Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, Vol.1, spoiler free

 Red Queen 1 (spoiler free)

I love scrolling on Tiktok. Once I noticed videos posted on Instagram were actually repost of Titkok videos, I thought it would be fair to give Tiktok a chance. And it was a good decision.

I stumbled across Booktok, or the "book side of Tiktok". Few things I noticed is just how much YA is read! And not only by teenagers. It made me feel less guilty to read those kind of books, haha.

So YA is popular on Booktok and especially fantasy. The same series got recommended over and over and over again, which made me take the decision to take a shot at them. The first one I chose to go with is Red Queen, mostly because the author is on the app. Little secret : I have the Six of Crows duology but I never finished the first volume 😕

Little introduction :

Red Queen is a series written by Victoria Aveyard. The story is set in a world divided into red bloods, the normal humans who are treated like less than nothing, and silver bloods, who have magical powers, and thus, status and wealth. We follow the story of Mare, a 17 year old red blood, who live a miserable life, stealing to survive. Then, one day, she discovers she has powers, which is not supposed to happen since she is a red blood. Kept prisoner by the royal family, she becomes their political puppet and has to face the dangers of the nobles while learning her new abilities.

Honestly, the synopsis made me really want to read this. It was very much hyped on Tiktok, and even more when fans notice that Victoria Aveyard was on the app. I was a bit worried though, as it seemed very YA cliche-like, and was afraid to be disappointed, especially since I'm not the targeted audience anymore (I'm... which is not considered young adult). But, much to my surprise, I loved it!

More detailed review :

The first few chapters are nice to follow. The story is told on the first perspective, Mare's. She is bitter, by life and society and because of life and society. Is she a bit dramatic? Maybe, but considering that she is 17 and living in a world where her options are really limited,  I think we can forgive her for that. Much to my surprise, an incident happens right in the beginning. It added another layer of dark and unfairness to a world that already reeked of dark and unfairness. She somewhat sees a little bit of hope but her powers awaken in public. She is the first to be shocked by this but before she can even process what's happening to her, she is put in the dungeons of the palace by the royal family. Her existence questions the foundations of the built society, where red bloods are servants, soldiers sent on the first line, and silver bloods are nobles and royals. She is seen as dangerous by the royal family, as her existence could bring chaos and the legitimacy of the silver bloods supremacy could be disputable. 

Mare, a bitter, desperate thief, is now bound to the royal family and faces all the political tension among the elites of the society. She becomes an exotic animal put in a golden cage, victim of people curiousness and greed. She quickly becomes a target and is not taken seriously (or maybe, too seriously). Part toy, part tool, part threat, she tries to live in her new environment. She also needs to train and control her powers, which she struggles with. In her journey, she is constantly meeting the two princes : Tiberias, the Crown Prince and the older brother, and Maven, the younger brother who is also... Mare's fiance. Against their will, the pair is now engaged to one another. Despite the initial mutual hate, they get to know each other, trust each other and eventually, to like each other. But Mare's heart is conflicted with Tiberias, who she met first. 

My thoughts on characters :

Mare is a understandable character and morally gray-ish. She is a thief, which is bad, but she does it to help her family, which is a good thing. I guess we can say her motivations are good and not ill-intended but her ways are questionable. She is physically strong. Mentally, she has her own struggles and insecurities but she still tries to go with it. She does not try to deal with them, though, which is why I call her bitter. I don't find her likable and I don't know if, irl, I would be friends with her. I might find her annoying x) 

Tiberias is... I don't know, my opinion on him alternate too much. He thinks he is a good guy, and he is a good guy, but at the same time, there are so many things he is not aware of... I do not root for him, not because I dislike him, but because he is not compatible with Mare. He is too righteous and stuck in his beliefs and values way too much his principles, while Mare is not that much rooted (though she is stubborn). 

Maven, I'm sorry, but from the moment I saw you, I did not like you. He comes off as haughty, and that's, I guess, the typical enemies to lovers' male lead image, but I still did not like it. He has sweet moments with Mare, but he is not compatible with her. They are similar, in their thoughts and insecurities, but that does not mean they should be together. A relationship works when there is a healthy balance between similarities and differences. It's not the case for Maven. From what I saw on other people's review, Maven is the favorite. He has that cheeky vibe, which is a common trait in love interests, but... I just cannot like him. 

Do I continue? :

You have a love triangle, an enemies to lovers, a love for two brothers, a chosen one kind of story... The first book's ending left me craving for more, curious about the outcome, ready to throw fists. I started to look at the other volumes and was quite surprise to see how not like they were! 

Apparently, the quality of the story goes down by each book (and it should be the reverse) and there are many questions left. The 4th and final book is said to be disappointing. My curiosity was enormous, so I HAD to check the spoilers.

Well.

I am not going to end this series unfortunately. The story was promising, the characters seemed deeper and more interesting than we think, only to have a really disappointing conclusion. When I read the final spoiler, I thought "all of this... for this?" so I do not want to imagine what people who followed thoroughly the series must have felt like. Betrayed might be a nice way of putting it. 

Anyways, I thought the hype was deserved, until I found out about the rest of the series. It frustrates me to stop before finishing, but I think I will stay here. Maybe one day I will find the courage and the motivation to continue! But for now, I will content myself with the first volume 😇

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on this. Feel free to comment your thoughts!