Lmao my sister, when she went to college, was crying for an entire month. And when my mom goes for a trip for few days and i dont go, I somehow end up breaking down in class. And Mare was like “family? W-what’s that?”
Well she did that bcuz she was so caught up with everything which was happening to her each n every time ,and in a passage she mentioned that things were so difficult for her that she couldn't even think abt how they were doing honestly in my oppinion if life gets tough u dont have time to think abt how ppl are doing when u urself dont knw how you are..
The Red Queen Drinking Game - Take a drink every time you come across something that reminds you of The Hunger Games or Game of Thrones. Just kidding, don't do this. You will die.
Mash-up of every trend right now. It felt like it was the first write up of this book. Everything should have been fleshed out more, better reasons for doing certain things, more connections.
Nah, I bet I could do it! Okay. One, two, three, fur, fivvvvvvvve, siiiiiecks, sveenenen, eiughjfkhfg, nusdihljkghtegrblkjvnbljkyitirulghdjkgn, fdghrvnfdhuifghtkjrghekuthgiughbuighbkjdfndtjkgh,eruiyfughfdbjdkflgherlutopuptowuerpiowtuerighnbvmbmzbmxcbvskdfhgui
I also really hated how everyone was in love with Mare. Like, instantly the prince was in love with her, then Mavin, and you can tell Kilorne (spell check?) is in love with her too. I would have liked to see the development of this love rather than it just be there.
Seriously. And at one part of the book she was imagining having Kilorn's children, then she was like "what a hot price" to Cal, then she randomly started liking Maven, then after learning that anyone can betray anyone, she still said "Cal is different, we can trust him!", But if we've learned anything, it's that we probably can't.
I was actually surprised when Maven turned out to be the bad guy. But it did make me facepalm at myself. It was obvious but I didnt get it. I loved the idea of the book. But this Mare chatacter was so boring.
Emmy Engström ahahaha same! I never really saw it comming even tho it was kind of obvious? I expected all the time for cal to reveal himself as the evil one and maven just dying Somewhere in the middle
i felt so dumb for not realising, like at the start he was so cold and i could literally feel the cold coming off him but then he all of a sudden turned all goody goody and like UGH how did i forget about that until he backstabbed. oh ALSO when he kissed mare, how he was rlly aggressive and cocky LIKE UGH HOW DIDNT I EVEN THINK ABOUT IT
@Quadrant 5 I loved the Red Queen book. I read the whole thing in a day. But, I was honestly really rooting for Maven not just as a MarexMaven ship but just for a character arc. Thus, ruining the rest of the series for me 😔
Oml every time the book mentioned that Cal's a soldier, I wanted to chuck it out the window. Like, yes, that's been established. Every damn time he entered a room. Actually, that single descriptor pretty much sums up his personality.
This is exactly how I feel about this book. It had such good potential but MARE PISSES ME OFF TO NO END. I'm reading Glass Sword and like literally every other paragraph she mentions "Oh poor me, I love Cal but we can't be together."
same sentiments I didn't hate Mare but wow she wasn't really doing it for me in glass sword and I agree in king's cage she did a 180° and king's cage is my fave in the entire series
@@forrestfrey4306 for me she doesn’t get any better throughout the series. Her worst self was Glass Sword but she’s bad as a character and as a person throughout the series imo
The characters get actually really complex in the second and third book. I really liked that there is no classic "good and evil" separation, instead Mare's character and actions get criticized as well and she's not being glorified like many other protagonists. One of Cal's main characteristics IS BEING indecisive and his struggles to stand for one side are really well explained in the following novels, just as more explanation about the war.
I like that too in a book but there is a certain finesse required to actually bring that across in a way so that it doesn't become repetitive. And sadly, in this book, it became very repetitive. Like ok, not one of them is either good nor evil... But they are egotistic and don't care about other people's views and just want to push whatever they think is right... that's what gets really old especially with Cameron or whatever her name is adding even more to it in book 3... they are all basically variations of Mare, differing in their degree of radical... so yeah.. I'm just listening to the audiobooks on youtube cuz I just have to know where Cal ends up. Because he is the only one I actually care about (and Shade but I mean...yeah) as he at least tries to see both sides and find a solution that works for everyone while keeping Mare safe, even though everybody else just shits on him.
3:16 The plot isn't even that original, the protagonist coming from an underpriviledged class being oppressed by a ruling class has been done a lot in YA, and usually dystopias.
+Jordan Harvey It's not original and has mediocre characters, then why it's so popular? Maybe the publishing company, the marketing and the nice cover made it enticing for people...
HotaruKara the cover and marketing definitely helps, but there are a lot of books that I find boring, mediocre, and unoriginal that people seem to adore. Different tastes I guess.
+Jordan Harvey Not to sound snobbish, but I bet they never read Hermann Hesse, or the classics, just run-of-the-mill YA. If more people had a literary culture, fewer mediocre YAs would have such success. Just my opinion. Of course, there are some well-written YAs out there, not all YAs are badly written.
Thracian I agree, I don't intend to sound snobby either, but I think if a lot of people on booktube expanded their horizons and read something outside of YA once in a while, than I think they'd see why these books don't often succeed outside the YA bubble, and would have something to compare these books to.
I absolutely loved this book, just finished it actually. But, I'm not blind to the fact that this book does have flaws. Like you said, I would like to see more of Mare's and Kilron's relationship actually progress further through out the book. The fact that there is a war going on, and it is sorta put to the side is weird too. But, overall the book did actually keep me hooked, and on the edge of my seat dispite those flaws. Also I didn't see Maven's betrayal coming,tbh I'm probably mentally ill.
I thought I would of liked this book but the ending was so dumb and cliche. Why couldn’t they make Mare win without her being “special”? It takes away from the story in my opinion. It would of been so much more interesting if she defeated the silvers with smarts and teamwork. Giving her powers was just boring.
I thought the plot of reds having powers was interesting, but Mare’s powers came out of fricking no where. If she had known she had powers and ended up using them to save Gisa before her hand gets shattered, it would’ve been a lot more interesting
I knew there was something off about Red Queen! I just couldn't put my finger on it. God, I'm just so happy I'm not the only one fed up with Mare. And I hate how she uses Maven's betrayal as a revenge tool. Seriously? Mare barely knew the guy, she had little romantic scenes with him, and she was forced to be his fiancee. If anything, I'd see his betrayal as a great excuse not to marry him lol. But no, she wants revenge for getting her heart broken, even though she's also in love with Cal (who she had like 2 romantic scenes with?). Even after all that, I still tried the second book. But nope. I stopped reading a fourth of the way through it. Could barely read it. It was too boring, bland character interaction, predictable plot twists, nothing worth continuing. It was obviously suffering from "Second Book Syndrome". so after I figured out I was forcing myself to read, I closed the book and sent it back to the library.
She's also a hypocrite. She talks about him betraying her while she betrayed Maven by kissing his older brother while he (Maven) was (at the time) putting his neck on the line for her and her stupid revolution.
I think that’s why I like the book. It’s different in the aspect that the main character finally isn’t perfect. Mare has many flaws and it’s what makes it realistic
I'm glad to hear about the politics, I haven't picked this up because the premise made it seem like it had very simplistic, childish morality you know reds = good silvers = evil. It is a problem I've seen in many YA novels.
Agreed. There is a bit of that in this novel. The Reds are definitely favoured and the silvers are slightly simplistic. It's certainly no Game of Thrones, but as far as YA goes, I wasn't mad! I think it might be worth a read regardless of the mediocre characters, but just know that there are some problems going in! :)
In the third book we can learn more about the roots of the war and the first silvers. And there are a few dynasties (are they called dynasties?) that are rebelling against the king. I actually like the series although I'm having really hard time sympathizing mare. if all this happened a lot earlier I would've liked the books more
ursulajoni15, to me, this book series is The Hunger Games with powers and with the sacrifices of the lesser citizens children in war instead of a televised game show. You even have the Reds that you can't trust, like some of the people in charge of the District Rebellion. Even the side characters in both books are very similar to each other.
I was so angry with this book. I didn't expect it to be amazing but it drew me in and I started to love it.. I was so interested that she chose the weaker, uglier brother.. but then that 'twist' that was seen a mile off and ugh
I feel you. I genuinely saw the plot twist before it happened, but I desperately wanted them to work out. Everything Mare chose in Red Queen made me so fucking angry, and the plot twist ruined everything even more... I liked the book enough to read the sequels, but I'm still sad about Maven...
Ami Kurakin I dunno, after the plot twist that wasn’t a twist (more just the main character not listening to other people) but then a wild District 13 showed up and I was instantly bored 😂
Ami Kurakin OMG right?!?!?! I saw the Maven thing coming after he'd spoken like, three sentences, but Aveyard had set up so much other good stuff (amongst some other clumsy things and yes, Cal and Mar were kinda flat, but that's what made Maven SO interesting in comparison) and then she just went and did the same old boring, "oh I'm actually evil and totally used you, hahaha, I have a daddy and a mommy AND an older brother complex" "twist" (I REALLY hesitate to call it a twist, it's so contrived) and I about threw my book across the room. I was actually reading it on my lunch break and when I came back, I was so visibly ruffled my co-worker asked me what was wrong. She knew I was into the book and to have me come back from break so mad was really perplexing to her!
The only thing i liked in this book was Maven - and the fact that the protagonist was falling for the ''weaker'' brother than the boring and perfect soldier-in-shiny-armor Cal, then the twist.. I could enjoy Maven being the bad guy ,if it had a complex character density , but no, the autor turn him in terrible one... So unfortunately to me the story end up kind of weak, with so many points that in my opnion could been worked
Amelia R. Well shit then, I'm not reading it because he is my absolute favourite character and Cal was honestly so dry. I was hoping it would the underdogs situation but this.... this is a no-no for me I don't want him like this ffs
@@customtrash2824 I dont like either of the main love interest but between the two I'd prefer Maven over Cal anytime. Cal became the boring Prince Charming who has no spine and is very indecisive... at least Maven character arc stands out and I think has the best development amongst all characters in the series. King's Cage broke me.. I love how we get to see Maven's POV, I was desperate for a redemption trope to come out because I think Maven has so much potential to be redeemed and end up with Mare. Cal just wasn't it. And looking back, I think Cal was being sorta unfair to Maven in Red Queen, he already knew he was going to be crown prince but he also took his brother's love interest. Like bruh,,,
I was literally only rooting for Maven, he is the only character that had depth and was interesting to read about. I noticed the small things that foreshadowed his betrayal, but I saw that as different parts of his character that were yet to be explored. Like with the whole cold hands to warm hands thing, I saw that as symbolic for his relationship to Mare and how he felt. The colder his hands were, the more detached he was, or something like that. And I agree, if the author wanted to make him a villain, it should've been done better. He should've had his own motivations and free will instead of being his mother's puppet. It completely detaches him from his entire character for the duration of the first book.
