Red Queen- Victoria Aveyard

Aveyard, Victoria. Red Queen. Orion Books, 2015.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

This book was suggested to me by a librarian at the public library for a project I am working on concerning YA literature. I was skeptical of it at first, after reading the book jacket I was not completely sold on the idea of yet another novel about teenagers fighting to the death. Then Bookbub sent it to me for $1.99 and I could no longer ignore it. At first glance it seems to be another Hunger Games-esque novel, teens, love triangles and arena fighting. However, as I was drawn into the book more and more I realized there was much more beneath the surface, much like the protagonist Mare.

SUMMARY:

Mare Barrow is a Red Blood, doomed to conscription in an endless war with the neighboring kingdom. Held in near slavery by the Silver Bloods, the Reds barely managed a subsistence existence, the Silvers keeping the much more numerous Reds in check with their Abilities. Stoneskins, Nymphs, Magnetrons, and most feared, Whispers.

With their Abilities to control the natural elements, and the people around them, the Silvers held the Reds in check, barely. We follow Mare, a common thief, through misadventure after disaster until she is revealed to be something unexpected: a Red with the Ability to harness and create electricity. Unfortunately for the Royals her power is exposed in a most public way, forcing them to concoct a story about a lost Silver Noble who was found through happenstance and restored to her rightful place, and then betrothed to the younger Prince. From here we see Mare do everything in her power to learn the world around her, be true to her heritage while also protecting her secret Red blood, and thread her way through the dangers of the royal court. The Scarlet Guard, a Red rebellion, recruits her as well as her future husband, a Silver Prince. They instigate an assassination at a ball and the world falls apart from there. A theme running through the story is “Anyone can betray anyone.” We see Mare, Maureen now, falling for the eldest prince, Cal, while her fiance Mavin watches. The Princes and their father the King are Burners who can control fire, and the Queen is a Whisper she controls the minds and bodies of people around her.  In an unsuspected twist Mavin, never content to be the “shadow behind the flame” of his older brother, conspires with his mother, who is the second Queen, to assassinate the King, betray the Scarlet Guard, and frame his brother and Mare for all of this a become King.

CONNECTIONS TO THE CLASSROOM AND ADOLESCENCE:

This was an excellent book, well written, well plotted, and completely compelling. It goes far beyond the general love story, royal intrigue, and rebellion expected of it to deliver a punch to the reader’s gut. It has layers of meaning, themes of loyalty and betrayal. What it means to be human, what it means to be family. I found the setup of Reds vs Silvers to be excellent, very Marxist in fact. It was strongly reminiscent of the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat,  Mare an unexpected bridge between the two. With the plotting, intrigue and general air of desperation throughout the book we see a train hurdling towards certain doom, much like our own society, with no reprieve in sight, with just the slightest gleaming of hope when Mare’s abilities are discovered to be stronger than those of the Silver.

I would absolutely use this book in a classroom setting, It might be a bit too bloody and violent for the younger adolescent reader, but in a college classroom or an older high school classroom this novel could be used to teach about capitalism, the bonds between family, and the inescapable likelihood of rebellion. There are twisting story lines, a maze of a plot, and it would be a great tool for teaching a creative writing class on world-building or layering plots. In the theoretical perspectives listed for our class on Blackboard I would most list this one under White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack.