Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard
Published February 10, 2015 from HarperTeen
Mare is a red blood who lives in the kingdom of Norta. She’s a pickpocket – she must be to survive. Her life couldn’t get much worse; Cal, her best friend, is going off to the front lines and she will soon. All she can do is try to steal a sum of $2,000 to help them escape, but that is near impossible. Then one night, Mare’s life takes a turn for the worse. The day after a meeting with a strange man at a bar, she gets taken to the palace to be a servant – but soon it’s much more than that. Mare gets thrust into a world of lies and a new life that she has to live because of her unique power and red blood. If she bleeds, it’s all over. With the Scarlet Guard threatening the kingdom, the stakes are higher. An epic, lush fantasy, Victoria Aveyard creates a world with aspects from other books and takes it to a whole new level. The Young Elites meets The Jewel, Red Queen will have readers anticipating the sequel.
My thoughts:
Red Queen was a very enjoyable book. I had high expectations for it given all the marketing the HarperTeen is doing for this book and the hype surrounding it, and I think that it did pretty well. The beginning was slow, but the writing was awesome. I’d like to know more about the world, but I have a pretty good picture of it inside my head. I loved the idea, but I was let down by the execution and HOW SIMILAR it was to The Young Elites and The Jewel. It was literally take the two and put them together equals Red Queen. The Scarlet Guard was a very cool thing to add; the plot would’ve had holes if it wasn’t there and I think Victoria did a great job with the characters. They nailed it with the cover design; it is so gorgeous. I can’t wait to see the movie for this book-it’s been optioned and I think it would be a fantastic book for the big screen. Overall, Red Queen was a great book that will be talked about and the sequels will be extremely anticipated. I can not wait to see where Victoria goes with this series!
4 out of 5 XanderStars
Forever Bookish 
Yes, this one was great! I personally gave it five stars, and I would LOVE to see it as a film. Great review!
I don’t know how I feel about the word building being a little weak
I love when books have strong world building so I have an idea of the world I’m reading about. I’ll be reading this but man, I hope it satisfies me because it sounds amazing!
Can’t wait to read this one!