I think “Red Queen,” by Victoria Aveyard, was the only time I was conflicted on which brother to choose in a love triangle. 

Normally, I hate love triangles because there is always an obvious option. If it’s done well – and most are not – then I should be battling with which one to side with. I will always choose the bad boy. They’re more interesting, cause more drama, lowkey kind of toxic, always have a soft spot for the girl and might even drive a motorcycle or have tattoos; dare I say that is attractive. Why should she choose the boring and safe option? Love should be wild and exciting.

Mare Barrow lives in a divided world of those who have red blood, who are the poor, and those who have silver blood, who are the rich. If you are born with silver blood, then you have a superpower – unless you are Mare. That was all it took for me to fall in love with the storyline. 

Mare is a skilled thief, and she tries to steal from a wealthy looking man. That wealthy looking man was the crown prince of Norta, Tiberias "Cal" Calore VII. He gets her a job as a servant at the royal palace instead of acting like how the average person would when someone just tried to steal from you. 

At one of the palace events, Mare discovers she has lightning powers. The Silvers do not want people to know that someone with red blood can have powers, so they cover this public display by saying she is a long-lost silver noble and betroth her to the second prince, Maven. 

Through the entire novel, you can tell Cal and Mare have feelings for each other, but they both cannot trust each other because of this division between the Reds and the Silvers. It is a torturous ‘will they, won’t they’ thing going on. Then, I start to not trust Cal because he sides with the Silvers despite knowing their blatant and cruel intentions. 

Diving a little deeper, the division between the Reds and Silvers reflects modern notions: Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal, Black or White, etc. These systems thrive on keeping division in place so the one in power can stay in power. One is always viewed as “lesser.” 

Even with Cal and Maven both growing up to believe Silver ruling, Cal later realizes the truth mirrors the world we live in today. You might grow up to believe one way and be told the other way is wrong, but then cross over to that “wrong” side and realize the whole time you were rooting with the real enemy.

With that, Maven begins to show feelings for Mare as he works with her for the Scarlet Guard, the rebellion against the Silvers. At this time, I begin to like Maven better than Cal because he is fighting by her side and validating her feelings. He is not actively trying to oppress her people, and he wants to end it as much as she does. Maven and Mare even share a cutesy kiss.  

Little do we know, it was all a lie. Maven was manipulating Mare to get information on the Scarlet Guard. He frames Cal for the king’s assassination, who is Maven’s stepfather, so that everyone will turn against Cal, and Maven can get the crown instead. 

Sometimes the nicest people are the ugliest. Aveyard is a mastermind, and I was completely blindsided by this plot twist that I so much as threw my book across the room. Maven and Cal may have the same fire ability, but Maven is a psychological manipulator. This dramatic reveal reminded me much like Thor and Loki. 

As if it couldn’t get any worse, Mare’s abilities are revealed, and Maven throws Cal and Mare into an arena. They are forced to fight to the death against Silvers for the public to watch. This fight scene was charged with a lot of action, which kept my eyes glued to the page. I stayed up way too late despite being tired. I needed to know if my heart was going to get shattered and if Cal was going to die. Luckily, Aveyard has a soul and did not do that to me. The Scarlet Guard helps them escape and Cal joins Mare in the rebellion. 

With Maven already knowing Scarlet Guard’s plan, they have to stay one step ahead of him. That is an extremely hard thing to do because Maven is always three steps ahead.

“Red Queen” is the first novel out of four in this series. The series has a few spin-offs as well as another book that is short stories comprised into one. 

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