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    Red Queen
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    Red Queen
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    Red Queen
    Audiobook12 hours

    Red Queen

    Written by Victoria Aveyard

    Narrated by Amanda Dolan

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

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    About this audiobook

    This is a world divided by blood - red or silver.

    The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

    That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

    Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

    But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance - Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart...

    Read by Amanda Dolan

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette UK Audio
    Release dateFeb 12, 2015
    ISBN9781409160045
    Author

    Victoria Aveyard

    Victoria Aveyard was born and raised in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, a small town known only for the worst traffic rotary in the continental United States. She moved to Los Angeles to earn a BFA in screenwriting at the University of Southern California. She currently splits her time between the East and West coasts. As an author and screenwriter, she uses her career as an excuse to read too many books and watch too many movies. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling Red Queen series, and you can visit her online at www.victoriaaveyard.com.

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    Reviews for Red Queen

    4/5

    1,719 ratings128 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This book tells the classic tale of struggles between classes. The Reds (those that bleed red blood) are the slaves, workers, lower caste with no powers and the Silvers are the upper ruling class. They have various powers, are the generals of the army and rule the Reds. The Reds are conscripted into the army at the age of 18, boys and girls alike. Our hero, Mare Barrow is just about to the age of 18 when she accidentally runs into the King Elect, and is hired to work at the palace. She somehow has the power of lightening and controlling storms and when this gets out, she is engaged to the second son of the king and they pretend she is a Silver. There is also a group of rebels, The Scarlet Guard, that recruits Mare and her fiancee. Lessons will be learned, people will die and others will be betrayed. A good story but the heroine was not as likeable as in other books of the same genre.
    • 4/5
      Could have been cliche but was very good.
    • 3/5
      This story felt like it was trying to be Game of Thrones for teens. I think it lost a lot of it's umph because much of the ideas were not very original. However, taken at face value, it's still an interesting fantasy read.
    • 1/5
      Oh the teenage angst! Incredibly maudlin and predictable.
    • 4/5
      Great start to an interesting trilogy set in the future. So far I like the characters. I am interested in knowing how some people have silver blood and some red. How the blood changed. Also, why has the war been going on for so long. Maybe I missed it since I'm listening to the book. The book is keeping me entertained and captivated.
    • 3/5
      For more reviews, gifs, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.Actual rating: 2.5 starsThe mixed reviews of Red Queen and the designation of “crack book” from Gillian (Writer of Wrongs) tempted me into reading it, despite my better judgment. Often, this sort of daring works in my favor, but I can’t say this was one of those times. I was not hugely impressed with Red Queen and slogged through it, even when shit hit the fan at the end.The strongest element of Red Queen was most definitely the plotting. Red Queen excels at the twisty and unexpected. I was constantly floored by the turns that the plot took. It was surprisingly dark and startling. The end especially was just like whoa. Aveyard puts down a really nice foundation for everything too, so it all fits together really well.The one caveat on the plot is a bit spoilery, so I’m going into the tags for this. When Mare’s outed as having powers publicly, the monarchy launches a cover-up. They claim that Mare is actually Mareena, the long lost child of Silvers, raised by Reds. Supposedly, Mareena had no idea that she was a Silver. Fun plot, sure, because she gets to go undercover and hijinks can ensure. However, it makes no fucking sense whatsoever. Reds and Silvers have different blood, red and silver respectively (can you possibly guess which has which?). Am I really supposed to believe that Mareena never broke her skin in a fall or pricked herself with a needle or got a papercut? What about her period? There’s no way that a girl her age wouldn’t know what color her blood was, especially if she blushes as often as Mare does.The world building is a bit sketchy, but fun enough. Though looking hard I could poke some holes in it, suspending disbelief was totally doable. The concept of the silverbloods and their powers is obviously total Christina-bait. Basically anything X-Men-ish appeals to me greatly. The various powers are really cool and the battles between those of different abilities were super cool. Much of the world building, though, is delivered through clumsy infodumps, which come apropos of nothing currently occurring.Despite these strong foundations, I found every single character incredibly boring. Mare most of all. There’s really no overcoming that. It was one of those cognitive dissonance books where I KNEW I should be really into what was happening, but my eyes kept glazing over anyway. This is one of those books where no one seems to have any interests aside from survival, which means that no one really seems to have any personality. Mare’s only really sign of personality seems to come from her jealousy of her younger sister, who she later mostly forgets about.Again, I should have loved the romance. It’s a reverse harem of monstrous proportions. There are the two princes, Cal and Maven, both of whom are expressing interest. Then there’s her hot guard, Lucas, who, though not canonly an interest, totally could be. Then, least of all, there’s Kilorn, her best friend from her Red village. Just know that my brain immediately cast Finn from The 100 as this guy, so he’s basically the worst ever.KILORN. The names in this book are incredibly frustrating. Kilorn’s name is by far the most annoying, though Mare, aka grown female horse, is a close second. Of course, Mare’s parents just suck at naming humans, because their other kids are Gisa, Bree, Shade, and Tramy. The latter three are boys. What the fuck is a Tramy? Like what even. And amongst all the ridiculous fantasy names are people like Lucas and Julian, which makes it worse for me. The names were really distracting.The other issue with Red Queen is the use of italics. Red Queen is told in Mare’s first person present POV. Despite that, she still thinks to herself in italics, even though we are ostensibly in her head and experiencing things live with her. The entire thing ought to be her thoughts and experiences. More confusingly, italics are sometimes used for random emphasis on a particular word, like the word sparks; you’ll later learn why this was done, but it’s still just the worse, because it looks like other words are being clarified. More problematically, some people can talk inside Mare’s head, and those conversations are shown using italics. I honestly don’t know how many people can do this, because I couldn’t begin to tell which italics were Mare thinking and which were her conversing with others.Red Queen‘s a hot mess. If you find the characters the least compelling, you’ll probably really enjoy it. I’m intrigued enough that I might find myself reading the next book in the series, but I can’t guarantee I’ll still have even that much interest in another year.
    • 3/5
      An interesting book about the haves and the have nots. Covering gender and racial disparity, this book has some interesting ideas. The two 'races' have different colored blood; red and silver. The silvers rule and the reds are, of course, inferior. That's because the silvers have powers and the reds do not. Once we discover that some reds have powers too, everything changes.

