Author: Victoria Aveyard
Genre: Dystopian, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Series: Book One (Incomplete)

 Red Queen – ★★★★★

First off, let me just say I went into reading this book after a huge hype. Everyone was saying how amazing it was and how unexpected the end was; there were also countless mentions of “twists” by other reviewers that made me even more expectant of surprises.

The writing is basically flawless, easy to follow, and smooth. It’s a fast read, not only because you can’t stop and have to read on, but also because the flow of the writing is so nice. Aveyard does an amazing job with sewing in the details naturally without smacking you in the face with it.

MARE BARROW – (Bone Marrow?) Besides her funny name, she is a likable main character. Yes, certain things she did kind of pissed me off, but overall I understood why she said the things she did and did the things she did. Plus, she develops as a character at such a believable speed that she seems like an actual person.

CAL – When I was first introduced to Cal, I pictured him as scrawny and awkward, then by the end of the book he was all of a sudden, big and mighty (though I guess being in a place where you’re uncomfortable can have that effect on you.) He’s just and compassionate and I loved his character despite the “bad” things he did and the loyalties he kept. He was basically the only one who was honest, which I found naively honorable.

The romance wasn’t quite developed as much as I would’ve liked it to be, but I understand that it’s going through the growing pains. I’m hopeful the next one will have a little bit more movement in the love department, but I definitely see a love triangle developing.

“The Twist” is…I won’t say, because honestly I don’t know what the other reviewers were referring to. There were moments in the book where I was like “Oh, I saw that one coming…” and then there were times where I was like “Wait, wtf just happened??” This book has it all: love, betrayal, victories, and POWER. It kept me on my toes the entire time.

This is the first book of the series and I’m itching to read the second one, which is supposed to be released in February 2016 (too far…). Also! If you didn’t already know, they’re going to be making this book into a movie!! I love when books are adapted into movies, especially fantasy ones. Since Aveyard studied as a screenwriter, I think she innately has a visual style of writing because I was able to picture everything while reading.

GO OUT AND BUY THIS BOOK. It should be part of your collection, because why not? Not only is it a great read, the cover is freaking fantastic.

Buy it on Amazon