Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Whispers of the Story 

War, status, power, blood. The four elements that divide the kingdom of Norta. This is the order dictated by the royal family. But what if nature decides to mutate?

Mare is a simple seventeen-year-old girl just trying to survive. She gets a job to help support her family, but one stupid accident that was supposed to kill her reveals she is something far more than anyone expected. Suddenly, she is part of the elite, engaged to a prince, falling in love with another, and learning how to use powers she never knew she had. But there are more secrets left to uncover, and a revolution is quietly boiling.

Review of Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

One world where the population is divided. A girl who is more special than anyone anticipated and proceeds to disturb the entire world order. She fights the villains, fights for justice, fights for the freedom of her people, all while being in love with a very attractive young man. Sound familiar? Yes. Absolutely yes. And I do not care even slightly.

Apparently I have a type. I read Divergent by Veronica Roth and loved it. I read The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare and loved it. I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and loved it. I read Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo and loved it. I read Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and loved it. I am a self confessed sucker for special young women who change the world, and I have made my peace with that. Could I guess the action? Yes. The ending? Mostly. The turmoil along the way? Every single step of it. And yet I read the whole series in two weeks. Some soft spots simply cannot be argued with.

Yes I Have A Type, No I Will Not Apologise

I will not walk you through the entire plot because honestly, if you have read any of the books I mentioned above, you already know the broad strokes. And you can read in my review of Shadow and Bone were I talk more about the typical ideas that are flowing in this kind of book. What I will tell you is why this one got its hooks into me specifically, because despite the familiar formula, there are genuinely interesting elements here that kept me turning pages far past any reasonable bedtime. Spoiler alert, I read the whole series in two weeks. 

Mare is different from other female leads in this genre. She does not spend chapters tangled in moral dilemmas or agonising over what the right thing to do is. She does what she needs to do to survive, and she does it without excessive hand wringing. Refreshing, honestly.

Cal is exactly what a future king should be: strong, ambitious, completely prepared for the weight of the crown. But here is where Victoria Aveyard does something genuinely interesting. Unlike most lead male characters in this kind of story, Cal does not drop everything the moment he develops feelings for someone. He is so committed to doing what is expected of him, to being the future king he was raised to be, that he accepts Mare will marry his brother. He and Mare feel attraction, real attraction, but not the kind that makes either of them abandon their entire lives. That restraint is unusual in this genre and I appreciated it enormously. Very very slow burn. Agonisingly slow, actually. In the best possible way.

The Maven Problem (Or: How I Got Played By A Villain And Felt Fine About It)

And then there is Maven. Both brothers develop feelings for Mare, and she has feelings for both of them to varying degrees, which is where the novel gets genuinely interesting. Cal stirs something fierce in her, all fire and tension. But Maven gets her in a different way entirely. They share the same ideas, the same instincts, a sense of familiarity that feels like recognition. He deceives her, yes, but she can see the person underneath, someone smothered by his mother, pushed into choices he might not have made alone, who with the right person beside him might have been something entirely different.

I will admit it. At some point I was rooting for Maven. I was. He is infatuated in a way Cal simply is not, the kind of all in devotion that makes you think, with the right direction, he would give up absolutely everything. He needed someone like Mare to break him free and show him what love actually looks like.

The ending genuinely shocked me. Cal being forced to murder his father was brutal in a way I did not see coming. Maven crowned as the new king while Cal is imprisoned, and Mare and Cal ending the book as barely more than two people with a common enemy. Not together. Not even close. The slow burn continues, and you have no choice but to pick up the second book immediately.

Nature Will Do What It Wants (And So Will The Scarlet Guard)

The concept of a society divided by blood colour is a simple idea executed with real confidence. And I loved the suggestion underneath it all that humanity evolves whether the powerful want it to or not. People with red blood gaining supernatural powers feels less like a fantasy device and more like a quiet lesson: nature will find a way, regardless of what anyone dictates.

The Scarlet Guard also deserves a mention, because they are not the usual ragtag band of lucky rebels that populate this genre. They are organised, armed, fearless, and genuinely prepared. They do not win through fortunate accidents. That detail matters more than it might seem.

And the writing itself, particularly the descriptions of power, the manifestations of ability, the battle scenes, is vivid and precise in a way that makes everything easy to picture without slowing the pace down even slightly. Victoria Aveyard really knows how to use her words.

Final Thoughts (And A Gentle Push Towards Book Two)

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard did not reinvent the classic story. It knows exactly what it is and executes it with energy, sharp dialogue, and enough genuinely surprising moments to keep even the most seasoned reader of this genre on their toes.

If you are in the mood for another fearless teenage girl standing up against oppressors, this is absolutely your book. The plot is engaging, the characters are spectacular, the dialogue is full of energy and wit, and the slow burn between Mare and Cal will have you reaching for the second book before you have even finished processing the ending.

Rating: 9 out of 10. One woman, two princes, and a rebellion. Sounds like the start of a an amazing journey.

Happy reading!