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.
Series:
Red Queen
Book 1
Book Type:
YA Fantasy
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Series Reading Order:
Red Queen
Victoria Aveyard delivers a sizzling, imaginative thriller, where romance and revolution collide, where power and justice duel. It was exhilarating. Compelling. Action-packed. Unputdownable. Aveyard creates a dystopia where class supersedes all, and the color of your blood—silver or red—determines whether your life will be one of comfort and affluence, or hardship and ruin.
“This is the true division between Silvers and Reds: the color of our blood. The simple difference somehow makes them stronger, smarter, better than us.”
The Silvers are the elite, the rulers, the gods. They are gifted with supernatural powers to ensure the servitude of the common Reds, exercising those powers liberally and brutally. Our heroine is Mare Barrow, a Red and a thief who struggles to support her family while her brothers are at war. When her best friend is conscripted to fight at the front, she risks everything to save him and in an unexpected twist of fate, ends up living among those she despises the most—the Silvers’ King and Queen.
Then Mare discovers something entirely surprising… she has abilities too. And when her abilities manifest in front of the entire nobility, she is forced into the palace with a new identity, to marry one of the two princes as a way to hide that dangerous truth.
“They’ve pulled me inside out, swapping Mare for Mareena, a thief for a crown, cotton for silk, Red for Silver. This morning I was a servant, tonight I’m a princess. How much more will change? What else will I lose?”
Mare is swept into an exhilarating story where lies run deep and betrayals are the only certainty. Central to the story is the notion of power—the use of it, the price for it, the blood spilt in its name. Mare is the spark that fuels a new revolution, but she battles her own emotions, as her heart finds residence with someone who represents everything she fights against. Living in a gilded cage and shackled in silk, Mare must find a way to make a difference and remain true to who she is, under the constant vigilance of a power-hungry King and perhaps an even more ruthless and terrifying Queen.
“You are not match for us. We are your betters. We are your gods.”
Kings and Queens, Silvers and Reds, wealthy and poor, the powerful and powerless—Aveyard’s compelling debut is richly imagined, addictive, chilling and suspenseful. She breathes new life into her own unique ‘Game of Thrones’ story enlivened by exciting, character-driven plot twists that have me clamoring for more. This scintillating tale of betrayals and blood-spattered crowns is not to be missed.
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The Cover Contessa said:
I enjoyed this story. I did have some issues with the romance and could have used a bit more world building/history. And there was a predictability factor that followed throughout the book. But overall I loved the plot, story line and most of the characters. I loved the ending and there was certainly lots of action throughout to keep me turning the pages. I can’t wait to see where it leads.