Did anyone get a count on how many freaking times Mare "didn't/couldn't know" or "didn't/couldn't understand"? If the plot twist had been that Mare was a sentient bag of potatoes I think the book would have made more sense.
I'm so glad I finally found someone who hates the characters in this novel as much as I do. A lot of my friends hated the novel for its predictable plot and universe, but I actually kind of liked the world. But Mare's voice made me hate the novel with a passion.
I wanted to hate Mare. I really did. Yet, hilariously enough, I believe the author wanted us to hate her. Bare with me here; Mare forgets her family the second she tastes royalty, remembers them on certain days, feels strangely attached to even a black-hearted king more so than her own sister, kills people that are in her way, etc. She’s inevitably an awful, awful person. But strangely enough? I found that the reason that I personally hated her so much was because I realized I found way too much of myself within her (especially in King’s Cave, when she’s left with only her mind in a dungeon). She ruthlessly killed silver soldiers because she thought their blood was enough to prove that they were the enemy. Guess what? The silver side thought the same way. In this book series, there are rights and wrongs both ways; not all is black and white. True injustice. And even left to her confinement, Mare still struggles to feel remorse, mostly a numbness. I feel as though I’d feel the same. Mare was written as a character to hate because some of us see so much of ourselves in her that we don’t want to accept. Stubbornness? Overlooking crucial planning to get to your goal? Forgetting family when “bigger things” are at hand? I can identify with all of these way more than I’d like to admit. Mare Barrow is not Katniss Everdeen, who made decisions in the light of death that the audience would agree with. No, Mare Barrow is simply a fool, and I believe the author wanted us to see our heroine at both her darkest and her best. If you want to read a series where not everything you’d like to happen goes your way, this series is for you, imperfect protagonist and all.
Yeah I feel like she was ment to be a moral grey charecter or as the book progresses you get to see more and more of the unlikeable traits but they also seem reasonable and human considering her situation.
Jordan Harvey Some of the flaws you pointed out were addressed in the later books. Mare eventually starts to make some sacrifices, Cal's political stance gets defined, Farley's personality gets rounded out with some vulnerability, and Evangeline becomes more nuanced with her motivation for how she acts.
I actually enjoyed Red Queen (even though some of the things were predictable: ie Maven). I read it in one sitting. It was the 2nd book which I dropped 100 pages in and never continued with the series. I hated Mares attitude of “I’m better than everyone else. I’m the one that needs to survive”. It really turned me off.
Oh my God. Ok, to give everyone some perspective on how bad this book is, I've watched reviews for it before and I'd heard a lot about it, and I didn't realize until JUST NOW watching this that I have actually read this book. This book was so bad that I literally blocked it from my memory. As she was telling the plot and getting more into it, that's when pieces started falling together. I'm flabbergasted.
I thought it was a cool idea. But all Mare seems to say is “omg I’m stuck in this terrible place aaah” we get it Mare. Also if you switch her initials her name is Bare Marrow (the stuff in your bones) which is the first thing I noticed about her
I watched coz I wanted to see what part I was blind to in the book. And yes the war is JUST THERE I realized, at least they coulda made the reason why most of the Reds are conscripted is because they owe the Silvers something historically. Heck! Even make a military group composed of the most powerful Silvers (like special soldiers), and make it seem like becoming on of them is honorable. And I really wanted the mind-controllers to be the rulers, I agree. It makes sense, hive minds. Kilorn shouldve been that childhood friend killed by silvers to give Mare more reason to fight the silvers. But oh no, love triangle. Farley couldve be that ex-silver loyalist who now hates silvers bcoz she's finally Woke. Mare shouldve been more focused on the rebellion, learn to manifest lightning, finding a way to prevent silvers from using their powers like in Avatar, or the history as to how Silvers arrived coz for sure that place was previously America.
In the other books they kind of showed how the war is just there to keep the red population under control or something but it does really suck how they never explicitly explained it
Classic example shown by people like M Night Shyamlan: A plot twist doesn't work if it's way off and unbelievable. Just cause it catches the reader off guard, doesn't make it a good twist and you just end up sacrificing your whole book for your 'intelligent' plot twist
ohhhh my god i hated mare SOOO much too i couldn't even bring myself to care when she was about to die!!! and she is honestly so stupid?...and naive for believing that cal would choose her over the crown! i cringed so hard when they pretty much believed that they could easily base their whole plan on love it was idiotic and the fact that cal was supposed to be her main love interest yet she played him and manipulated him that is so wrong and i genuinely don't want her to end up with cal wtf she doesn't deserve him!! i don't trust her and she doesn't have any strong valid points of views... also, the only character i ended up caring about was cal but only because he was so played lmao i felt sorry for him :/ and im currently skeptical about continuing this series ehhhh i lowkey can't help but feel curious of what comes next but how am i supposed to bear another 400 pages of mare barrow's mind
I have mostly the same problem, I really do think I would've liked this book, but something was kinda wrong. Also most of the time, I can finish a book on a school week in between breaks, but this one, no, it took me a whole month I borrowed it three times! It was kind of boring, but at the same time, I felt like something good would happen, so I keep reading. But one thing- I actually like Maven's character the best. I loved that twist. I kind of was confused with the foreshadowing, because Mare made it seem like he was so into the Scarlet Guard that I believed that he was good. God, that was the best plot twist I've read in a long time.
Well no I never got to talk to her but I think she subbed a class once, She also came in to do autographs but that was an out of school thing that I didn't attend. Though while in class we didn't talk about it a lot in class, only a few posters and the occasional reference to her. It was a fun class though.
I thought this was a joke as in “My English teacher’s daughter who thinks she can write because she’s the daughter of an English teacher made this book”
I actually was okay with Mare during the first book but as I read the others I slowly started to hate her. In the third book I believe, it starts to show the story from other people’s viewpoint which was nice. I really enjoyed the books and the story was good as well. Plus it was an easyyyy read for me 🤗 Love the video btw!
I found you through this video which is kind of funny since I really like Red Queen and most of its characters . But I found your opinions very interesting , and I get where you’re coming from. And you’re right about Mare being passive, I never really realized that until you said it but it’s so true. Lol. Anyway, I really enjoy your channel, keep up the good work ☺️👍🏻
This series drags and drags. I'm at the point where I want Maven to win. I hate Mare Barrow too. I listened to the audio book. The girl who narrates has a terribly annoying voice. So Mare is already annoying and then you add this jarring voice narrating the entire series. Man I was so happy for book 3, Evangeline has a very sultry voice, it was much better. As the series goes on, I will say that it's easier to look past the insufferable voice of the girl that narrates it and see the growth in Mare. Now I just hate Cal. Cal can die anytime in the remains of the series and I will not care. I'm 32 and young adult novels are definitely a guilty pleasure of mine still. I will say that it is a big theme in YA books to either have somewhat developed characters and a lacking plot growth or to have a somewhat decent plot and growth, but have incredibly lacking characters. I feel like some of these ya authors should get together and one of them works on the plot and descriptions and the other one works on the characters growth and personality and together they would make probably the most decent young adult novel ever made.
Not only is the plot repetitive (which I don’t mind) Mare’s character base is repetitive and not original! I am personally tired of seeing the strong female who have the best poker face and you can’t tell what they think. Why can’t there be a protagonist who wears their heart on their sleeve? That would be a nice change.
On the book: I agree this sucked ass. On women in war: you're wrong in this. The idea that women didn't participate in war is wrong and is a hold over from Ancient Rome/Greece ideas. They took shape because of Rome, in particular, conquered so much land that their ideas on things just flourished in their wake. They could do this because they did have huge standing armies, they conquered a shitton of land so they had the bodies (part of the incentive to join an army was Roman citizenship or a parcel of land upon retirement), etc. And, of course, they brought their notions of women along with that. However, this wasn't the case for a lot of different cultures. You sort of had two different mode of countries: ones that were permanent and others that were nomadic. The nomadic ones were actually really, really fierce and terrifying. The Northern peoples, for example, terrorized Ancient Rome at the time. The Goths, the Huns, the Vikings, etc. The Goths, for example, absolutely would bring their entire families on campaigns with them. Ancient Rome was absolutely terrified of them. It was said to give the Goth warriors more courage and any Goths that tried to flee battles would be killed by the women. The women would step in and help with the fighting too. And stuff like this would go on for centuries. It was simply a different way of surviving: one grew the grain and raised farm animals while the other took from those they raided.
You're absolutely right. I was referring to similar societies to the ones in the novel. Nomadic societies definitely differ, but I was talking about settled, agricultural societies that wanted to either protect their land or gain more land, and it's not only the Romans and Greeks who stripped women of their rights so that they were little more than stay-at-home baby-makers. If you look at societies like these across the world, you'll find that ancient China, Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Japan (and I'm sure others as well) all at some point (usually when confronted with war) had male armies and kept women at home to have large enough families to support them. That's also not to say that woman didn't play any roles in those armies ever, but I'm not speaking of the outliers so much as the bulk. In the society in this novel, with the settled, agricultural nature of it, unfortunately there's no chance that women would fight. It worked in Nomadic groups certainly, but in a scenario like this, it would be impossible to support that population and army if both males and females were drafted for war, and if they didn't have families of 8-12.
It's really hard to say if this is true, even with agricultural countries because of the influence Ancient Greece/Rome had on the world. We don't know enough about Ancient Egypt to know if women were part of their armies (it wouldn't surprise me if they were with the way their country had to have a very strong army) and we know other civilizations like Ancient Japan did have female Samurai (though you could argue that much of Ancient Japan was nomadic too.) Bleh. I think the few minutes it took both of us to write this is more thought about the subject than the author took. xP God, I hate Dystopian novels lately.
