Red Queen (Red Queen, #1) by Victoria Aveyard

Narrated by Amanda Dolan

Synopsis (via Goodreads): 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.

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First of all, the title is a little misleading. It should be RED PRINCESS instead of RED QUEEN, because of reasons. The title makes you think one thing going into the story, but it's not really an accurate description of what happens. I can see how it might work after reading the entire book, but for some reason it bothered me. It's a very small detail that didn't really impact my feelings about the book as a whole, but I thought it was worth mentioning. If you've read this, what do you think?

Moving on! I really enjoyed Red Queen overall. I thought Mare was an interesting character that's morally complex. She steals for her family to survive, yet makes questionable decisions that could endanger their lives. She lies to protect herself and others, but I think she lies to herself the most. If she had been more honest with how she was feeling, and for whom, I think some of her problems could have been avoided. Mare was swept up in the Silver's world and almost lost herself in the process.

I wish we had seen more of Mare's family, because I thought they had an interesting dynamic. We spend a little of the book in the Stilts, but not enough to really get a feel for her relationships and what her life was like there. Yes, we see the bare bones of it all, but I would have enjoyed seeing her interacting with friends and family more, and gotten a better sense of their personalities. Kilorn particularly. He's a very complex and fascinating character, but he pops up randomly and exchanges very few words with Mare.

It's your typical class division, except this one is based on blood and powers, not just wealth and connections. Reds have been taken advantage of for decades simply because they cannot do what the Silver's are capable of. They're being forced to do the world's dirty work, with no benefit, and no way out. They live in horrible conditions, and are abused into submission. I wish their plight had been more of a focal point, and Mare had been more concerned with helping them than furthering the politics of a rebellion. Yes, I can see how a rebellion was necessary for the people to free themselves, but I wish Mare had been less focused on the Red Guard's plans, and worked more with Julian and other people like him. She had an opportunity to really help people, but she started following the ideas of others instead of being her own person.

I guess I had more issues with this one than I thought! Overall, it was great. There's a lot of action and fighting, and I thought the Silver's powers were interesting. They can do fantastic things, but they can also use their abilities to be really cruel. Imagine what they could have done in the world, if they had simply wanted to help others...

Cal was an equally conflicted character, but he was loyal to a fault. He'd never experienced betrayal before Mare (that he was aware of), and her manipulation of him was hard to watch. She claims to have feelings for the prince, despite being engaged to his brother, but she flip-flops constantly. I don't think even she knew what she really felt, and I wish she had taken a second to figure it out. Maybe then she could have avoided some of her mistakes.

I do think this is a series I will continue, but I'm not desperately searching for the next book. The ending left me feeling hopeful, but also wary of what's to come. I'm also not sure why Farley lied about someone super specific and integral to the story, and I'm curious if that will be addressed later on. Did she think not saying anything would keep Mare motivated? Regardless, it wasn't right for her to keep that secret.

I'm on the fence with this one, and Glass Sword will be the deciding factor. I hope there is more character growth, and a significant change in the overall story. There's an opportunity to do a lot with the ending of Red Queen, and I'm curious where the author will go from here.