Am I late to the game?
I always avoided this book because I thought it was going to be a retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Spoiler alter: It most definitely is not.
In fact, Red Queen reminded me a little of Red Rising. Not so much that it was alarming or anything, just certain aspects of it.
For instance, in Red Rising, Darrow of Lykos rises up from the lowest caste and infiltrates the highest caste of his society. In Red Queen, Mare Barrow rises up from the lowest caste and infiltrates the highest caste of her society.
But yes, they're very different stories. And I enjoyed Red Queen almost as much as I enjoyed Red Rising. There's something about an underdog story that so many people can relate to. Maybe that's because so many of us see ourselves in the underdog. We cheer for the one who has no one else cheering for them.
Mare Barrow is a protagonist I'm excited to watch grow up. She begins her adventure partly out of necessity, and partly for revenge. She's someone who has felt hardship and hunger, but also hope. She brings that hope with her when she leaves her home to protect her family and her oldest friend. She hopes for a better world, like many of us do. She wants a world where her family is well fed and taken care of. A world where her sister has room to spread her wings and become the woman she is meant to be. A world where her brothers don't have to leave home to fight in a war they never wanted a part of.
Mare, like any human, is flawed. But she is someone young readers can admire and aspire to become.
Though I loved the book, it didn't bring me to tears. I'll have to give this book a 3.8/5, but I'm excited to continue the series!
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