      Filled with betrayal, and drama, it's worth a read. I did not find many of the characters to be particularly sympathetic.
    • 5/5
      Fan. Tastic.I originally picked this book up on the recommendation of a BuzzFeed article (I know, I know...) and I could not be happier with it. The article was "XX Books with Plot Twists The Will Leave Your Head Reeling" or something along those lines, and this book certainly lived up to that claim. I have a nasty habit of spoiling myself, however, and this was no different. I purchased a copy of the second book in the series, Glass Sword, and in my typical fashion, I unintentionally spoiled the huge plot twist.However!Let this speak for the magnitude of the twist! I knew what was coming and I STILL was left with that fuzzy feeling in my brain. You know the one. It feels like you've been flipped upside down and everything is the white noise of a static-y television.My one and only complaint with Red Queen is that it follows the same formula as most other "popular" young adult novels. (Think The Hunger Games, Divergent...) There is a silver (LOL) lining, however, in that hardcore YA readers will recognize that formula and expect a certain plot to unfold, and then BAM. Totally different. The novel becomes totally unpredictable after a certain point, and it has absolutely left me itching to read the rest of the series.
    • 3/5
      Mare Barrow is a Red, born in a world ruled by Silvers with superpower abilities, until she finds she possesses an ability of her own. She is then forced to pretend to be something she isn't while trying to fight for her people. When I started reading this I couldn't help but compare it with Red Rising, which I absolutely loved. There were so many similarities that it was hard to separate the two. That being said this book did have it's own ideas and it held my attention and made me want to know what happened next.
    • 4/5
      This should be more of a 3.5, I'm being generous and leaving room for redemption in the next book.

      For what I was looking for this hit all the right notes. Captured my interest, I cared about the characters, compelling story, not too dark, not compete mindless fluff. A guilty pleasure that didn't depress me, make me think too hard, and wasn't so sickeningly sweet my teeth ached...almost. So, all boxes checked.

