Publication: February 10th 2015 by Orion
Source: Library Book
Goodreads Summary: The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.
To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.
Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.
But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?
Goodreads Page
My Thoughts:
*Mild Spoiler*
I heard LOTS of mixed things about this book so I was pretty interested to read it to see what I would think but also a little hesitant because I didn't really feel like reading a 383 page book if it was going to be really terrible. Although I think the author struggled just a bit, I actually loved this book. And I'm really surprised because I figured I wouldn't like it either like most people but I seem to always end up with the opposite opinion of the majority for some reason.
I think this book is pretty interesting purely because it's basically a blend of genres. I see it as a true blend between dystopian and fantasy. It leans more on the fantasy side with its silver vs. red and silver abilities, but there's also dystopian elements such as there being a "before world," and the government controlling everything. I found myself wondering where exactly I would put it into genre and I honestly feel it's a blend of the two.
I also feel like it's a blend of two other books. I've seen a lot of people comparing it to The Selection series but I personally think that it is a blend of The Hunger Games and The Selection series. Queenstrial and the war/secret rebellion put me in the mind of The Selection so I definitely see the parallel that people point out, but I definitely think that the world and Mare as a character are similar to the world of Suzanne Collins's Panem and Katniss.
At first this book was a little difficult for me to get into. Aveyard definitely struggled with the "show don't tell" element. The beginning is nothing more than an information dump with Mare telling us about her world. It's a lot of information all at once and it was a little difficult for me to grasp everything at first. It put me off because I thought the entire book would be like that but it got better after the first 50 pages or so and I found myself enjoying the book.
I loved Mare. I'm not sure what it is about her, but I really like her. She's tough and real and fun and just endearing over all in my opinion. I liked that even though her life had gone in such a strange, different direction than anything she ever pictured, she wasn't whiny. It's unusual to find a character in this situation in a Young Adult novel who doesn't become whiny or overdramatic. I also liked some of the other characters (Cal, Julian, Gisa, Lucas) although they were pretty underdeveloped.
There were a couple problems I had with the book. First of all, the silver blood vs. red blood thing is not explained. How did this phenomenon become present? I hope that Aveyard chooses to expand upon this in her next book and explain how people's blood changed colors and how their abilities developed. This wasn't something that bothered me deeply but I am a how/why? type of person and wanted an explanation. I also found myself wondering how the Silvers even live with each other. When everyone has an ability, how do they not turn on each other and spend all of their time bullying each other or even one of them trying to take over and rebel against the king? I think it's just an interesting concept that all Silvers are pictured as heartless, conceited beings but never feel the need to try to rise against their king and try to take the throne for themselves. Lastly, this was kind of solved near the end but I didn't understand why there were no Silvers fighting in the war. I kept thinking to myself, Why don't they just send some Silvers out, have them use their abilities, and end the war quickly?? But I figured that it was probably because they didn't want the other nations to retaliate in the same way/Silvers are depicted as so selfish that it never occurred to them to try to help the war effort. However, Cal is leading out the first platoon of all-Silvers at the end so now I'm just left thinking, It took them nearly A HUNDRED YEARS to think, Oh, maybe we should fight too???? Um, okay.
I think the romance was a little awkward in this book. I think that the love triangle dynamic was portrayed well for the situation but there's just hints of romance here and there, not enough to warrant some of the feelings/events that take place in the book. I would've preferred to see Mare develop strong friendships/alliances with some hidden feelings rather than the awkward hints of romance.
Finally, the twists were pretty obvious. First of all, it was super predictable who Cal actually was. I already knew as soon as Mare mentioned "burner." The "major twist" was obvious and cliché. Especially with the repeated phrase that Mare kept saying to herself. I also figured out that quite early on so that wasn't much of a surprise either. I did like the twist of Julian's discovery however and am excited where it leads for the second book.
Overall, it took me a while to get into this, maybe 150 pages, but I think that Aveyard created a unique book that kept me interested and made me love it. I think she did an amazing job setting up for the next book and I can't wait to read it when it comes out.
Likes: Mare. Cal. Gisa. Blend of genres. The world of Norta. All of the Silvers had interesting, diverse abilities. Kept me interested and a good balance of action.
Dislikes: A few holes such as what made the Silver vs. Red blood become a thing, how do the Silvers not just tear each other apart, etc. Twist was obvious and cliché. Romance was a bit awkward.
Overall:
Recommend? YES.
Reading the Next One? YES.
No comments :
Post a Comment