Red Queen 2⭐️/5

Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard

2⭐️/5
I really debated giving this 3 stars since I am not necessarily the target audience (which is not to say I don’t love YA books!), but ultimately decided to stay with 2.5 stars because the second half really lost me. I picked it up because I wanted to read a more contemporary YA fantasy, but it unfortunately under delivered despite all of the potential (a power struggle! A class warfare! A rebellion! Surprise powers!)

In no way is this a “bad” read, I just found myself very distracted by the cliches, tropes, and hollow plot as the story went on. The beginning hooked me and included a lot of elements that make for an enjoyable YA fantasy series. However, the book read like a detailed screenplay most of the time rather than a rich world full of complex characters and the “twist” wasn’t much of a twist, as it’s pretty obvious what’s going on early on.

Most of the dialogue and relationships sounded more like echos of relationships rather than the real thing. Certainly I don’t expect a character study when reading a plot-driven novel, but the connections we were supposed to feel to certain characters unfortunately didn’t add to the experience. Often we knew how someone was feeling or how they were reacting to a particular situation because Mare (our narrator) *told* us what they were feeling, which deprived the human relationships of some much needed emotional weight.

I think I was just hoping for more with this book, so the low rating could be attributed somewhat to expectations, but I think if you’re looking for a prescriptive “fantasy” series that lets you enjoy the world and escape for a little while, then this is a decent choice.

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We Were Liars 2⭐️/5