      Here's my gripe. I get for the story to move along as it did Mare had to care deeply, even romantically about a few characters. You've got the guy at home Kilorn, the one she's trying to protect. Then there's a pair of princes that puts her in a classic love triangle. Brother against brother, good against evil. It's pretty standard. When Mare is awaiting execution, the final battle, and Maven asked her to choose between brothers to save her life she chooses neither. She chooses herself. I did a huge cheer at this point! She's a strong girl! She's Red and Silver, stronger then both, betrayed by these men and she chooses herself! What a strong statment. From there the story progresses. We end up on the train with Mare and Cal on the train. When Mare is then in Kilorns arms, but thinking of Cal I am crushed. Seriously?! Are we going backwards? Didn't we just determine how powerful and unique she was on her own? Is her story not enough without a triangle? (You know Maven's coming back.) The foreshadowing that she now is between these two as rivals was too much. Clearly she cares about Kilorn, but he should be in the family category. Let Cal remain a romantic interest. To insist that her story always include this type of friction (love triangle) is a crutch.
    • 4/5
      In the book Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, a young red blooded girl named Mare discovered she has the powers of a silver blood. She then becomes a princess of the silver bloods and falls for a maven, a prince. His brother Cal falls for Mare and they both get betrayed by maven. They then get taken by the scarlet guard which is a group against the silver bloods. The cover design for this book is a light blue with a bleeding crown. It is appealing because it fits the title and story very well. Readers that would be interested in this book would be into science fiction, and romance.
    • 4/5
      I wasn't sure about this one at first, but after a few chapters, I was invested.[SPOILERS FOR "RED QUEEN" AND FOR "THE HUNGER GAMES" BELOW]Parts of "Red Queen" reminded me of other recent dystopian YA books. There's an area that's contains dangerous levels of radiation, so no one goes near it. It was no surprise to me that that was a trick and that people were really living there because I've read The Hunger Games. There's also a balcony scene straight out of The Selection.[END SPOILERS]It also has the same common problem of using "highness" and "majesty" interchangeably.But I enjoyed the intrigue, the palace, the relationships, the betrayals, the villains... It's an engaging story.
    • 4/5
      Fun and with a few, unexpected twists. I hope more "gifts" will be discovered as the series continues.
    • 3/5
      Red Queen takes place in a fantasy setting where people are divided into different groups, depending on the color of their blood. The silver blooded have extraordinary powers and live a life of wealth and privilege. Those with red blood are victims of extreme poverty and are treated as servants to the Silvers. Mare Barrow is a 17-year-old girl who lives with her family in an impoverished village. All jobless citizens, including her three older brothers, have already been shipped off to the war. Mare is a pickpocket who will do anything to protect her family even if it means violating laws to get them out of the war. Before long, we learn that Mare is different herself. She's taken to the Silver court and passed off as a Silver princess while they work to discover what her power is and how they can use it.

      The author does a great job of making her world visually mesmerizing and it's filled with fascinating characters, both good and bad. The fight scenes are incredibly realistic and you can't say the story suffers from lack of action. Of course, the premise will remind you a good deal of Hunger Games, but how can you argue with the formulaic success. One thing drove me crazy throughout the book and made me lower the rating from my original 4 Stars to 3.5 Stars. It was the constant overuse of the word “smirk”. It was used 38 times in the book and seemed to me the only expression the author could think of. Of course, I'm not the audience the book is going for but I still enjoyed it enough to pick up the second book of series, The Glass Sword.
    • 4/5
      Do I really have to wait until February for the next book? Red Queen was certainly a page turner. Not the most original plot twists, but the story was still interesting. Great for those who love YA Dystopian novels. As I was reading this, I felt like the book was a mix of Divergent meets Frozen. Good strong female character, but she spent too much time worrying about the boys in her life. Audio CD
    • 4/5
      There is something about this book that's nagging me. I think it was pretty good, and I found the story exciting, but there were some parts of the book that seemed hard to swallow - little things that I didn't understand why certain characters didn't figure things out.

      The beginning, while a bit on the slow side as we're introduced to each of the characters and the universe, still had enough intrigue to keep me reading. A lot was packed in after the halfway mark, and this was about where I started wondering why certain characters - those who were very intuitive throughout the beginning of the book - missed certain things.

      I was very confused with the romantic aspects of the story, it was often sudden and without reason. But, I have to admit that I did like the ending and how it tied up - more realistic. I'm looking forward to seeing where the rest of the story goes.
    • 4/5
      Soundtrack zur Rezension: You've got time von Regina Spector.

      Ich habe dieses Buch kostenlos von Carlsen gegen eine Rezension bekommen. Vielen Dank dafür.

      Mir hat das Buch gut gefallen.

      Der Schreibstil war angenehm, und die Seiten flogen dahin. Wie ihr wisst bin ich Superkräften sowieso rettungslos verfallen. Von daher konnte mich das ganze Gladiatoren-Setting, weil die Silbernen gerne gegeneinander kämpfen, gleich sehr vereinnahmen.

      Motto, das mehrmals im Buch erwähnt wird: Jeder kann jeden betrügen.

      Nicht nur kann, wird. Auch das gefällt mir ausgesprochen gut. Genauso, dass Mare keine besondere Schneeflocke ist, sondern nur die erste, die von zu vielen Silbernen gesehen wurde, um sie zu entfernen, ist genau nach meinem Geschmack.

      Es gibt Charakter mit Narben, es gibt Charakter, die im Rollstuhl sitzen, Charakter, die verletzt werden, Blut spielt eine wichtige Rolle in diesem Buch. Alles war leicht Game of Throne-sig. Mit Superkräften. Hach.

      Kein einziger der Charakter ist irgendwie liebenswert. Überhaupt nicht. Wenn ihr also eine Identifikationsfigur braucht, die ihr ganz toll finden könnt: Das Buch ist dann nichts für euch. Mare ist eine unsympathische Diebin, die ungehobelt, unintelligent, und überhaupt alles un- ist, was man sein kann.

      Ich fand das gut gewählt, denn wer bei den Roten aufwächst, kann nun mal keine feine Dame sein, aber ich bin mir sicher, andere wird es stören. Und Mare ist die Einstiegsstelle für den Leser. Alle anderen sind noch schlimmer.

      Jeder in diesem Buch ist ein Soldat, an Tote und ans töten gewohnt, und ich fand die meisten Figuren daher etwas schroff. Aber das alles war in für diese Verhältnisse, in denen die Figuren leben, normalen Bahnen, daher sehr passend.

      Das Liebes-“Dreieck”. Oh Boy. Prinz Cal, verlobt mit Evangelina, ist in Mare verliebt. Mare ist mit dem ebenfalls in sie verliebten Prinz Maven verlobt, und beiden Brüdern nicht abgeneigt. Mare wollte aber eigentlich irgendwann Kilorn heiraten, in den ihre Schwester verliebt ist. Und Kilorn ist eifersüchtig auf alle.

      Punktabzug gibts für den Krieg. Das Nachbarland hat sie angegriffen, weil die zu wenig Nahrung haben. Vor 100 Jahren. Seitdem kämpfen sie miteinander. WTF. Wenn die damals schon nichts zu essen hatten, dann überstehen die auch keinen 100-jährigen Krieg. Zwischendurch hatte ich den Verdacht, die kämpfen, um die Roten zu befreien. Aber das wurde in diesem Buch nicht aufgelöst, von daher wunder ich mich einfach weiter.

      Außerdem stolperte ich immer wieder über Stellen, die ich so schon mal in anderen Büchern gelesen habe. Dass die Autorin bei einigen beliebten Jugendbüchern Ideen gesammelt hat ist sehr offensichtlich.

      Gut fand ich den Schluss wiederum. Eine schöne Wendung, die man kommen sehen kann, aber nicht muss. Und es wurde viel Blut in allen Farben vergossen. Das ist immer toll.