True aha! And yeah, again, I was focussing more on the bulk than the outliers. Regardless of the influences of Greece and Rome though, mathematically it just doesn't make sense. I'm not saying women can't fight, we sure as hell can, it just doesn't make sense in the context of this novel.
It would also depend on outside influences too. North and South America was basically won because of chemical warfare (not the lack of superior weapons as a lot of revisionists say.) And the only reason the US is still able to go to war in the middle east is technology and better medicine that makes casualties on our side really small. This is always my problem with dystopian novels these days. I start to think about these world building things and the kick me out of the book while I'm trying to figure out in the world it would ever actually work.
Honestly I have one friend who loves this book, so I went to a bookstore and was all like "Yeah ok I'll check it out." So my brother is with me, and as I reach for the book, he asks me about it. So I tell him,"Some sort of dystopian novel about seperation by color, I think." "I bet its by color of blood." He answers. We open the book, and sure enough, the first sentence on the book cover mentions seperation of color. This book was so predictable that my brother( who won't touch the teen section of a library/bookstore) guessed the entire plot. He predicted a love story between a red and a silver as well, and I'm pretty positive he was right. I've never taken book recommendations from this friend since this, because mediocre dystopian teen fantasies are all she reads. She didn't believe me when I told her Animal Farm was a classic because she thought I was reading a children's book.
Oh jeez. That's pretty horrific. You should check out my video on how to write a bestselling YA novel. I think you might get a chuckle. ua-cam.com/video/COkViJpgR8U/v-deo.html
I loved this series, and most other YA series similar to it, but I never recommend them to ppl I know since I know that's not their thing.I've read a ton of reviews and almost all of them give either a perfect score or the lowest score possible, so ppl either hate or love them. My reasoning is that at least 30 % loved it, so it might be worth checking out. If EVERYONE thinks a book is pretty decent, I'm not gonna pick it up, since nobody thought it was above averege. Also, one possible reason why these books get away with not being original is b/c the target audience knows that they're getting something similar to what they've already liked (I assume most ppl who picked up Red Queen have read The Hunger Games trilogy). I understand why ppl dislike YA. If you value creativity highly, which most ppl seem to do, then it's not the genre for you (I look at every book/series on its' own and ask myself if I enjoyed it, and that's it). I'm never gonna claim that my favorite books are objectively good and the same goes for other art forms. Everyone has a different taste when it comes to books/music, and that's totally fine as long as we respect each other.
Personally I really love the book and the entire series and thought all the characters and plot twists were interesting. I don’t think Mare is boring because of the conflicts she has with herself and her beliefs which is something you really don’t see as much in the first book but later on in the series you get to know kind of more of who she is and how she feels about everything. But even in the first book, I think she’s still a cool and conflicted character and I love her and her story she develops throughout the series. Also, marecal is great and no one can convince me otherwise. But I agree I wanted to scream at the end of the book too not because I didn’t like it but because it was just so frustrating how things turned out. Overall, I really loved the Red Queen series and I think you should give the other books a chance :)
Finally I thought I was the only one. Mare was a completely blank character. The Mare and Cal romance was predictable yet painfully shallow. Maven's potential as a character was wasted. The premise and world building were GREAT... But the characters ruined the book for me Yet I still bought the third book... And hasn't touched it since😥
i actually really like the series. it's one of the books that are so hard to put down when you read it, at least for me. but maybe it's just because im not an oberservant reader who actually manages to point out the flaws in books. i just read. and so far, i really love the series
I'm getting some vindictive pleasure watching you break down the faults of this book. I'd like to hear your thoughts on Cinder, which in my opinion makes no sense and has so much squandered potential. Cinder is a cyborg with a synthetic brain and the possibility of her being an AI is never brought up! What! I'm pretty sure changing up your brain makes you different!
Claire Guthrie I read cinder a million years ago and had mixed feelings back then (when I was a lot more forgiving) so it would be interesting to see what I think of it now. Maybe I will, but no promises...
I liked cinder will enough. I couldn't stand the second book. The red riding hood themed one. The plot was so generic from the characterization to the love story to the "twist". It made it really hard for me to get into the rest of the series.
I would have loved to bump into those people back with the book was fresh in my head. I needed someone to rant with so badly lol. The Red Queen got a dnf from me so i never got to the twist. Like you said in your review the characters were a big reason why i tuned out.
I read this once when it had just arrived to the library, had the time and had already read or DNF'd everything else I had on my list that had better covers and blurbs. I agree with a lot you said, that the book does have it's flaws, and I hated hated HATED Mare too (even her name makes her sound like a horse, should've been spelled Maree or something). On the other hand, I didn't like Elara or think she was particularly nuanced, whereas I found there to be a lot in Farley, Julian and Sara that I liked. Julian in particular reminded me of a teacher I once had, this old dude who, while not as bookish, was a great teacher who cared a lot about the untold truths. The two princes, well, I liked Maven a lot more, and though I had some suspicions, I was surprised by the twist, if just a little. Cal was just too boring, a flat war-obsessed alpha heteromasculinity stereotype. I liked the a bit more femme Maven a lot better, and remember thinking of him as looking like a bishie prettyboy, while Cal, in my mind, was a round-faced tries-to-be-cool manchild that looked a bit like Donald Trump did when younger. EDIT: fixed a typo.
When I read Red Queen I literally didn't understand what was likable about it at all. I never even finished the second. A year later I went back to try again and although the second book was unbearable, the third and forth had me losing my mind -- they were just that good for me. It ended up being one of my favorite series but it's so hard to talk about because unlike most series - the thing that hooked me WASNT the first book.
Nyx Shadowhawk everyone says Harry Potter gets better after the fourth book and that ToG gets better after the first one. Lots of series' people LOVE get better as they go on.
That's true. Of course series get better as the author gets better, but that does not change the fact that the first book should be able to stand on its own. The author can also wait to explain things until later books, but the reader should not be left feeling confused or lost. If you JUST read the first Harry Potter book, you could understand and enjoy it, even if you didn't know exactly why Voldemort tried to kill Harry.
yeah that’s exactly what i was thinking but as other people are saying, i feel like the first book should be able to have enough explanations on its own, but for the reason i was reading the book i kinda liked having things build up throughout the series lmao
Honestly, the ending was SO predictable,, and Mare was so dumb. Istg, who in their right mind would trust Maven,, A SILVER, to join a militant resistance formed by REDS whose purpose was to damn the silvers,, just because the poor boi was too tired of being wronged and minorized by his people because they were too focused on his pErFeCt bRoThEr to even care about him?? He literally goes "I feel ignored, imma get my revenge on them". It was SO obvious that something was off because WHO,, in their right mind, would trust a silver, to work against a silver. I KNOW,, NO ONE. The one thing I actually liked about this book, apart from the powers thingy, was the quote "anyone can betray anyone", which was mentioned like a billion times,, even by Mare herself. But then NO ONE seemed to have any consideration about it and I was just too shocked to even believe in the fact that they didn't seem to be listening themselves.
If you read the second and third book, a lot of the backstories and other character things you had an issue with are explained. The whole thing about Maven, the point is that he was too perfect. His character is much more developed in the next two books. There is also a lot more about the war and other things about the silvers. It gets further away from the cliche that it is expected to be. The plotline is also amazing the more you read. I feel like reading the rest of the series may have made this review more accurate. But this is also personal opinion. I loved it, but I am also a big fan of YA fantasy books.
I really liked your review. But the war actually makes sense once you've read the other books (the war is a evil plot to keep the red population down). The politics get better and more authentic in the following books but the charakters get worse because you see developement happening and in the next chapter it just get's debunked like it never happend. It feels like the charakters just evolve backwards to the point where they are even less understandable than they where in the first book. I am currently reading all of them for an essay on psychologie and pedagogy in university and it sucks hahaha. ( sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors I made. I am from germany.) All the best and keep at it I really like your reviews ;)
Crossroadhello Thanks so much! I've heard the war gets justified a bit but I still think there are big holes. Why would you need war when they seem to live in horrible conditions? And the amount of people that would die just wouldn't add up. And sending women also still doesn't make sense.
Jordan Harvey yes it's still hard to understand but it is the only explaination the books give. Thanks for the replie :) The next time I have to write something like that again I'll be sure to watch your review first and not after I've read three exhaustingly bad books hahaha
As I read this book, there were lines that stood out as completely different from the rest of the writing. It seemed like Aveyard thought of a few good/profound sounding quotes and decided to build a story around them. I did enjoy the book as just a quick and fun read, but I wouldn't list it as quality literature.
Enjoying the books seems like a good enough reason to read it for me, doesnt have to be quality literature (same goes for music lol). I don't go to the movie theater to critically analyse movies, but to have a good time. Why would i do it differently for books?
I tried to love it as well. But it was so unoriginal and unremarkable in every way. The characters are barely compelling and nothing about the dialogue was rememorable either. Not going on to read this series.
Jordan Harvey Don't worry too much about going over 20 minutes. If you keep putting good videos up, we'll keep watching them, even if they're a little long. :)
Excellent explanation, when ever I talk to my friends about it I summerise it as this. "It could have been great and it had so much unfulfilled potential." I've read the two the come after, just out of curiousness, but it really does disappoint from there on. (I DESPISE Cameron from books 2 & 3, she's a pathetic character.)
You are so spot on about that dancing scene! With my favorite couple of all time, Kaz and Inej, it only takes a sentence of JUST ONE LOOK to have me dying. I don't even think they actually kissed once which makes sense because youknowwhat (I don't want to spoil). I'm getting so excited just thinking about them, but when I read that dance scene I had to actually put on music myself to be more interested,
Personally, the burners being kings lent itself well to this line in a novella: "Tiberias the Sixth? Fifth? No, it's the fourth still, certainly, the old flame just won't _die_ ." It's Cal's mother's cousin's line, who hadn't been to court in over a decade at that point and was out of touch.
I TOTALLY TOTALLY AGREE about characters being the most important part of the book. I could read a novel about grocery shopping if the characters were good, but if I don't like the characters nothing else can really save the book for me
The “fire benders” that are actually called burners rule the kingdom because they founded it. In regular history it’s not always the most powerful person who rules the kingdom.
Oh god, I wondered why the book was little lame, y'know. And thanks to ur opinion I realized that the characters actually were kinda annoying! So really good review!
