warning: This review contains spoilers; read at your own risk.

“This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.”

A world where those with silver blood, those with special powers, rule over the weak with red blood. This book has an overall similar plot line to many other popular YA novels, but Victoria Aveyard manages to take these elements and weave them into an original story, one that I happened to love.

What I Liked About It:

• The characters were extremely complex and many were quite likeable. The quote “anyone can betray anyone” is a recurring theme throughout the novel and as a result it was incredibly difficult to know who to trust and who not to. Many twists occurred throughout the book as well with betrayal after betrayal.
• The many twists and turns. As mentioned above, betrayals occurred frequently throughout the book and constantly kept me on my toes. I never knew what exactly to expect. Maven's betrayal, and the subsequent death of the king, shocked me despite the fact that I was expecting him to be evil.
• Cal and Mare's fight scene in the arena at the end of the novel was, in my mind, absolutely fantastic. The book had been a bit slow in places, but the huge amount of action here was well-worth the wait.

What I Didn't Like About It:

• A little slow in places, but the pacing was fairly good.
• Maven's betrayal. I loved the character throughout the book and was really hoping he would turn out to be trustworthy. However, the twist was huge and leaves a great plot for sequels.

Overall, I loved this novel. The world-building was great, the characters were interesting and complex, and the plot was full of twists that continued to surprise me. Already eagerly part-way through the sequel, and loving that as well.

Rating: 4/5 (really liked it)