"Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard
Dear readers, I have two announcements to make:
- I have read my first book in Spanish!
- I have a new favourite!!!
In a world divided by the colour of blood where poverty-stricken Red commoners serve a Silver elite gifted with god-like superpowers, Mare Molly Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl, is scraping as a thief in a poor, rural village, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Before the king, princes and all the nobles, she discovers that, despite her red blood, she has an ability of her own.
To cover up this impossibility, the king declares her a long-lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. One wrong move can lead Lady Mareena to death, yet she risks everything to help the Scarlet Guard - a growing Red rebellion - to bring down the Silver regime. But in the dangerous game of power she is playing, the only certainty is betrayal.
Red Queen is a best-selling fantasy-dystopian young adult novel by Victoria Aveyard. I heard about it from my classmate in a literature presentation at school about one book she had read this summer, and I was intrigued. In order to improve my Spanish skills, I chose to read Red Queen in Spanish, and I loved it (both the book and the Spanish). Thus I will be writing two reviews - one in English and another one in Spanish (this is going to be challenging).
Fast-paced and action-packed, Red Queen soon made me addicted. The plot was constantly moving forward, so there was absolutely no time for poor Mare (and me, too) to take a breath. It was almost too much for me as an introvert, and at times, when I managed to tear myself away from the book, I felt a relieving tiredness, as if I was finally home after a long day spent in the company of others or doing a dopamine detox. But I loved it and was always excited to know what will happen next.
Another reason why I loved this book was that it quickly made me attached to the characters. I have read some reviews on Goodreads which describe Mare as annoying and selfish but although she was definitely not a role model (in the beginning, she was a thief, a bit of a coward, judgemental towards Silvers and at times struggled to empathise with people), she was relatable, and I soon grew fond of her, as well as the other characters.
And as it has always been, the more you get attached to fictional characters, the more it hurts.
Anyone can betray anyone.
Reaching through the pages of her book, Victoria Aveyard tore my heart apart and caused me to have the longest and worst breakdown I had ever experienced in my sixteen and a half years of experience. The whole day was an emotional roller coaster. If you had watched me read the book, you would have seen me shift from excited squealing to hysterical sobbing and soundless screaming. Red Queen made me experience a wide array of emotions, and I loved it.
When it comes to romance, I disliked the main love interest. I hated him with a passion and not because he would be a bad person, but because he was drowning my ship. I needn't have worried about this, though - after having read the book, I am pretty convinced that Aveyard knows what she is doing.
By the way, as I was reading, I could feel my Spanish improving quickly, I found myself able to form sentences and express myself, and in the end, I only had to translate a few words in a page of the ebook. So if you are learning a foreign language, immersing yourself in it is really the best choice.
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