I know I’m extremely late on this, but the reason Farley is kind of boring and has no vulnerability is actually pretty important in the later books. I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn’t read the later books but I can say that when she does show emotion it is actually pretty surprising making you like her character a lot more. Plus there is a time later in the books where she has to sort of learn how to care for people. Also there is a reason in here backstory on why she doesn’t show emotions like that. It’s hard to explain without spoiling anything but Farley actually turns into a very interesting character imo
I've seen so many people praise this book that I thought I was crazy but ugh thank you souch for this video! I hate Mare so much for every reason you said, anytime the story got interesting she just whined and whined and never tried to change anything for herself - I was rooting for the silvers, because every red seemed so freaking whiny and annoying to me. Really bad book with such good potential, so sad it just is such a flat read. Loved this video! Everything I thought about the book, you stated so perfectly.
Y'know i read the red queen and glass sword and one of the things that triggers me the most is that all of the sudden they decide that Mare should be queen, like that, in the middle of nowhere (logical thought would have make me put Cal as king because 1- He's a prince taught all his life how to rule and all he needs to know for that 2-He could represent the frickin half of the society that is the silvers, that we know killing all of them would be genocide 3- Once they mention that all surrounding countries have silver leaders so or they would start a distorted industrial revolution chain of events or all other countries would stop comunicating, trading, etc. with them leading to the fall of the kingdom) ...so Cal for President!!!
This is how I felt! I just got to it earlier this month. I avoided reviews and spoilers but I knew that most of booktube loved it. After half the book I knew ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING that was going to happen... Then it did happen. It was meant to be surprising, but time and time again I wasn't surprised.
Wow I absolutely love this book I think Mare is one of the best characters And could be one of my fav books ever But that's your opinion And can I just say that Farley is not leading the rebellion And she is really interesting in the next book
I only read it recently. Read the first one, gave the second one a try and gave up halfway through. The characters are written in a very wattpad fanfic like fashion. And all the "plottwists"? Saw them all coming from a mile away, how exciting. I don't get the hype around this book at all.
The book felt pretty cool the first chapters, but the most interesting conflicts happens like 20 chapters later. Some of it didn’t make sense, like the power thing you said. Victoria Aveyard makes an AMAZING setting and political conflicts. Characters feel like something out a typical teenage drama. Poor girl turns out to be special and marries powerful guy. Julian’s character (to me) is justifiable because he wasn’t the most interesting, but more interesting than any of the other characters
While I still think this book sucks, I think SOME of your complaints are patched up a bit (Farley's Vulnerability, Kilorn's place in the plot, Cal's Morals) in Glass Sword and Kings Cage. I will say though Glass Sword is boring and you'd honestly just be better off reading a quick description online. Kings cage is just extremely frustrating because it takes a while for the plot to kick up.
The later books really flesh out the world more and the characters get better, especially Evangeline. But when I thought back at Mare, I can’t really remember the main character traits of Mare. She seemed there more for viewing purposes. The war gets a purpose beyond just “its war”. Which becomes bigger in the later books I really wish that her pickpocket talent was used more though
i lost it when the firebender/waterbender reference popped up. i love rants so obviously i love this, but what i love more is well established rants and thus you earn my eternal gratitude for this video
I disagree about the predictable and unoriginal part. Nothing is orignal. Everything has already been written and it’s how the author shows, explains and portrays the story that matters and that make it stand out. I dont mind reading books with the same plots, but what makes me prefer a book is the way that they are written (for example characters, writing style and what the author adds to the story). And also, I’m not sure if the video came out before this was said in the books, spoilers btw for the books, so if you haven’t read them all don’t read the next part, but the war was for population control. Then the Lakelanders were important to the plot, since they were helping Maven. If I’m wrong, please tell me.
I really enjoyed this book and the series as a whole. I know the series has its problems ,but then again, all books do. I think it's worth reading through the whole series. The characters become more well developed, and the story was pretty interesting to me. I also suggest reading the novelas, which give more background on Cal's mother/ Farley and Shade. I'm not going to rag on her or anyone else for not liking this series. I understand that people have different tastes. I know this post was long, but I would just like to encourage anyone thinking about reading this series to listen to a few different opinions and try reading this series. :)
I think this book through Evangeline's eyes would be interesting. Like the Guard strikes and kills her family and she and a Silver warrior are forced to run away and hide amongst the Reds and see how oppressed they actually are. She could befriend a Red or something who dies and gives her a reason to fight in the rebellion. Mare can be in the court pretending to be her and betrothed to Cal. The povs could switch between them. I really liked this book but I feel like this setup would have been more interesting.
It says in one of the books that the war was a way to get rid of red population because it was larger than the silver population and the silvers were afraid that if the red population wasn't properly managed then the reds would eventually overtake silvers.
I remember spending my allowance on this book just to rage quit it and never finished it, now it's sitting on my bookshelf mocking me for wasting my money on it.
It was weird to me how she was super attached to her family at the beginning of the book, then when she moved to the castle doesn’t mention them
Georgia Skinner same! Seriously, what the heck?
Georgia C, lol in the book she actually said something about that. Like a couple hours into royalty and she's already forgotten them.
Lmao my sister, when she went to college, was crying for an entire month. And when my mom goes for a trip for few days and i dont go, I somehow end up breaking down in class. And Mare was like “family? W-what’s that?”
Well she did that bcuz she was so caught up with everything which was happening to her each n every time ,and in a passage she mentioned that things were so difficult for her that she couldn't even think abt how they were doing honestly in my oppinion if life gets tough u dont have time to think abt how ppl are doing when u urself dont knw how you are..
as you continue through the series you see that her family are actually a much more integral part in her life than most YA books
Geez, I was way off. Based off of the title and cover, I thought this book was a medieval political story about a queen...
PoppinBubbles Me too haha
Same!
@Gornad Huckshucx Lol, I thought it was a horror
Read the back. ._.
There is actually a medieval book called Red Wueen by Philip Gregory.
Take a shot everytime you read little lightning girl....good luck
It’s gets even worse in Glass Sword
Anyway Rip liver
I have ptsd from this.. It was excruciating.
Yeah... I'm not killing my kidneys and liver for that lol 😂
*falls over*
Are you trying to get me killed?
The Red Queen Drinking Game - Take a drink every time you come across something that reminds you of The Hunger Games or Game of Thrones.
Just kidding, don't do this. You will die.
Mash-up of every trend right now. It felt like it was the first write up of this book. Everything should have been fleshed out more, better reasons for doing certain things, more connections.
Lady Marmalade 🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸
Lady Marmalade LOL trynna get druuuunkkk
Nah, I bet I could do it! Okay. One, two, three, fur, fivvvvvvvve, siiiiiecks, sveenenen, eiughjfkhfg, nusdihljkghtegrblkjvnbljkyitirulghdjkgn, fdghrvnfdhuifghtkjrghekuthgiughbuighbkjdfndtjkgh,eruiyfughfdbjdkflgherlutopuptowuerpiowtuerighnbvmbmzbmxcbvskdfhgui
2 fingers everytime it reminds you of x-men
I also really hated how everyone was in love with Mare. Like, instantly the prince was in love with her, then Mavin, and you can tell Kilorne (spell check?) is in love with her too. I would have liked to see the development of this love rather than it just be there.
and mare isn't even likable like why ???
@@nobitanobi3475 Because she's a Mary Sue, and everyone is in love with them at first sight. Like Bella Swan.
Seriously. And at one part of the book she was imagining having Kilorn's children, then she was like "what a hot price" to Cal, then she randomly started liking Maven, then after learning that anyone can betray anyone, she still said "Cal is different, we can trust him!", But if we've learned anything, it's that we probably can't.
I was actually surprised when Maven turned out to be the bad guy. But it did make me facepalm at myself. It was obvious but I didnt get it. I loved the idea of the book. But this Mare chatacter was so boring.
Emmy Engström ahahaha same! I never really saw it comming even tho it was kind of obvious? I expected all the time for cal to reveal himself as the evil one and maven just dying Somewhere in the middle
Same
I’ve already read it, but... SPOILER ALERT
Emmy Engström same but Maven is my favorite
i felt so dumb for not realising, like at the start he was so cold and i could literally feel the cold coming off him but then he all of a sudden turned all goody goody and like UGH how did i forget about that until he backstabbed. oh ALSO when he kissed mare, how he was rlly aggressive and cocky LIKE UGH HOW DIDNT I EVEN THINK ABOUT IT
Personally I LOVE the book, but I appreciate your calm constructive criticism.
Quadrant 5 I loved it to! I have the entire series! Also, maven is so creepy I loved him in the beginning but then I hated him at the end
Same I love this book too
@Quadrant 5 I loved the Red Queen book. I read the whole thing in a day. But, I was honestly really rooting for Maven not just as a MarexMaven ship but just for a character arc. Thus, ruining the rest of the series for me 😔
Diversion YT I fucking love it
Samantha Black
Honestly Maven broke my heart 💔
“I would be shocked if anyone didn’t see Maven’s betrayal coming”
Me: *didn’t see it coming*
Sme here lol
Same
Same loll
It hit me like a slap in the face.
Maven was my favroite charecter so it hit me hard
Oml every time the book mentioned that Cal's a soldier, I wanted to chuck it out the window. Like, yes, that's been established. Every damn time he entered a room. Actually, that single descriptor pretty much sums up his personality.
This is exactly how I feel about this book. It had such good potential but MARE PISSES ME OFF TO NO END. I'm reading Glass Sword and like literally every other paragraph she mentions "Oh poor me, I love Cal but we can't be together."
SO. ANNOYING.
I`m surprised I didn`t decide to DNF Glass Sword because how whiny she was.
But that's the ponit!!! She needs to be annoying. She have a great character development
@@matheuslanerre2895 no she doesn't lol she remains awful throughout
"ChoOsE mE" she said
Mare is like 100 times worse in Glass Sword. But in King's Cage, she gets humbled and she's kinda, sorta, not really okay.
On the move I hated Mare in Glass Sword!! But she redeems herself in Kings Cage :)
Same thing for War Storm. She gets a lot better
same sentiments I didn't hate Mare but wow she wasn't really doing it for me in glass sword and I agree in king's cage she did a 180° and king's cage is my fave in the entire series
really? i feel like i hated her even more in king’s cage
@@forrestfrey4306 for me she doesn’t get any better throughout the series. Her worst self was Glass Sword but she’s bad as a character and as a person throughout the series imo
The characters get actually really complex in the second and third book. I really liked that there is no classic "good and evil" separation, instead Mare's character and actions get criticized as well and she's not being glorified like many other protagonists. One of Cal's main characteristics IS BEING indecisive and his struggles to stand for one side are really well explained in the following novels, just as more explanation about the war.
