Red Queen Read-Along Update #2

Synopsis:

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. 

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance - Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.

Goodreads | Amazon

This read-along is coming to an end on Monday but I promised you a second update before I post my review so here we go.

I'm currently in chapter 24, on page 306 out of 388 

BUT I'll only summarize my thoughts about chapters 12-21 now to leave something to reflect on in my review too.

There have been quite a few twists along the way regarding the characters. Mare, of course, as one would expect, joined the Red Guard; no surprises there. On the boy front however, I don't even know what to think. Both the princes stand on the opposite side to where I would have imagined them to stand. And Kilorn – he is an enigma to me. In the beginning of the book he was straight out scared of fighting in the war and now he is in the midst of things completely willingly. Go figure. 

Actually I don't mind getting something else than what I expected, it keeps the whole situation interesting and it keeps me guessing. I have this feeling Maven is not who he makes himself out to be. There is a reason why the line "Anyone can betray anyone" appears in the book so many times and I'm about 70% sure Maven is leading Mare by the nose. Then again, maybe I'm mistaken, we have yet to see if I'm right or not. 

The politics is intriguing, especially because all of the characters are caught up in its net. You can't help but look at the happenings from two angles – the thing is, on some level I understand Cal's reasoning too. There are no clearly good choices, nothing is white or black and probably whatever happens, there will be bloodshed.

We still don't know much about Mare's power, my main question – why does she have it?? – hasn't been answered yet. I'm not sure we'll get an explanation in this book, maybe in the next one...? 

I'm still captured by the Red Queen and can't wait to see how the first book ends. A non-cliffhanger ending is too much to hope for right??

 

A character I like: Julian!! Let him be okay, please.

A character I hate: (and NOT love to hate!) Evangeline. She is clearly jealous of Mare and she has anger management issues. 

A character I want to see more of: I will go with more characters here, Mare's brothers. We only know them from Mare's thoughts and from a brief meeting when Mare visited her home once. I'd like to know more about them.

I hope you enjoyed this update post, you can expect my full review of the Red Queen next week!

Red Queen Read-Along Update #1

Synopsis:

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. 

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance - Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.

As you already know, I've joined Brittani's Red Queen read-along at Hope, Faith & Books.

The read-along started on April 2nd and we read 7 chapters each week, which means by Monday I should reach chapter 15.

It's not a fast-paced read-along at all, it allows me to make progress with other books as well, that's why I dared to join it in the first place.

I'm currently in chapter 12, on page 116 out of 388.

My thoughts about the story so far:

  

(With some details but without spoilers. 

The information I've included here appears in the synopsis too.)

I'm happy with almost everything in this novel up to this point. The idea of a fantasy world where social hierarchy is built on the colour of one's blood is frightening but at the same time fascinating, especially with the added plus that Silvers have certain kinds of power.

Our protagonist, Mare, is a Red girl and since she hasn't learned any crafts, she is expected to join the army on her 18th birthday. Mare has other plans but soon she is forced into a third alternative that seems even worse than the war. Because of an unfortunate accident she has to give up who she is and face a joyless life in a world where she doesn't belong. 

 

Where I am in the story Mare has already started to be invlved in court life and her power got revealed but she doesn't understand how it works yet (me neither, haha). I guess later it will make sense and she'll be able to use it intentionally too.

The Red Guard was briefly introduced, but she hasn't got in touch with them so far at the palace. I'm curious how that'll happen.

At the moment Mare is very preoccupied with thoughts about her family who she can't go home to. It's absolutely understandable, I feel for her. She also has to learn how to play her role at the court because if she messes it up, her life will be in danger. There is real peril here, that's why this fantasy adventure is so thrilling so far.

 

A character I like: Cal. He's swoon-worthy. He seems to be a good person and probably hates his situation as much as Mare hates hers. Match made in heaven (?)

A character I love to hate: Queen Elara. Boy, I've got some Cersei vibes here. Bring it on, evil queens are the best.

A character I want to see more of: Kilorn. Okay... do I really want a love triangle here? No. Do I want him to be saved from the horrors of the war and be around Mare? Yes. I guess you see my dilemma here.

And finally... Last Friday when I featured Red Queen in my Book Beginnings post some of you wanted to know what happens on First Friday (yes, I didn't forget :). I promised I will let you know in this update post because it's not really a spoiler... So here we go, brace yourselves!

"We get to the foot of the hill, where the crowd is thicker, pushing and prodding on all sides. First Friday attendance is mandatory, unless you are like my sister, an "essential loborer"."

"Inside the open-topped arena is just as hot as out, and Kilorn, always on his toes, leads me to some shade. We don't get seats here, just long, concrete benches, but the few silver nobles up above enjoy cool, comfortable boxes."

"Kilorn and I don't really see eye to eye on the Feats of First Friday. For me, watching two champions rip into each other is not enjoyable, but Kilorn loves it. Let them ruin each other, he says. They are not our people.

He doesn't understand what the Feats are about. This isn't mindless entertainment, meant to give us some respite from grueling work. This is calculated, cold, a message. Only Silvers can fight in the arenas because only Silvers can survive the arena."

So what happens on First Friday is a display of Silver power in order to remind the Reds who is the boss. Ouch.

Goodreads | Amazon

I hope you enjoyed this update post. Have you read Red Queen? Are you planning to? 

Happy reading!