      Die Rote Königin ist ein schönes dystopisches Jugendbuch.
    • 3/5
      Decent plot and storyline with some twists and turns. Early on, I was a bit confused ...one moment the story is being told in present tense then the verbs switch to past tense while in the middle of a scene; very odd and confusing but thankfully didn't continue throughout the story. I found myself in some areas skimming over scene descriptions due to boring detail or rehashing things said previously. I'm glad I waited on hold for the library book even though it took 4 months, because otherwise this would have been a waist of $12 and change. I don't plan to continue reading the series.
    • 5/5
      Really absorbing, not predictable
    • 3/5
      I found this book to be OK. It was a little too young adult for my liking and a little non original overall. There were definitely some interesting aspects to the book and some originality to it, but overall the theme of this book is over done...dystopian love triangle. I did not connect with any of the characters and don't really like one side or the other. Not sure if I'll keep reading this series...
    • 5/5
      Engaging characters, fast pace, can't wait to get my hands on the sequel!
    • 4/5
      Fantasy/Adolescents - In a world divided by blood--those with common, Red blood serve the Silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities--seventeen-year-old Mare, a Red, 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. But Mare 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. King Tiberias, Queen Elara, Prince Cal, Prince Maven. Scholar Mareena sister of Cal's mom Coriane. Maven betrays Mare
    • 3/5
      This book was actually a second attempt for me. It took me two tries to get though the book. I got irritated half way through the first time and stopped reading it. Touted as the next big thing and everyone is raving about it but I just wasn’t amazed by it. To me this was not an original plot, it was good but not great compared to similar books of this genre. For example: The Hunger Games, An Ember in the Ashes, the Pellinor Trilogy, etc. One thing I did like about the plot was some of the little details that were thrown in. For example, the people in this world are not just divided by ability but by their actual biology as well; red and silver blood. I also really liked that Mare’s ability comes from within herself and not outside like the Silvers. At one point Mare says that it’s like her lightning is part of her soul and I wonder if it is.****** SPOILERS AHEAD ******I actually quite liked Mare as a character mostly because at least most of the time she is level headed and practical. And I love that her ability is lightning; a force of nature that cannot be tamed. Lastly, that she realizes there is a grey area and not everything is black and white or Red and Silver. But I think what I like most is that Mare chose a path and stuck to it. She was not all wishy washy like most heroines. When the Silvers were assassinated at the party she was sad but was like I chose this path and I knew it was coming and didn’t act like a crybaby.I had a good first impression of Cal and just went down from there although he went up slightly at the end of the book. I feel he is too stiff and too put in his ways. Hopefully now that he has lost everything in Glass Sword it will change. I also liked that Cal was the one who was forced to kill the king and therefore threw all suspicion onto him and not onto the queen and Maven.Mavey and his mother (the queen) remind me a lot of Game of Thrones with Joffrey and Cersei. He gave me a bad first impression, he was like an insolent and spoiled little princeling but it got better over the course of the book…. THEN… THEN YOU’RE THE EVIL KING NOW SO I DON’T LIKE YOU ANYMORE! I totally fell for his trap! There’s one line where Mare points out he basically made himself into the person she wanted and it was like a slap in the face for me because I realized that was completely true and I should have seen it!I am so glad in the book that the "Big Red Reveal" (what I call revealing Mare is actually a Red and not a Silver) at the end of the book was revealed by Maven’s greed to see his older half brother and Mare punished and not by the Scarlet Guard. This was so much better! Mare took it into her own hands and made everyone see her for who she truly is and not what everyone else was wanting her and making her pretend to be. She took control of her own story and owned it! Although it irritated me a little that the title didn’t fit in with the book really. Maven would have made her into the Red Queen but she didn’t actually become one like the title would suggest.Loved the twist that Shade isn’t dead and he’s a teleporter currently found by the Scarlet Guard. My theory for why are Shade and Mare different? My theory is that somewhere along the line a Silver and Red mixed and they a half bloods or something. But their Silver abilities/genes are recessive which would be funny since in the book the Silver bloods are all about being dominant and on top in everything.Overall the most important line in this book if you read it is: anyone can betray anyone. This story has been done before and done better in other books in my opinion. Still, interesting characters and I will be reading the sequel The Glass Sword in the hopes it gets better. It looks like the Glass Sword is going to be all about Cal and Mare getting their revenge so I hope it is better. So in the end, 3/5 stars.
    • 5/5
      I could not put this down...it was so good! One of the reviews I read said this was Game of Thrones with Katniss as the Mockingjay and they couldn't be more right. I kept waffling and was never sure of anyone's loyalties. And what a nicely done love triangle...I couldn't figure out whose team I was on! SO good and so glad I don't have to wait to read the second book!
    • 3/5
      I think this series has potential. It is definitely part of the trend of the 2015 dystopian book fever, however it has a little change to it with the silver bloods having powers.

      I rated this low because I found the major twist predictable. Overly predictable that when the scene played out I was almost uninterested in that section of the book. I say almost because it does continue at a good pace and I did want to see how it would continue from there.

      The characters were pretty interesting throughout and it made me think after each scene "the game is afoot". Just because of the sneaky dealings, or background characters relationships the main character, Mare, isnt aware of.

      Romantic interests in this is a little interesting because there are three. Maven who she has some feeling for and it seems like he might truly feel some too. Cal, who is Maven's brother does also and it's clear as day but they can't because of the circumstances they are all in. Lastly, we have the childhood beat friend type. The one who she might have ended up with if she didnt meet the prince.

