In Red Queen, people are divided up by the color of their blood: those with red blood and those with silver blood that have special abilities.  Mare Barrow, a poverty stricken Red, lives under the rule of the Silvers when she finds herself working at the Silver Palace.  She soon after discovers a silver-like ability of her own.

The beginning of this story was the highlight for me.  I really liked the dynamic of Mare’s relationships with her family.  It really felt like she had a clear goal from the beginning of the story.  The plot points before the big Palace scene were interesting and felt like they really kept the story going.

Then Mare discovers her power and the plot points after that felt like too much, and I didn’t really understand what was going on.  Maybe it was a lack of interest that kept me from understanding because I felt like I’ve read a much similar story before in YA literature.  I found the characters, setting, and plot interesting, but not compelling enough to really care much about them.  And I really wish this weren’t one of those stories where the main character has no female friends because they’re all fighting over the men.  I just always find it really hard to believe that not one female side character is not on the main characters side.  Evangeline was an interesting character, but Mare was always so jealous of her.  I just find the fighting over a guy thing so boring now. /End rant.

The one thing I truly appreciated in this story was the romance subplot.  It’s very much not what you expect it to be. I would have been annoyed by it in the end, but once everything is actually revealed, it is a lot more complicated than you expect.

In the end, I just feel that this book was the wrong one for me at this time.  Had I not been semi-spoiled for the ending, I might have enjoyed it much more.  That said, this book is great for anyone interested in reading a YA fantasy right now, just not me.

Rating: ★★★