Agreed, every other character I meet in similar fantasy novels are always righteous and make the right decision.
I like that too in a book but there is a certain finesse required to actually bring that across in a way so that it doesn't become repetitive. And sadly, in this book, it became very repetitive. Like ok, not one of them is either good nor evil... But they are egotistic and don't care about other people's views and just want to push whatever they think is right... that's what gets really old especially with Cameron or whatever her name is adding even more to it in book 3... they are all basically variations of Mare, differing in their degree of radical... so yeah.. I'm just listening to the audiobooks on youtube cuz I just have to know where Cal ends up. Because he is the only one I actually care about (and Shade but I mean...yeah) as he at least tries to see both sides and find a solution that works for everyone while keeping Mare safe, even though everybody else just shits on him.
Lara Maria That's exactly what I was thinking!
'Tisiyagirl Sorry, shade died and call gets dumped so....
Thank you. Someone who actually knows what their talking about this video made me so mad because I actually spent the time to read the books
Is nobody going to talk about the fact that the protagonist's name is literally bone marrow??
Nika Selaković *Bare Marrow
3:16 The plot isn't even that original, the protagonist coming from an underpriviledged class being oppressed by a ruling class has been done a lot in YA, and usually dystopias.
HotaruKara True. I don't know, I wasn't too mad at the plot, but you're right, it's not that original.
+Jordan Harvey
It's not original and has mediocre characters, then why it's so popular? Maybe the publishing company, the marketing and the nice cover made it enticing for people...
HotaruKara the cover and marketing definitely helps, but there are a lot of books that I find boring, mediocre, and unoriginal that people seem to adore. Different tastes I guess.
+Jordan Harvey
Not to sound snobbish, but I bet they never read Hermann Hesse, or the classics, just run-of-the-mill YA. If more people had a literary culture, fewer mediocre YAs would have such success. Just my opinion. Of course, there are some well-written YAs out there, not all YAs are badly written.
Thracian I agree, I don't intend to sound snobby either, but I think if a lot of people on booktube expanded their horizons and read something outside of YA once in a while, than I think they'd see why these books don't often succeed outside the YA bubble, and would have something to compare these books to.
I absolutely loved this book, just finished it actually. But, I'm not blind to the fact that this book does have flaws. Like you said, I would like to see more of Mare's and Kilron's relationship actually progress further through out the book. The fact that there is a war going on, and it is sorta put to the side is weird too. But, overall the book did actually keep me hooked, and on the edge of my seat dispite those flaws. Also I didn't see Maven's betrayal coming,tbh I'm probably mentally ill.
Haha I can usually see plot twists coming, so it's probably not you, it's me.
ZoeNot Zoey OMG SAME THIS IS LIKE MY FAVE BOOKKKK
I also really like this book and it is one of my fav series to read
That plot twist was so unexpected for me I was shocked. I love maven though
ZoeNot Zoey, I love this book.
I thought I would of liked this book but the ending was so dumb and cliche. Why couldn’t they make Mare win without her being “special”? It takes away from the story in my opinion. It would of been so much more interesting if she defeated the silvers with smarts and teamwork. Giving her powers was just boring.
Because she wasn't smart at all. Even Maven said it himself lmao
Powers can be cool if you give them limitations and weaknesses and use them in unique ways to solve problems (see any Brandon Sanderson book)
@@TheMikster95 very good point
I thought the plot of reds having powers was interesting, but Mare’s powers came out of fricking no where. If she had known she had powers and ended up using them to save Gisa before her hand gets shattered, it would’ve been a lot more interesting
I knew there was something off about Red Queen! I just couldn't put my finger on it. God, I'm just so happy I'm not the only one fed up with Mare. And I hate how she uses Maven's betrayal as a revenge tool. Seriously? Mare barely knew the guy, she had little romantic scenes with him, and she was forced to be his fiancee. If anything, I'd see his betrayal as a great excuse not to marry him lol. But no, she wants revenge for getting her heart broken, even though she's also in love with Cal (who she had like 2 romantic scenes with?).
Even after all that, I still tried the second book. But nope. I stopped reading a fourth of the way through it. Could barely read it. It was too boring, bland character interaction, predictable plot twists, nothing worth continuing. It was obviously suffering from "Second Book Syndrome". so after I figured out I was forcing myself to read, I closed the book and sent it back to the library.
I got about a quarter of the way through the sequel as well! I just couldn't do it.
She's also a hypocrite. She talks about him betraying her while she betrayed Maven by kissing his older brother while he (Maven) was (at the time) putting his neck on the line for her and her stupid revolution.
I think that’s why I like the book. It’s different in the aspect that the main character finally isn’t perfect. Mare has many flaws and it’s what makes it realistic
@Amrita Chakravorty you wrote it all so perfectly omggg
@Amrita Chakravorty such an unlikable protagonist for me
I'm glad to hear about the politics, I haven't picked this up because the premise made it seem like it had very simplistic, childish morality you know reds = good silvers = evil. It is a problem I've seen in many YA novels.
Agreed. There is a bit of that in this novel. The Reds are definitely favoured and the silvers are slightly simplistic. It's certainly no Game of Thrones, but as far as YA goes, I wasn't mad! I think it might be worth a read regardless of the mediocre characters, but just know that there are some problems going in! :)
it gets a lot more complicated later on, in the next couple books
In the third book we can learn more about the roots of the war and the first silvers. And there are a few dynasties (are they called dynasties?) that are rebelling against the king. I actually like the series although I'm having really hard time sympathizing mare. if all this happened a lot earlier I would've liked the books more
ursulajoni15 if you read the book(s), mare learns and meets different silvers who are nice. Later Evangeline even becomes likable.
ursulajoni15, to me, this book series is The Hunger Games with powers and with the sacrifices of the lesser citizens children in war instead of a televised game show. You even have the Reds that you can't trust, like some of the people in charge of the District Rebellion. Even the side characters in both books are very similar to each other.
I was so angry with this book. I didn't expect it to be amazing but it drew me in and I started to love it.. I was so interested that she chose the weaker, uglier brother.. but then that 'twist' that was seen a mile off and ugh
Pokemon Maniac Jak Yup, that pretty much summed up my experience!
I feel you. I genuinely saw the plot twist before it happened, but I desperately wanted them to work out. Everything Mare chose in Red Queen made me so fucking angry, and the plot twist ruined everything even more... I liked the book enough to read the sequels, but I'm still sad about Maven...
Ami Kurakin I dunno, after the plot twist that wasn’t a twist (more just the main character not listening to other people) but then a wild District 13 showed up and I was instantly bored 😂
Jordan Harvey I didn’t even see that you’d replied! Thanks 😊
Ami Kurakin OMG right?!?!?! I saw the Maven thing coming after he'd spoken like, three sentences, but Aveyard had set up so much other good stuff (amongst some other clumsy things and yes, Cal and Mar were kinda flat, but that's what made Maven SO interesting in comparison) and then she just went and did the same old boring, "oh I'm actually evil and totally used you, hahaha, I have a daddy and a mommy AND an older brother complex" "twist" (I REALLY hesitate to call it a twist, it's so contrived) and I about threw my book across the room. I was actually reading it on my lunch break and when I came back, I was so visibly ruffled my co-worker asked me what was wrong. She knew I was into the book and to have me come back from break so mad was really perplexing to her!
The only thing i liked in this book was Maven - and the fact that the protagonist was falling for the ''weaker'' brother than the boring and perfect soldier-in-shiny-armor Cal, then the twist.. I could enjoy Maven being the bad guy ,if it had a complex character density
, but no, the autor turn him in terrible one... So unfortunately to me the story end up kind of weak, with so many points that in my opnion could been worked
Amelia R. Well shit then, I'm not reading it because he is my absolute favourite character and Cal was honestly so dry. I was hoping it would the underdogs situation but this.... this is a no-no for me I don't want him like this ffs
I hate Cal I absolutely love Mavens character but HE MAKES ME WANT TO SCREAM UGHHHH
Read King’s Cage
@@customtrash2824 I dont like either of the main love interest but between the two I'd prefer Maven over Cal anytime. Cal became the boring Prince Charming who has no spine and is very indecisive... at least Maven character arc stands out and I think has the best development amongst all characters in the series. King's Cage broke me.. I love how we get to see Maven's POV, I was desperate for a redemption trope to come out because I think Maven has so much potential to be redeemed and end up with Mare. Cal just wasn't it. And looking back, I think Cal was being sorta unfair to Maven in Red Queen, he already knew he was going to be crown prince but he also took his brother's love interest. Like bruh,,,
I was literally only rooting for Maven, he is the only character that had depth and was interesting to read about. I noticed the small things that foreshadowed his betrayal, but I saw that as different parts of his character that were yet to be explored. Like with the whole cold hands to warm hands thing, I saw that as symbolic for his relationship to Mare and how he felt. The colder his hands were, the more detached he was, or something like that. And I agree, if the author wanted to make him a villain, it should've been done better. He should've had his own motivations and free will instead of being his mother's puppet. It completely detaches him from his entire character for the duration of the first book.
Am I the only one annoyed by how often the words 'red' and 'silver' are used throughout the book because....boy.
Leo's Thighs yes
Leo's Thighs I am too
Did anyone get a count on how many freaking times Mare "didn't/couldn't know" or "didn't/couldn't understand"? If the plot twist had been that Mare was a sentient bag of potatoes I think the book would have made more sense.
Leo's Thighs
I don't know why the author would use those words so much.. oh YeAh because it's the character's blood colour oh shit who knew?
I hated how many times she kept rethinking “He will always choose you” or “Anyone can betray anyone.” WE GET IT
I'm so glad I finally found someone who hates the characters in this novel as much as I do. A lot of my friends hated the novel for its predictable plot and universe, but I actually kind of liked the world. But Mare's voice made me hate the novel with a passion.
Haha, that's similar to me.
I wanted to hate Mare.
I really did.
Yet, hilariously enough, I believe the author wanted us to hate her.
