Genre: Fantasy/ YA
Edition: http://tinyurl.com/mvjzenn
Synopsis:
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 Scarlet 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 ...
Summary:
A thrill ride if I ever did see one. Red Queen grabs you by the throat from the first sentence and quickly drags you into the whirlwind of hate, power and abilities beyond comprehension.
My thoughts:
Red Queen grabs everything you knew about fiction, rips it to shreds and rebuilds something far more superior within the first few chapters. Mare's world has been intricately built, providing us with tradition, crippling reality and fantasy all at the same time.
Mare lives in the poverty stricken stilts where, if you don't get a job, the only thing you can look forward to is conscription. Mare is one year away, her best friend Kilorn, is not.
In a surge of love and sisterly affection, Mare takes it upon herself to save Kilorn but through all her good intentions, ends up destroying the world around her and being dragged into a much more dangerous dance than the front line.
Mare, along with her sister Gisa head to the city where Gisa works as a seamstress apprentice, though Mare tags along for more ominous reasons. Eager to raise the funds needed to save Kilorn from conscription, she does what she does best, stealing. Except this time, she's stealing from silver pockets - silvers who have abilities she can't imagine. Swifts who can catch her in an instant, nymphs who can drown her with water from the fountains and whispers who can control her body.
In moments, she is overcome with both wonder and frustration, the Silver's reap all the luxuries while the lowly red servants suffer in silence, or so she thinks.
The Scarlet Guard, a group the Silver's shrug off as terrorists, are rising up, Reds determined to break the chains and begin a new dawn for mankind, where Red and Silver are equal.
This startling news report sends the Silver's into chaos, rampaging through the streets grabbing any Red in sight and retaliating, Scarlet Guard or not.
The result of which involves Mare and Gisa retreating home, but Gisa comes away both physically and mentally scarred, her hand in tatters she can no longer be a seamstress and cannot support her family.
Mare is overcome with both grief and hatred for the Silver's and in a last ditch attempt, pickpockets the drunken patrons of the local pub when a not so local patron walks out and catches her in the act, but surprisingly he offers her money instead of reporting her.
The next day Mare is called to the palace. Fearing the worst she is taken back to the city where the Silver's rioted only hours before and is forced into service at the palace - a 'prestigious' position serving the higher houses of Silver society.
Mare witnesses first hand Queenstrial, a dangerous pageant of power and fanciful movements, all with the intention of winning over the Princes to become their Princess and eventually Queen.
Silvers show their shocking array of powers, magnetrons, animos, storms, swifts, all demonstrate their powers in the arena to the best of their ability, one even more so than others.
Evangeline, a magnetron, caught up in the moment brings down the stand holding Mare as she serves nobles, pitching her over the side, hitting the lightning shield that separates the spectators from the arena.
In a blinding moment, Mare is in the arena, firing off lightning bolts of her own. In fear and horror she sprints off in fear for her life, both confused about what has happened and what she is.
Captured and brought to the Queen, who forces her way into Mare's mind, everything is laid bare. Mare is a red. Mare has silver abilities. Mare is different and it cannot spread.
Although the storyline isn't completely unheard of, the underdog crumbling the overseeing control of a government or power, Red Queen has plenty of twists of its own. It effectively dusts away the cobwebs left on the way fantasy is written and invigorates it anew because Red Queen is written well.
The characters entwine effortlessly, each with their own motivations and dreams, a reason for them to act or to not. They all have a part to play in the bigger picture, no matter how small they might appear. And the most minor character of them all might surprise you.
Red Queen is incredibly fast-paced with things swiftly churning from bad to worse with each proceeding chapter, non stop events, power plays, secret meetings and attacks keep you on the edge of your seat even at the final pages.
The most shocking moment for me came near the end with a betrayal of epic proportions which culminated in a cripplingly intense battle that made my skin tingle with anticipation.
Final Word:
Fantasy at it's best. Beautifully indulgent, exciting and I cannot wait for the second instalment.
Rise, red as the dawn.
Star Rating: 5 out of 5 stars.
Buy: Definitely, this is not one to miss.
Borrow: If you decide borrow and don't buy it afterwards, I will be deeply surprised.
Further Reading Suggestions: Snow Like Ashes - Sara Raasch, Throne of Glass Series - Sarah. J . Maas, Red Rising - Pierce Brown
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