I don’t know what it is about new releases for 2015, but they've got some of the prettiest covers I’ve ever seen.
*cough* THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY, THE LEMONCHOLY LIFE OF ANNIE ASTER *cough*
And RED QUEEN is no exception.
I mean…
And RED QUEEN is no exception.
I mean…
*points*
As you can see, I was so in love with it, I did a
tribute mani.
Here’s the synopsis, from Goodreads:
The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under
the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.
To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts,
it looks like nothing will ever change.
Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the
centre of those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that,
despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that
threatens to destroy Silver control.
But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided
by blood, who will win?
***
As far as synopses go, this one's a little brief,
but that’s probably because the book is so full of twists and turns that even a little information could be spoiler-y. Because when I
say twists and turns, guys, I mean twists and turns. Just about every chapter had some kind of jaw-dropping game-changer, which is why I read the book in less than a day. It was kind of
like the TV series LOST, in that regard. The story moved forward quickly, but
took a very winding path to the end. Or to the end of this book, anyway, as this is the first of a series.
Other reviews have described RED QUEEN as high-fantasy X-Men-meets-THE SELECTION-meets-DIVERGENT, and I’d say that’s pretty accurate. There’s a strong
emphasis on power, both from a societal perspective, and the literal superhuman powers that certain characters possess. Mare Barrow was certainly a likable characters, along the
lines of Tris, from DIVERGENT, but I found her to be less mature. Mare's naïveté irked me
a couple of times, but because she’d lived a fairly
sheltered life in The Stilts, it was a forgivable irritant. And, to be fair, once Mare figured out that she could kick some serious ass, she got down to business, in the most major of ways.
Some criticism of RED QUEEN has included critiques of its “non-original”
plot, but since there’s pretty much no such thing as an original plot anymore,
and it’s about how the plot plays out—the intricate, unique details that stem
from the author’s imagination—RED QUEEN is a home-freaking-run. Cheering for the underdog is totally my bag, along with female-led dystopian rebellions, so I can't freaking wait for the rest of this series.
So if you like dystopian YA fiction and have daydreamed
about what it’d be like to control someone else’s mind, shoot fireballs from
your hands, or channel electricity, I think you’ll love RED QUEEN.
I was pretty much sold on this one from the cover, but when the words "X-men" and "female-led rebellion" happen, I'm 100% there. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteA volatile world with a dynamic heroine.A sizzling, imaginative thriller.
ReplyDeleteکتاب ملکه ی سرخ