Tea Cup Review of Victoria Aveyard’s ‘Red Queen’

I love books of all shapes, sizes, genre and topics. I form close connections with the stories I read and they become a part of who I am. #booksarefriends Even though I am lover of all thinks books, my favourite genre of books above all is young adult science fiction/dystopian stories. Phew, such a literary mouth full. These stories will always contain elements of a love triangle (ALWAYS), good versus evil and a strong minded protagonist trying to save the world. I don’t know what it is, but a story set against the backdrop of a chaotic universe serenades me as a reader. With personal favourites such as the ‘Divergent’ and ‘The Hunger Games’ series, I am constantly searching for new stories that can fulfill the literary needs in my bookish soul so beautifully done by Tris and Katniss respectively. I am happy to report that I have been reading a new book which fits these demands. Dear reader, meet my new book obsession Victoria Aveyard’s novel ‘Red Queen.’

‘Red Queen’ is Victoria Aveyard’s debut novel and has definitely made an enormous bang within the literary universe. ‘Red Queen’ has been splashed over all of my social media accounts with fans already anticipating the release of the untitled sequel! What a #literarywin for Aveyard to collect such dedicated fan-girls and fan-boys so quickly in her career. ‘Red Queen’ is set in the dystopian universe where Red blooded peasants are ruled by a Silver blooded royalty bestowed with supernatural powers. Reading this I was making comparisons between the mud bloods, half bloods and pure bloods in Harry Potter. The story also struck a similarity for me in Malorie Blackman’s ‘Noughts and Crosses,’ are very underrated story exploring the division between established black community against a struggling white skinned population.

‘Red Queen’ follows the rise of a revolutionary group known as ‘The Scarlet Guard’ attempting to overthrow the Silver government and royalty. The protagonist of the story Mare Barrow is a seventeen year old red blooded girl who finds herself caught amongst the web of the silver royalty. Mare is a strong female character who is quick to stand up for herself, her family and ultimately her beliefs. I enjoyed getting to know her and loved her sharp manner and quick wit. What won her over for me was that she was not a copy of Katniss or Tris, but entirely a fresh face on the dystopian block. Aveyard is a master of tragedy writing and would make Shakespeare weep with her words. I was completely oblivious to the twists and turns she was setting up and I was constantly gasping at the surprises! I never vocalize when reading, so this was a first for me! I felt that I was completely in the dark the entire story and Aveyard’s message of anyone can betray anyone was constantly present throughout the entire story. Because this book was a young adult dystopian novel, the element of a love triangle was present. Now dear reader, when I read a love triangle I will always pick a side and never ever change my mind. Sorry Jacob Black, but I will be forever Team Edward until the end of my days.

In ‘Red Queen,’ I was constantly changing my opinion about the characters as Aveyard keeps you guessing throughout the story. One thing that did confuse me when reading this book was the literary jargon of the supernatural powers of the Silver elite community. Examples such as “strongarm” and “whisper” were a little bit confusing for me to read. It took me the first few chapters to get comfortable but once I got into the thick of the story it became much more natural for me to read and recognise. Last week I was lucky enough to participate in a read along of ‘Red Queen’ with two other Instagram users. I have never participated in a read along before and it was really excited to be update with how the other two girls were enjoying the book. We agreed a lot about the twists and turns in the book and loved how kick ass Mare was as the leading lady. It was nice to be able to share the emotional journey of this read with people that loved the story as much as I did! This can be found on my Instagram account @missbookdependent

Arnold enjoying the read along of ‘Red Queen.’

There is a lot of pressure reading a story that has so much excitement surrounding it. My expectations for ‘Red Queen’ were set extremely high and it absolutely smashed them. This book is worth every single fan appreciation post on all outlets of social media and I will be one of many desperately waiting for the sequel of ‘Red Queen’ to hit the shelves. If you dear reader are a lover of dramatic novels within a dystopian setting this bad boy is for you. Also, if you are looking for a new read to indulge in, I suggest snuggling up to this story. I am also highly anticipating the future movie release of this book. The scenes in the story would be visually spectacular on the big screen!

🍵🍵🍵🍵

What are some books you have read that have completely lived up to your high expectations?

Happy Reading,

Miss Book Dependent xo