Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Another one bites the dust! By that I mean, yet another mediocre YA novel I can add to my “one and done” pile.

It started out so well: a very strong voice in the form of first-person protagonist Mare Barrow, a snarky thief struggling to keep herself and her family afloat in a class-driven, oppressive society. The world is what I’d describe as fantasy-lite with a few steampunk elements – people have elemental powers, but it’s recognizably a human world with a quasi-feudal structure, and steampunk comes in with the inclusion of several machines – a bicycle, a robotic-esque war machine, and airships.

Society is divided into two classes: the ruling class “Silvers”, who have all the power and money, and the working class “Reds”, who are mostly servants, tradespeople, and conscripted soldiers. Silvers claim to be gods, and are certainly superhuman – each is born with an ability to control the world around – some can control iron, others fire, water, and other elements, and a few can control people’s minds. Their blood itself runs silver. Reds, on the other hand, have no abilities, and their blood is red. It’s a world in which your fate is ruled by your genetic background and, quite literally, your blood.

Aveyard, like most YA authors, attempts snark, and unlike most, succeeds – Mare’s occasional comebacks and insults are genuinely funny and witty. The plot is fast-paced, the world is reasonably inventive, and the first half is very strong. In the second half, however, the ongoing romance is really phoned in – an epic romance is conceived out of literally about five brief interactions, and then a MAJOR plot point is hung upon it. Some authors suffer from the misconception that you can slap the label “prince” on someone, have him be sympathetic to a heroine twice, and every reader for a thousand miles will think he’s the second coming of Darcy crossed with Edward Cullen. Neither of Mare’s suitors *quite* leap into reality; combine Maven and Cal and you’d have one fully realized male character/romantic interest.

The undercooked romance is followed by a secondary plot point that was both wildly predictable – I saw it coming the entire novel, because this is how young adult novels go – and also extraordinarily poorly conceived and unconvincing.

Also, many readers commented on the distinct similarity between this and Pierce Brown’s Red Rising, right down to the protagonists’ names, and I’d have to agree – I didn’t make it far into Red Rising because the prose style resembled wading through mud, but the world-building is extremely similar. Aveyard’s characters and tone are quite different so I give her an overall pass, and there’s clear talent there, she just needs a firm editor and to push herself into uncharted, dare I say, unpredictable territory.

If you LOVED Marrisa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles, you’ll probably love this. If you, like me, really liked Cinder and didn’t enjoy any of the others, you might enjoy this. Ultimately, undiscerning readers will definitely enjoy this; it’s above average and the first half is downright good. Discerning will be, like me, disappointed by the lazy, rushed writing of the second half.

Tagged: bad book review, book review, books, dystopia, fantasy, Lunar Chronicles, Red Queen Victoria Aveyard book review, Red Rising Pierce Brown, Victoria Aveyard, YA, YA book review, YA dystopia, YA fantasy review