Mare Barrow was just another Red girl, living crushed beneath the iron fist of the silvers, trying to piece together her family, her mother, and sister, and father who lost a lung and leg to the war, and her three conscripted brothers, shattered by a silver war, forced to make a living for her family, only seventeen, pickpocketing. Until age 18 when she will be inevitably conscripted to the Nortan-Lakelander war- a centuries-old war, a bloodbath. Until her childhood friend loses his job and is left with mere days before his conscription. Until she pickpockets a mysterious stranger. Until she suddenly finds a job in the silver palace as a maid. Until the day of Queenstrial, the choosing of the most powerful, young, silver girl, who shall be destined to produce the finest possible heir to the throne of Norta, and marry Tiberias Calore the Seventh, Flame of the North, Heir to the Crown of Norta. Until by some twisted fate she falls, her world shattering around her, falling into oblivion, falling headfirst into her future, falling into the Queenstrial arena. Death seemed inevitable as she spiraled through the air, down toward the lightning shield of the arena, and suddenly her whole world changes. "I feel the heat of the sparks, running up and down my body, setting every nerve on fire. It isn't a bad feeling though. In fact, I feel, well, alive. Like I've been living my whole life blind and now I've opened my eyes. Something moves beneath my skin, but it's not the sparks, I look at my hands, my arms, marveling at the lightning as it glides over me. cloth burns away, charred black by the heat, but my skin doesn't change. The shield keeps trying to kill me, but it can't. Everything is wrong. I am alive." as her power unfolds, engulfing her in the life and lies of the silvers she is forced to pose as the long-lost daughter of a dead silver war general Ethan Titanos, her mother the long dead Nolle Titanos also murdered on the battlefront, now betrothed to Maven Calore, younger brother of Tiberias Calore the Seventh, Flame of the North, Heir to the Crown of Norta, she must find a way to survive in this new world, in a court of snakes, with a crown of daggers upon her head. Red Queen- Victoria Aveyard -armcginn
Red Queen
By Victoria Aveyard
| Interest Level | Reading Level | Reading A-Z | ATOS | Word Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 9 - 12 | Grades 3 - 6 | n/a | 5.2 | 111948 |
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.
Book Reviews (24)
I love this book so much! I read it because the description was similar to books I enjoy.
This book is so so so good. This book has action, romance, and betrayal.
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It was good and bad. Everything was predictable* and I felt that the whole thing with Mare and Cal went to far. Maven was at least useful in the plot but Cal did absolutely nothing. Everyone (except Julian) was super idiotic. They should have shown Farley more. I liked the humor and Mare's perspective. If someone likes a little romance along with action, rebellions and the chance of betrayal, this book is for you. * Spoiler Alert = everything except Shade beingalive
love it!
This book, in my honest opinion, only received what it deserved: a 2.50. An excellent comparison for this novel would be the Selection series written by Kiera Cass , which, for those of you that are well read, should already be setting off warning bells. The BAD: The book is bland, impractical, unrealistic, predictable (with one exception), and constantly pessimistic (unreasonably so). •One issue is how depricicatingly low grammar level is. I, as of almost a year ago during freshman year, finished the book in less than one night and was quick to pick up the next book from the school library, if only to satisfy myself with the story resolution (only to wait months longer for the third and hopefully final book to be published). •Another issue is the characters. Mare, the main protagonist is. . .tell me how to say IDIOTIC in a nice way. Sure she grew up in an impoverished family; sure she wasn't the brightest lightbulb ever to grace the earth; sure she's a master pickpocket who knows her way around the cesspool that's the stilts (her home town). Mare is fully ignorant to the life of the rich (excusable), but the real deal breaker is how the author suddenly tried to make teenage logic seem like it was ingenious when it was painfully obvious that it wouldn't—couldn't solve anything! I am not talking about yet-to-be-designed technology issues, I am talking about characters who apparently need to go back to grade school for lack of better common sense; it is horrific. Fact is, Mare's as useless as a slimy sack of potatoes until the last three chapters. I am not joking. •The OTHER characters! If you thought my short, impromptu description of Mare was bad, wait until you hear the full extension about the side characters—both the protagonists and antagonists. Despite most characters being older that Mare, they act just as moronic as her and sometimes even more so! Almost every silver (the weird upper class citizens and nobels with supernatural abilities and "shimmering" silver blood) is overly accentuated as being spoiled and arrogant, reds (people that are oppressed by the silvers [the lower class] and bleed like regular humans) run around like headless chickens without a lick of caution in their supposed secret activities that have been conducted for years, perhaps es even decades. Furthermore, it is stated that silvers live in a world fabricated from lies, yet almost none of them can recognize one giving them a dead-eyed stare right in the face. Cringe worthy. And the GOOD: Now, there were some entertaining aspects to the story, including that exeption to the predictability statement aforementioned and some interesting ideals presented by the book. •The whopping plot twist that sent almost every reader into a loop. It was completely unexpected and I was personally pleased that SOMETHING had finally managed to surprise me. Alternatively, the only reason it worked was because all the characters were too dumb to prevent the event from happening. •The SUPERPOWERS! Because, sometimes you just need a little kick-butt action in your favorite hobby. •The insanity. I like characters with problems, it entices me. •The important murder. I don't know why, but it was pretty epic compared to almost everything else. CONCLUSION: Read it if you want. It by far isn't the best story and it for sure isn't worth buying in hardcover or the audiobook. If you want to read something that's light and easy to plow through, go right ahead and don't let my comments stop you. If you want something epic, find a better book.
My friend recommended this to me and I read it and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Best book ever
It had action on every page!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what is the genre
The Red Queen is a story about a girl named Mara. Mara started the story very poor and through a chance encounter with a stranger she discovers that she is gifted with special powers.