Red Queen is a fantasy novel by Victoria Aveyard. It is the first novel in the Red Queen series. The book follows Mare, a girl who lives in a world which is divided by the color of blood. Mare is a Red, meaning she is a commoner and lacks the superpowers of the noble Silvers. However, Mare discovers that she has powers of her own while working at the castle and is declared a princess, putting her into a dangerous game between Reds and Silvers.
I wanted to love this novel, but in the end I only found it okay. The plot is entertaining and features an unexpected plot twist and intense, exciting moments. The superpowers are fun and unique. The concept, however, is similar to other novels and follows many tropes seen in other young adult fantasy novels. The writing can drag on at times, but I didn’t find this to be too much of a problem. What did taint my opinion on this novel, however, was the characters. The characters are bland and obnoxious, as well as cliche like mentioned above.
I would recommend this for fantasy novel lovers, especially if you don’t mind its similarity to other novels. I would rate it 3 stars.