Bare with me here; Mare forgets her family the second she tastes royalty, remembers them on certain days, feels strangely attached to even a black-hearted king more so than her own sister, kills people that are in her way, etc. She’s inevitably an awful, awful person.
But strangely enough?
I found that the reason that I personally hated her so much was because I realized I found way too much of myself within her (especially in King’s Cave, when she’s left with only her mind in a dungeon). She ruthlessly killed silver soldiers because she thought their blood was enough to prove that they were the enemy. Guess what? The silver side thought the same way. In this book series, there are rights and wrongs both ways; not all is black and white. True injustice. And even left to her confinement, Mare still struggles to feel remorse, mostly a numbness. I feel as though I’d feel the same.
Mare was written as a character to hate because some of us see so much of ourselves in her that we don’t want to accept. Stubbornness? Overlooking crucial planning to get to your goal? Forgetting family when “bigger things” are at hand? I can identify with all of these way more than I’d like to admit.
Mare Barrow is not Katniss Everdeen, who made decisions in the light of death that the audience would agree with. No, Mare Barrow is simply a fool, and I believe the author wanted us to see our heroine at both her darkest and her best.
If you want to read a series where not everything you’d like to happen goes your way, this series is for you, imperfect protagonist and all.
Yeah I feel like she was ment to be a moral grey charecter or as the book progresses you get to see more and more of the unlikeable traits but they also seem reasonable and human considering her situation.
Believe it or not the characterization gets better on the other books...for most of the characters. Mare is still pretty annoying.
Althea Muirin See, some people have said that, but some people have said it's gotten worse. Might still read the rest though.
Althea Muirin AGREE on
Jordan Harvey Some of the flaws you pointed out were addressed in the later books. Mare eventually starts to make some sacrifices, Cal's political stance gets defined, Farley's personality gets rounded out with some vulnerability, and Evangeline becomes more nuanced with her motivation for how she acts.
Jordan Harvey they all just became more annoying and frustrating...And I liked the 1st one but the 2nd was THE worst and the 3rd was meeh
Alex Vukotic I really hate how she play with Maven feelings in the third book
I actually enjoyed Red Queen (even though some of the things were predictable: ie Maven). I read it in one sitting. It was the 2nd book which I dropped 100 pages in and never continued with the series. I hated Mares attitude of “I’m better than everyone else. I’m the one that needs to survive”. It really turned me off.
wait what she said that? hahahahah dang i don't remember
Yeah she does, She even says kilorn is useless because he isn't a new blood.
Yeah I couldn't bear to move ahead with this book .
You missed her whole character development
“I’m the lightening girl!” She says that to herself, in her own head. Over and over and over…
Oh my God. Ok, to give everyone some perspective on how bad this book is, I've watched reviews for it before and I'd heard a lot about it, and I didn't realize until JUST NOW watching this that I have actually read this book. This book was so bad that I literally blocked it from my memory. As she was telling the plot and getting more into it, that's when pieces started falling together. I'm flabbergasted.
eram858 haha that's me with Cinder! Just realized I'd read it the other day!!
What didn't you like about it? I want to read it, so I want to know if I should waste my time on it
omg I read it middle school and didn’t remember it until now. 😱😱😱
Celandine A. And what did you think of it?
El Astro Rey : I liked it at first but it’s been a while and I have permanently retired from YA
The Silvers are all Targaryens...
I feel so loved, ahhh
YES YES
Explains why they all look alike....
😂😂😂😂😂 I can see the Rhaeghar parallels
StarDust Stables 😂😂😂
I thought it was a cool idea. But all Mare seems to say is “omg I’m stuck in this terrible place aaah” we get it Mare. Also if you switch her initials her name is Bare Marrow (the stuff in your bones) which is the first thing I noticed about her
Haha that's hilarious!! And yeah, she doesn't do much but whine...
Mares lack of autonomy is the most irritating thing! Protagonist who don’t make decisions are the worst protagonists!
Alina Starkov
Cause not every protagonist is perfect.
I watched coz I wanted to see what part I was blind to in the book. And yes the war is JUST THERE I realized, at least they coulda made the reason why most of the Reds are conscripted is because they owe the Silvers something historically. Heck! Even make a military group composed of the most powerful Silvers (like special soldiers), and make it seem like becoming on of them is honorable.
And I really wanted the mind-controllers to be the rulers, I agree. It makes sense, hive minds.
Kilorn shouldve been that childhood friend killed by silvers to give Mare more reason to fight the silvers. But oh no, love triangle. Farley couldve be that ex-silver loyalist who now hates silvers bcoz she's finally Woke. Mare shouldve been more focused on the rebellion, learn to manifest lightning, finding a way to prevent silvers from using their powers like in Avatar, or the history as to how Silvers arrived coz for sure that place was previously America.
_ ShockJin Yes. Strong yes.
_ ShockJin Any ARMYS here? XDDDDDDDDDDDDd
_ ShockJin yes but I think the fact that the they're forced to fight for no reason other than how they were born is the whole point of it ahaha
The war is JuST ThERe because none of the MC are conscripted.
In the other books they kind of showed how the war is just there to keep the red population under control or something but it does really suck how they never explicitly explained it
Style points for using the Star Wars rolling script
Limited options, but I figured, why not?
JP Harker finally starting on your novel!
Great to hear - I really hope you enjoy it! (I shall now start twiddling my thumbs nervously!)
Classic example shown by people like M Night Shyamlan: A plot twist doesn't work if it's way off and unbelievable. Just cause it catches the reader off guard, doesn't make it a good twist and you just end up sacrificing your whole book for your 'intelligent' plot twist
ohhhh my god i hated mare SOOO much too i couldn't even bring myself to care when she was about to die!!! and she is honestly so stupid?...and naive for believing that cal would choose her over the crown! i cringed so hard when they pretty much believed that they could easily base their whole plan on love it was idiotic and the fact that cal was supposed to be her main love interest yet she played him and manipulated him that is so wrong and i genuinely don't want her to end up with cal wtf she doesn't deserve him!! i don't trust her and she doesn't have any strong valid points of views... also, the only character i ended up caring about was cal but only because he was so played lmao i felt sorry for him :/ and im currently skeptical about continuing this series ehhhh i lowkey can't help but feel curious of what comes next but how am i supposed to bear another 400 pages of mare barrow's mind
valerie tania I cannot stand her
They use other POV’s, if they didn’t I couldn’t have finished the book
I have mostly the same problem, I really do think I would've liked this book, but something was kinda wrong. Also most of the time, I can finish a book on a school week in between breaks, but this one, no, it took me a whole month I borrowed it three times! It was kind of boring, but at the same time, I felt like something good would happen, so I keep reading.
But one thing- I actually like Maven's character the best. I loved that twist. I kind of was confused with the foreshadowing, because Mare made it seem like he was so into the Scarlet Guard that I believed that he was good. God, that was the best plot twist I've read in a long time.
Arya Malfoy Huh! I totally guessed the twist, but I can see why you’d like him if you didn’t!
Jordan Harvey yeah, idk, I just don't read YA that often.
My English teacher's daughter made this book...
That's actually pretty cool
Well no I never got to talk to her but I think she subbed a class once, She also came in to do autographs but that was an out of school thing that I didn't attend. Though while in class we didn't talk about it a lot in class, only a few posters and the occasional reference to her. It was a fun class though.
Delta studios Yeah, I went to an event where she was basically one of the newest published authors in the panel and she seemed super cool.
That's super cool actually
I thought this was a joke as in “My English teacher’s daughter who thinks she can write because she’s the daughter of an English teacher made this book”
I agreeee!!! Although Mare didn't bother me that much in the first book, I couldnt get through the second because she was behaving like an emo teen
Well now i feel stupid 😂😂😂 i didn't even notice the forshadowing, i must've been the only one who didn't expect mavin to betray mare hahaha
From the comments, I don't think you were alone!
I actually was okay with Mare during the first book but as I read the others I slowly started to hate her. In the third book I believe, it starts to show the story from other people’s viewpoint which was nice. I really enjoyed the books and the story was good as well. Plus it was an easyyyy read for me 🤗 Love the video btw!
I found you through this video which is kind of funny since I really like Red Queen and most of its characters . But I found your opinions very interesting , and I get where you’re coming from. And you’re right about Mare being passive, I never really realized that until you said it but it’s so true. Lol. Anyway, I really enjoy your channel, keep up the good work ☺️👍🏻
Kira TheWriter Thanks so much! See, I think that’s awesome that we can disagree but still see each others perspectives! That’s how it should be.
Jordan Harvey I totally agree! If more people got that then maybe the internet wouldn’t be such a nasty place a lot of the time.
This series drags and drags. I'm at the point where I want Maven to win. I hate Mare Barrow too. I listened to the audio book. The girl who narrates has a terribly annoying voice. So Mare is already annoying and then you add this jarring voice narrating the entire series. Man I was so happy for book 3, Evangeline has a very sultry voice, it was much better. As the series goes on, I will say that it's easier to look past the insufferable voice of the girl that narrates it and see the growth in Mare. Now I just hate Cal. Cal can die anytime in the remains of the series and I will not care.
I'm 32 and young adult novels are definitely a guilty pleasure of mine still. I will say that it is a big theme in YA books to either have somewhat developed characters and a lacking plot growth or to have a somewhat decent plot and growth, but have incredibly lacking characters. I feel like some of these ya authors should get together and one of them works on the plot and descriptions and the other one works on the characters growth and personality and together they would make probably the most decent young adult novel ever made.
Yes
But she needs to be annoying
Fire Benders, Water Benders, Districts and GoT kind of plot: YUUUPPP seems like some Avatar, Hunger Games and GoT fanfic
Mare is a horrid supposed "heroine". It's difficult to be on her side and I honestly very rarely care about what happens to her character.
So many of those characters get so much more backstory later on. I’m reading War Storm (book 4) and Evangeline is by far my favourite character.
Evangeline and Iris are by far the best characters in War Storm
Not only is the plot repetitive (which I don’t mind) Mare’s character base is repetitive and not original! I am personally tired of seeing the strong female who have the best poker face and you can’t tell what they think. Why can’t there be a protagonist who wears their heart on their sleeve? That would be a nice change.
I didn't like Mare either
On the book: I agree this sucked ass.
