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Quick overview:
In a world where people with Silver blood are regarded as Gods and Goddess and the people with Red blood are disposable servants, a girl with Red blood and Silver powers is forced into a dangerous game.
Mare Barrow has never been special, she is jobless and is destined to be shipped of to fight in a war she doesn't even believe in. But when she is given a high ranking job in the castle because of a handsome stranger, things get difficult when she displays the powers of a Silver in front of hundreds of high ranking Silver families. Forced to play an evil part in an unknown game, Mare needs to navigate the war, the rebellion and her heart.
(Book 1 in the Red Queen series: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard)
Personal opinion on the book:
At the end of reading this book I was literally screaming, I just wished I had the second book to read IMMEDIATELY! But alas, I had not though that far ahead. (The annoying this was that I was at the book shop that morning and picked up the second book and said "I should get this" but I thought I wouldn't finish the Red Queen that quickly and put the book down!)
But back to the book. In the first couple of chapters I found the book a little slow to develop and thought that it was kinda just like every other dystopian novel I had read. But then the plot's complexity began to pick up and I was swept away into the Red Queen novel's world.
Regarding the boys and the impeding ship in this book... I was ultimately so confused. At first I liked Cal, then I hated Cal and then I liked Maven, then I hated Maven. Ultimately I finished the book feeling a little lost, I am a person who typically ships two characters in EVERY book! I could ship a romantic couple, a bro-mance, a BFF thing, a dog being man's best friend. Basically, I ship a LOT! And when both of these male leads (who just so happen to be hot brothers) fell out of my grace, I just felt very empty inside.
But overall, I adored this book and really enjoyed the concept!
Hidden message and consequential thinking:
Over the duration of the time that I was reading the Red Queen, I really started to think about different social and world issues that this book (and many other dystopian stories) brought to life. In this book there is a strong divide between the 'Reds' and the 'Silvers.' As the reader I felt pretty upset by the way the Reds were treated. But I found that in a way this divide is present in our world, but in a different way... I would like to call it, the present and the future theory.
I have two example of this 'theory':
The first is when you arrive home after a long day at work/school, you had the WORST DAY! Everything that could have gone wrong did and nothing went your way. So instead of unpacking your bag you just dump it on the floor. You proceed to stomp off and take an awfully long and hot shower. Now this means that all the hot water has been used up on you and nobody else gets any, but you don't care. YOU are the one who had the hard day, YOU deserve a nice shower! Next you see those delicious leftovers, the very ones you were specifically told NOT to eat. But alas, this delicious meal is now YOURS! You finish eating and go off to bed.
Because of how you felt in the present, not only will you have made someone else miss out on having hot water and there special meal. But you have also made your own future harder for yourself.
My second example is one that I have personally experienced on several occasions while I was on a camping trip. At this camping ground there were only three showers and over a thousand woman. So as expected, each night I would have to line up for a minimum of thirty minutes to a maximum of an hour and fifteen minutes. While standing in the line all you could hear were people talking about was how long the three lucky people were taking in the shower. But as soon as it was any of these people's turn in the shower, suddenly it was completely reasonable to take a ten minute shower.
In both of these examples, it is pretty clear that sometimes we actually don't think about how our selfish actions affect the people around us. Although we may feel as though it is an okay way to act at a particular time, sometimes it can have negative effects on the people around us. It could even effect ourselves in the near or far away future...
Quote of the book:
I am finally learning my lesson, anyone can betray anyone - Mare Barrow
Books in the series:
- Red Queen
- Glass Sword
Book containing both novellas: Cruel Crown
If you like... then try...:
If you enjoyed reading this book I recommend reading Divergent by Veronica Roth. I hope that you have already heard about this book and movie. But these two series are both about a messed up society and how one girl is 'special'... They are both really great and I highly recommend it!
Read the full summary of Divergent by Veronica Roth through this Goodreads link.
Star rating (out of 5):
I give this amazing book a star rating of 4.8/5 stars. I did feel as though this book was a little slow at first, but it picked up and had some amazing plot twists!
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This is the first time that I have ever written this kind of review before, I actually really LOVED writing my new segment: Hidden message and consequential thinking. I found that it helped me think through this book, what it is about and how it made me as a reader feel.
Thanks for checking out this review! I really loved this book and am going to be buying the next in the series really soon!
Until next time, keep reading!
- Shelbi (Book Ambrosia)
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