      I did like this book enough that I ordered the next book in the series. I want to give it a chance and the storyline itself is pretty good. I really enjoyed the writing and the world building. Especially when you are reading about the different parts of the lands. The silvers live in the wonderful cities and the reds get the dirty towns, or the towns full of radiation.
    • 1/5
      Mare is a Red in a world where Reds and Silvers have been waging war for over a hundred years. They are separated by the color of their blood. But there is a problem, Mare has the unique ability among her fellow Reds. And when the Silvers find out about it they decide to keep it a secret by making her their new princess. All seems okay at first, but things turned sinister very fast. Love, betrayal, death... how much can Mare stand before she cracks under pressure?I don't read books like this and this is why: the main characters are usually naive and annoying like nails on a chalkboard. They make you want to just jump in the book and slap some sense into them. The storylines are completely cliche and I feel like I have read them a hundred times before. And the plot twists are completely predictable and not surprising to me at all. I got a headache from rolling my eyes so much at this book. To me this book has about as much substances a stick of chewing gum. I understand that this book is very popular right now and if you are into young adult fantasy novels chances are you will probably like this one, many people do. But honestly it is just not for me in any way. I feel like I need something darker or deeper or something with more passion in it. This, to me, was like chewing a dry piece of toast. Just not my cup of tea.I would recommend this book to you if you like young adult and/or fantasy novels simply because of this book's popularity and not because of my opinion.
    • 5/5
      Fascinating story, great characters, I loved the words the writer choose to use throughout the book. Very descriptive and I love that. The story pulled me in and made me feel like I was part of it. The ending was a bit of a shocker and refreshing to see something different. Now I'm off to read book two, Glass Sword.
    • 4/5
      This was a pretty gripping read, contained within a fairly creative world. Of course, the general idea has been done before, but it's executed really well here. Some of the events do stretch things a bit in terms of what is believable, even in a fantasy realm, but not so much so as to be distracting, and the characters and universe are quite engrossing. In this world, your blood defines you. Do you bleed the Red color of the serfs, or the Silver blood of the privileged and powerful? Yet, something is happening that is looking as though it'll change all of those rules, possibly opening the door to a whole new future. This book ends with a totally unexpected twist and on a serious cliffhanger, making me want to read the next book right away. That's always a really good sign.
    • 4/5
      I haven't got invested in a young adult series in a while but I think I will definitely continue on with the Red Queen series. This is a new dystopian fantasy series that is inventive and unique enough to set itself apart from Hunger Games and Divergent (although there are some clear parallels) and yet remains cool enough to be added to those ranks. In Mare's world society is divided between the reds and the silvers. The silvers are the high class people who have special abilities to wield fire, read minds, control water, manipulate metals, and more. The reds are the lower caste, the ones who still bleed red, have no powers, and have been oppressed for decades. Mare's world is turned upside down when she is sent to work in the palace. She has lived in abject poverty her whole life and to see such prosperity and wealth is sickening to her. Mare is secretly rooting for the Red Dawn, a terrorist organization trying to overthrow the silvers and when she discovers that she has silver powers and red blood (a totally anomaly) she finds herself in a rare position to help others and overthrow the silvers once and for all. Engrossing and fun. I can't wait for the next in the series!
    • 2/5
      Within the first ten pages of The Red Queen, I was struck by how similar it was to the Hunger Games. The more I read, the more similarities I saw to other YA books. To me, the better read you are in Young Adult fiction the worse this book becomes. It’s a rehash of so many other books and quite unoriginal. The Red Queen follows Mare Barrow who lives in a world where people have two different types of blood: red and silver. Those with red blood, like Mare, are at the bottom society. Those with silver blood all have special abilities similar to that of mutants in X-men comics. Through a series of convenient circumstances Mare ends up working for the Royal Family. On the day the prince is set to choose his bride another set of convenient circumstances allow Mare to almost be killed but she isn’t because she has powers too! Even though it’s proven she has red blood, she is unique and this issues alarms the royal family. The rest of the story is the clichéd revolution against the oppressive rule with a love triangle thrown in too. In general, I would only recommend people who ask for a Read-A-Likes of the Hunger Games, Red Rising, Graceling etc. This book is appropriate for ages 11 and up. –RR Accelerated Reader Level: 5.2, Pts: 17