Review of Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Advance Review of Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen

Release Date: February 10th, 2015

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

Graceling meets The Selection in debut novelist Victoria Aveyard's sweeping tale of seventeen-year-old Mare, a common girl whose once-latent magical power draws her into the dangerous intrigue of the king's palace. Will her power save her or condemn her?

Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood—those with common, Red blood serve the Silver- blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.

To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard—a growing Red rebellion—even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction. One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

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?

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It is always exciting when you read a great book and know that it is going to be a huge success. Red Queen is everything I ever hope for when I pick up a new book. It has action, mystery, romance, suspense... a multitude of things wrapped up with a beautiful Red & Silver bow. I'd have to say this book is going to be the Hunger Games of 2015!

After the world has been devastated by war, a new race of people are discovered. While there is no real back story as to what happened in the past, we know that man-kind is now divided by classes. There are the Silvers who rule over all others with amazing abilities (which I will list some of in a few), but also, when cut, bleed Silver blood. There are the Reds, who are common folk who are forced into a semblance of slavery to do the bidding of the Silvers. The Reds have no powers (and also bleed Red blood). Then there are the techies, whom are not talked about much, but the reader finds out at one point that they live in Factory towns building all weapons, cameras, and whatever else is needed by the Silvers. Techies are never allowed to leave the life they are born into, even to become soldiers.

I won't give you too much back story on Mare Molly Barrow, because you read enough from the synopsis to get the gist. She is a Red, who by chance & fate ends up in the palace at the wrong place/wrong time. While different girls from different Silver families are being paraded around to show their powers to see which one will be chosen by one of 2 princes to become their brides, she falls onto a forcefield made of electricity. Instead of immediately dying, her powers are ignited. Never before has there been a Red with powers before. Even though this happens in front of hundreds of people, the King & Queen decide to make up a ruse so that no one will find out the truth. Thus begins Mare's life in this treacherous new world.

Now, I mentioned before that the Silvers have a plethora of powers. Some are mentioned in the book, & others are hinted around, but it is said that there are too many to possibly list them. I will list the ones that were named within:

Whisper - Can Read Minds
Telky - Can Move Objects With Their Mind
Greenwarden (Greeny) - Manipulates Plants & The Earth
Cloner - Multiples Themselves Into Multiple Clones On Command
Oblivion - Obliterates Anything They Think Of (Human Bomb)
Nymph - Controls Water
Swift - Moves Incredibly Quickly
Strongarm - Immense Strength (Sometimes Comes With Enlarged Body Parts)
Animos - Controls Animals
Magnetron - Controls Metal
Shadow - Bends Light
Burner - Controls Heat & Fire
Storm - Controls Weather
Blood Healer - Can Heal Themselves
Skin Healer - Can Heal Others
Silk - Quick, Quiet, Perfectly Balanced, & Agile
Eyes - Can See The Immediate Future
Silence - Can Turn Off Other's Powers
Singers - Can Make Others Do What The Want By Speaking To Them
Shiver - Freezes Objects

I tried to keep track of every different power that was written about, but I know I missed a few. I got really into this book & may have overlooked some powers. There are a few that were talked about that were never named, like a girl who could shatter glass with her voice, turning their skin to stone, & of course, Mare's powers over Electricity were never given a name.

I hope I have written enough about this book to entice you into picking it up when it comes out next month, because I really do believe that it is going to be a huge success. I didn't want to give too much away, because I want you to enjoy finding out the little things like I did while reading. Enjoy & Happy New Year!