On women in war: you're wrong in this. The idea that women didn't participate in war is wrong and is a hold over from Ancient Rome/Greece ideas. They took shape because of Rome, in particular, conquered so much land that their ideas on things just flourished in their wake. They could do this because they did have huge standing armies, they conquered a shitton of land so they had the bodies (part of the incentive to join an army was Roman citizenship or a parcel of land upon retirement), etc. And, of course, they brought their notions of women along with that.
However, this wasn't the case for a lot of different cultures. You sort of had two different mode of countries: ones that were permanent and others that were nomadic. The nomadic ones were actually really, really fierce and terrifying. The Northern peoples, for example, terrorized Ancient Rome at the time. The Goths, the Huns, the Vikings, etc. The Goths, for example, absolutely would bring their entire families on campaigns with them. Ancient Rome was absolutely terrified of them. It was said to give the Goth warriors more courage and any Goths that tried to flee battles would be killed by the women. The women would step in and help with the fighting too. And stuff like this would go on for centuries. It was simply a different way of surviving: one grew the grain and raised farm animals while the other took from those they raided.
You're absolutely right. I was referring to similar societies to the ones in the novel. Nomadic societies definitely differ, but I was talking about settled, agricultural societies that wanted to either protect their land or gain more land, and it's not only the Romans and Greeks who stripped women of their rights so that they were little more than stay-at-home baby-makers. If you look at societies like these across the world, you'll find that ancient China, Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Japan (and I'm sure others as well) all at some point (usually when confronted with war) had male armies and kept women at home to have large enough families to support them.
That's also not to say that woman didn't play any roles in those armies ever, but I'm not speaking of the outliers so much as the bulk. In the society in this novel, with the settled, agricultural nature of it, unfortunately there's no chance that women would fight. It worked in Nomadic groups certainly, but in a scenario like this, it would be impossible to support that population and army if both males and females were drafted for war, and if they didn't have families of 8-12.
It's really hard to say if this is true, even with agricultural countries because of the influence Ancient Greece/Rome had on the world. We don't know enough about Ancient Egypt to know if women were part of their armies (it wouldn't surprise me if they were with the way their country had to have a very strong army) and we know other civilizations like Ancient Japan did have female Samurai (though you could argue that much of Ancient Japan was nomadic too.)
Bleh. I think the few minutes it took both of us to write this is more thought about the subject than the author took. xP God, I hate Dystopian novels lately.
True aha!
And yeah, again, I was focussing more on the bulk than the outliers. Regardless of the influences of Greece and Rome though, mathematically it just doesn't make sense. I'm not saying women can't fight, we sure as hell can, it just doesn't make sense in the context of this novel.
It would also depend on outside influences too. North and South America was basically won because of chemical warfare (not the lack of superior weapons as a lot of revisionists say.) And the only reason the US is still able to go to war in the middle east is technology and better medicine that makes casualties on our side really small.
This is always my problem with dystopian novels these days. I start to think about these world building things and the kick me out of the book while I'm trying to figure out in the world it would ever actually work.
why am i so interested to see you completely drag a book i loved and have ranted about :P
Honestly I have one friend who loves this book, so I went to a bookstore and was all like "Yeah ok I'll check it out." So my brother is with me, and as I reach for the book, he asks me about it. So I tell him,"Some sort of dystopian novel about seperation by color, I think."
"I bet its by color of blood." He answers. We open the book, and sure enough, the first sentence on the book cover mentions seperation of color. This book was so predictable that my brother( who won't touch the teen section of a library/bookstore) guessed the entire plot. He predicted a love story between a red and a silver as well, and I'm pretty positive he was right.
I've never taken book recommendations from this friend since this, because mediocre dystopian teen fantasies are all she reads. She didn't believe me when I told her Animal Farm was a classic because she thought I was reading a children's book.
Oh jeez. That's pretty horrific.
You should check out my video on how to write a bestselling YA novel. I think you might get a chuckle.
ua-cam.com/video/COkViJpgR8U/v-deo.html
... yikes
I loved this series, and most other YA series similar to it, but I never recommend them to ppl I know since I know that's not their thing.I've read a ton of reviews and almost all of them give either a perfect score or the lowest score possible, so ppl either hate or love them. My reasoning is that at least 30 % loved it, so it might be worth checking out. If EVERYONE thinks a book is pretty decent, I'm not gonna pick it up, since nobody thought it was above averege.
Also, one possible reason why these books get away with not being original is b/c the target audience knows that they're getting something similar to what they've already liked (I assume most ppl who picked up Red Queen have read The Hunger Games trilogy). I understand why ppl dislike YA. If you value creativity highly, which most ppl seem to do, then it's not the genre for you (I look at every book/series on its' own and ask myself if I enjoyed it, and that's it). I'm never gonna claim that my favorite books are objectively good and the same goes for other art forms. Everyone has a different taste when it comes to books/music, and that's totally fine as long as we respect each other.
"Avatar reference"
Personally I really love the book and the entire series and thought all the characters and plot twists were interesting. I don’t think Mare is boring because of the conflicts she has with herself and her beliefs which is something you really don’t see as much in the first book but later on in the series you get to know kind of more of who she is and how she feels about everything. But even in the first book, I think she’s still a cool and conflicted character and I love her and her story she develops throughout the series. Also, marecal is great and no one can convince me otherwise. But I agree I wanted to scream at the end of the book too not because I didn’t like it but because it was just so frustrating how things turned out. Overall, I really loved the Red Queen series and I think you should give the other books a chance :)
About Shade and Farley, I think that their characters get more interesting later. But I agree that the other characters are so boring!!
Yvonne Wang yeah I haven't read either book in ages but they do become rather decent
"that sucks" oh my god, I can't believe you. SHADE IS MY BABY
Finally I thought I was the only one. Mare was a completely blank character. The Mare and Cal romance was predictable yet painfully shallow. Maven's potential as a character was wasted. The premise and world building were GREAT... But the characters ruined the book for me
Yet I still bought the third book... And hasn't touched it since😥
Next books are way better, the characters evolve, and the Farley’s background is revealed.
i actually really like the series. it's one of the books that are so hard to put down when you read it, at least for me. but maybe it's just because im not an oberservant reader who actually manages to point out the flaws in books. i just read. and so far, i really love the series
I'm getting some vindictive pleasure watching you break down the faults of this book. I'd like to hear your thoughts on Cinder, which in my opinion makes no sense and has so much squandered potential. Cinder is a cyborg with a synthetic brain and the possibility of her being an AI is never brought up! What! I'm pretty sure changing up your brain makes you different!
Claire Guthrie I read cinder a million years ago and had mixed feelings back then (when I was a lot more forgiving) so it would be interesting to see what I think of it now. Maybe I will, but no promises...
I liked cinder will enough. I couldn't stand the second book. The red riding hood themed one. The plot was so generic from the characterization to the love story to the "twist". It made it really hard for me to get into the rest of the series.
Qurratulayn muhammad I've heard REALLY mixed things about the second book. Most people didn't like it as much I think though.
I would have loved to bump into those people back with the book was fresh in my head. I needed someone to rant with so badly lol.
The Red Queen got a dnf from me so i never got to the twist. Like you said in your review the characters were a big reason why i tuned out.
Qurratulayn muhammad Yeah it was so hard to connect to the characters for me! But you could probably tell that from the video.
I read this once when it had just arrived to the library, had the time and had already read or DNF'd everything else I had on my list that had better covers and blurbs. I agree with a lot you said, that the book does have it's flaws, and I hated hated HATED Mare too (even her name makes her sound like a horse, should've been spelled Maree or something). On the other hand, I didn't like Elara or think she was particularly nuanced, whereas I found there to be a lot in Farley, Julian and Sara that I liked. Julian in particular reminded me of a teacher I once had, this old dude who, while not as bookish, was a great teacher who cared a lot about the untold truths. The two princes, well, I liked Maven a lot more, and though I had some suspicions, I was surprised by the twist, if just a little. Cal was just too boring, a flat war-obsessed alpha heteromasculinity stereotype. I liked the a bit more femme Maven a lot better, and remember thinking of him as looking like a bishie prettyboy, while Cal, in my mind, was a round-faced tries-to-be-cool manchild that looked a bit like Donald Trump did when younger.
EDIT: fixed a typo.
When I read Red Queen I literally didn't understand what was likable about it at all. I never even finished the second. A year later I went back to try again and although the second book was unbearable, the third and forth had me losing my mind -- they were just that good for me. It ended up being one of my favorite series but it's so hard to talk about because unlike most series - the thing that hooked me WASNT the first book.
The Maven twist did surprise me. But only because I wasnt paying attention through the book after Julian was introduced.
I feel like a lot of the things you're talking about is actually fixed or explained in the second and third book
Does that really matter though? The first book of a series should have enough development to stand by itself.
Nyx Shadowhawk everyone says Harry Potter gets better after the fourth book and that ToG gets better after the first one. Lots of series' people LOVE get better as they go on.
That's true. Of course series get better as the author gets better, but that does not change the fact that the first book should be able to stand on its own. The author can also wait to explain things until later books, but the reader should not be left feeling confused or lost. If you JUST read the first Harry Potter book, you could understand and enjoy it, even if you didn't know exactly why Voldemort tried to kill Harry.
Like in King's Cage the Lakelander War was explained. You just have to be patient.
yeah that’s exactly what i was thinking but as other people are saying, i feel like the first book should be able to have enough explanations on its own, but for the reason i was reading the book i kinda liked having things build up throughout the series lmao
Honestly, the ending was SO predictable,, and Mare was so dumb. Istg, who in their right mind would trust Maven,, A SILVER, to join a militant resistance formed by REDS whose purpose was to damn the silvers,, just because the poor boi was too tired of being wronged and minorized by his people because they were too focused on his pErFeCt bRoThEr to even care about him?? He literally goes "I feel ignored, imma get my revenge on them". It was SO obvious that something was off because WHO,, in their right mind, would trust a silver, to work against a silver. I KNOW,, NO ONE.
The one thing I actually liked about this book, apart from the powers thingy, was the quote "anyone can betray anyone", which was mentioned like a billion times,, even by Mare herself. But then NO ONE seemed to have any consideration about it and I was just too shocked to even believe in the fact that they didn't seem to be listening themselves.
