Author: Victoria Aveyard
Publisher: Harper Teen
Release Date: February 10th, 2015
Goodreads Summary:
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?
REVIEW
First, I would like to say that I didn't want to read this book at all, because of the hype. Everyone was talking about it in February and a lot of people said they had mixed feelings about it. I doubted I would ever get around it, but only idiots never change their minds, as they said, so I jumped into it. I won't lie, I also have mixed feelings about this book.
For a debut novel, this book is good, no doubt.
If you aren't so familiar with YA, this book is amazing.
But here is the thing : I'm a sucker for YA.
This book is a mix of YA books (The Selection, The Hunger Games, Red Rising, Shadow and Bone...), which disturbs me a lot. I have stopped reading dystopian novels because I found them too similar to each other, and then, I read this one. This book makes my point. So yes, I liked it, and if I was writing a review only based on my enjoyment, this book would be a 4.5 stars. But right now, all I can't think about is the similarities. If you want to know what I'm talking about, check this review : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1204596355?book_show_action=false
However, I don't want to dwell on this matter and try to talk about what I enjoyed about this book.
This world was really interesting, a true dystopian society, on that point, Aveyard was pretty good, even it there was nothing new. The Silvers are above the Reds, who wants to begin a revolution with a spark (almost a quote of the book, ahem, you know which ORIGINAL book I'm referring to), our main character, Mare.
I really liked her, she was an interesting character, and most of the time she was realistic. I will make an exception for a moment like when she has to bow in front of the king (who can kill her) and refuse, because his system is the reason for her awful life. I can't understand she hates him, but if I had been in her shoes, I would have been terrified.
There was a love triangle, I don't really like it obviously (like most of the time), I'll be happy as long as she doesn't end up with the Gale.
The plot was pretty solid, the last plot twists were really well done, even if I knew that character would betray her. Still, I didn't expect the last events at all, I was pleasently surprised.
Victoria Aveyard can write, that's what she showed me with this book. The pacing, the transitions, it was well written and enough to keep my attention, even if I was mad at her for the similarities. Now, I want to give her a chance for improvement in the second book, for the originality. With an ending like this one, I feel like I have to read the second book, and I will, but I really hope it won't turn out on a collection of similarities to other YA books. I think Aveyard would be great at retellings because of that, though.
Rating : 3.5/5
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