If you read the second and third book, a lot of the backstories and other character things you had an issue with are explained. The whole thing about Maven, the point is that he was too perfect. His character is much more developed in the next two books. There is also a lot more about the war and other things about the silvers. It gets further away from the cliche that it is expected to be. The plotline is also amazing the more you read. I feel like reading the rest of the series may have made this review more accurate. But this is also personal opinion. I loved it, but I am also a big fan of YA fantasy books.
I think the mind controllers should be in charge and use the fire benders as an army. Since they can control people.
But of course the royal family needs to have fire powers because it’s cliche
I really liked your review.
But the war actually makes sense once you've read the other books (the war is a evil plot to keep the red population down). The politics get better and more authentic in the following books but the charakters get worse because you see developement happening and in the next chapter it just get's debunked like it never happend. It feels like the charakters just evolve backwards to the point where they are even less understandable than they where in the first book. I am currently reading all of them for an essay on psychologie and pedagogy in university and it sucks hahaha.
( sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors I made. I am from germany.)
All the best and keep at it I really like your reviews ;)
Crossroadhello Thanks so much! I've heard the war gets justified a bit but I still think there are big holes. Why would you need war when they seem to live in horrible conditions? And the amount of people that would die just wouldn't add up. And sending women also still doesn't make sense.
Jordan Harvey yes it's still hard to understand but it is the only explaination the books give. Thanks for the replie :) The next time I have to write something like that again I'll be sure to watch your review first and not after I've read three exhaustingly bad books hahaha
As I read this book, there were lines that stood out as completely different from the rest of the writing. It seemed like Aveyard thought of a few good/profound sounding quotes and decided to build a story around them.
I did enjoy the book as just a quick and fun read, but I wouldn't list it as quality literature.
Enjoying the books seems like a good enough reason to read it for me, doesnt have to be quality literature (same goes for music lol). I don't go to the movie theater to critically analyse movies, but to have a good time. Why would i do it differently for books?
I tried to love it as well. But it was so unoriginal and unremarkable in every way. The characters are barely compelling and nothing about the dialogue was rememorable either. Not going on to read this series.
sarah
You should go try the Super Powereds series
When stories like Divergent lets people think they can be a best seller if they write a dystopian story with a "strong" female protagonist.
watching this review as my copy sits on my shelf watching me...
Great review, Jordan! Sorry your video cut out on you like that.
Thank you!! I am too (though it may have been a blessing since the video is already over 20mins long)!
Jordan Harvey Don't worry too much about going over 20 minutes. If you keep putting good videos up, we'll keep watching them, even if they're a little long. :)
Aw you're so sweet!!
Oooof! The tea is hot!
Jordan: "You can't create anything in mind reading anyway."
Inception: "Am I a joke to you?"
Excellent explanation, when ever I talk to my friends about it I summerise it as this.
"It could have been great and it had so much unfulfilled potential."
I've read the two the come after, just out of curiousness, but it really does disappoint from there on. (I DESPISE Cameron from books 2 & 3, she's a pathetic character.)
And E i agree about cameron, and in the fourth book she practically disappears completely and does absolutely nothing
You are so spot on about that dancing scene! With my favorite couple of all time, Kaz and Inej, it only takes a sentence of JUST ONE LOOK to have me dying. I don't even think they actually kissed once which makes sense because youknowwhat (I don't want to spoil). I'm getting so excited just thinking about them, but when I read that dance scene I had to actually put on music myself to be more interested,
Personally, the burners being kings lent itself well to this line in a novella:
"Tiberias the Sixth? Fifth? No, it's the fourth still, certainly, the old flame just won't _die_ ."
It's Cal's mother's cousin's line, who hadn't been to court in over a decade at that point and was out of touch.
I TOTALLY TOTALLY AGREE about characters being the most important part of the book. I could read a novel about grocery shopping if the characters were good, but if I don't like the characters nothing else can really save the book for me
Ember Lafonte Same! Character, to me, should be the foundation of the story, and everything else should be after that.
The plot twist I was like why maven why! I shipped maven and mare but now I ship mare and cal
I'm pretty sure I'm both - I like my characters and my plots with a side of sprite and salt n vinegar chips thank you.
The “fire benders” that are actually called burners rule the kingdom because they founded it. In regular history it’s not always the most powerful person who rules the kingdom.
Oh god, I wondered why the book was little lame, y'know. And thanks to ur opinion I realized that the characters actually were kinda annoying! So really good review!
Thank you! Glad I helped!!
I know I’m extremely late on this, but the reason Farley is kind of boring and has no vulnerability is actually pretty important in the later books. I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn’t read the later books but I can say that when she does show emotion it is actually pretty surprising making you like her character a lot more. Plus there is a time later in the books where she has to sort of learn how to care for people. Also there is a reason in here backstory on why she doesn’t show emotions like that. It’s hard to explain without spoiling anything but Farley actually turns into a very interesting character imo
Me: Hey I love Red Queen!
*Sees Glass of Throne rant*
Me: Oh I hate that book I'll be back
I loved this book and I’m not trying to hate but this is my favourite series
I've seen so many people praise this book that I thought I was crazy but ugh thank you souch for this video! I hate Mare so much for every reason you said, anytime the story got interesting she just whined and whined and never tried to change anything for herself - I was rooting for the silvers, because every red seemed so freaking whiny and annoying to me. Really bad book with such good potential, so sad it just is such a flat read. Loved this video! Everything I thought about the book, you stated so perfectly.
Y'know i read the red queen and glass sword and one of the things that triggers me the most is that all of the sudden they decide that Mare should be queen, like that, in the middle of nowhere (logical thought would have make me put Cal as king because 1- He's a prince taught all his life how to rule and all he needs to know for that 2-He could represent the frickin half of the society that is the silvers, that we know killing all of them would be genocide 3- Once they mention that all surrounding countries have silver leaders so or they would start a distorted industrial revolution chain of events or all other countries would stop comunicating, trading, etc. with them leading to the fall of the kingdom) ...so Cal for President!!!
Thank God people have realized that this book is terrible. I would burn it without any hesitation.
Lol
This is how I felt! I just got to it earlier this month. I avoided reviews and spoilers but I knew that most of booktube loved it. After half the book I knew ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING that was going to happen... Then it did happen. It was meant to be surprising, but time and time again I wasn't surprised.
Time For Books Yeah, I felt a lot of the foreshadowing was way too heavy handed for sure and there was a lot that was pretty expected
Wow
I absolutely love this book
I think Mare is one of the best characters
And could be one of my fav books ever
But that's your opinion
And can I just say that Farley is not leading the rebellion
And she is really interesting in the next book
I only read it recently. Read the first one, gave the second one a try and gave up halfway through. The characters are written in a very wattpad fanfic like fashion. And all the "plottwists"? Saw them all coming from a mile away, how exciting. I don't get the hype around this book at all.
I think you should (if you have not already) read Glass Sword. The characters are a lot more fleshed out.
I got about 40 pages in, and then DNFed it.
The book felt pretty cool the first chapters, but the most interesting conflicts happens like 20 chapters later. Some of it didn’t make sense, like the power thing you said. Victoria Aveyard makes an AMAZING setting and political conflicts. Characters feel like something out a typical teenage drama. Poor girl turns out to be special and marries powerful guy. Julian’s character (to me) is justifiable because he wasn’t the most interesting, but more interesting than any of the other characters
While I still think this book sucks, I think SOME of your complaints are patched up a bit (Farley's Vulnerability, Kilorn's place in the plot, Cal's Morals) in Glass Sword and Kings Cage. I will say though Glass Sword is boring and you'd honestly just be better off reading a quick description online. Kings cage is just extremely frustrating because it takes a while for the plot to kick up.
I'm glad they were patched up along the way, though I don't think there should have been that many holes and problems in the first place!
Very true! Also I really enjoyed the review, thank you for taking the time to do these kinds of things. Much appreciated.
The later books really flesh out the world more and the characters get better, especially Evangeline. But when I thought back at Mare, I can’t really remember the main character traits of Mare. She seemed there more for viewing purposes.
The war gets a purpose beyond just “its war”. Which becomes bigger in the later books
I really wish that her pickpocket talent was used more though
i lost it when the firebender/waterbender reference popped up. i love rants so obviously i love this, but what i love more is well established rants and thus you earn my eternal gratitude for this video
Ashwitha de Mel Yes! Working on it right now haha!!
I disagree about the predictable and unoriginal part. Nothing is orignal. Everything has already been written and it’s how the author shows, explains and portrays the story that matters and that make it stand out. I dont mind reading books with the same plots, but what makes me prefer a book is the way that they are written (for example characters, writing style and what the author adds to the story). And also, I’m not sure if the video came out before this was said in the books, spoilers btw for the books, so if you haven’t read them all don’t read the next part, but the war was for population control. Then the Lakelanders were important to the plot, since they were helping Maven. If I’m wrong, please tell me.
I really enjoyed this book and the series as a whole. I know the series has its problems ,but then again, all books do. I think it's worth reading through the whole series. The characters become more well developed, and the story was pretty interesting to me. I also suggest reading the novelas, which give more background on Cal's mother/ Farley and Shade. I'm not going to rag on her or anyone else for not liking this series. I understand that people have different tastes. I know this post was long, but I would just like to encourage anyone thinking about reading this series to listen to a few different opinions and try reading this series. :)
I think this book through Evangeline's eyes would be interesting. Like the Guard strikes and kills her family and she and a Silver warrior are forced to run away and hide amongst the Reds and see how oppressed they actually are. She could befriend a Red or something who dies and gives her a reason to fight in the rebellion. Mare can be in the court pretending to be her and betrothed to Cal. The povs could switch between them. I really liked this book but I feel like this setup would have been more interesting.
Agreed! That could've been interesting :)
Was I the only one who read "Mare Barrow" as Bone Marrow?
Nope.
It says in one of the books that the war was a way to get rid of red population because it was larger than the silver population and the silvers were afraid that if the red population wasn't properly managed then the reds would eventually overtake silvers.
Shania A ooof even then I have so many ways I could argue that
Jordan Harvey I guess that’s true
Nobody cares what powers you have if you can rule! Oh, but just think about it, the Lakeland rulers are NYPHS
I remember spending my allowance on this book just to rage quit it and never finished it, now it's sitting on my bookshelf mocking me for wasting my money on it.
ooof
@@JordanHarveybooks oof indeed