From the Bookshelf of The Reading Challenge Group…

Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)

Victoria Aveyard

Start date: June 1, 2015

Finish date: June 30, 2015

Discussion: Group Read Archive 2014-16

Why we're reading this: YA Group Read - June 2015
[close] YA Group Read - June 2015

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Group Read Archive 2014-16

Genre Group Read (Humour) - December 2016 - You Are Not So Smart
By Allison , Quest Hound · 11 posts · 30 views

last updated Dec 28, 2016 04:05PM

Alternate Group Read (Classics) - December 2016 - Mansfield Park
By Allison , Quest Hound · 5 posts · 18 views

last updated Dec 04, 2016 09:34AM

showing 10 of 10 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Mar 07, 2016 aeneegma rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016

MORE LIKE A RANT:

It was a nice read. Interesting story. Good depiction of characters.
description

I enjoy this, though it isn't a book I would rave about. I've read many books with the same storyline as this one, and there's nothing different about this. People keep giving this book a 5 stars, that's why I read this expecting it to be something that would amaze me...But...
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Jan 23, 2015 dani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015

NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO i had a review typed out and then i tried to type some more and it just WENT ???????????????????

so now i'm going to summarise everything i previously said because i am NOT RE-WRITING IT.

this was good. v good. not like 5 start i just shit myself i need the hospital amazing, but good nonetheless.

i did have a couple of issues w the book which i will lightly summarise. the beginning was SLOW. like, really slow. i almost cried in the first 30-40 NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO i had a review typed out and then i tried to type some more and it just WENT ???????????????????

so now i'm going to summarise everything i previously said because i am NOT RE-WRITING IT.

this was good. v good. not like 5 start i just shit myself i need the hospital amazing, but good nonetheless.

i did have a couple of issues w the book which i will lightly summarise. the beginning was SLOW. like, really slow. i almost cried in the first 30-40 pages because it was just so cliché? and i haven't been around in the YA world for a very long time, not since i was about thirteen properly so i haven't read the hyped books like the selection, and even i found this was too similar to stuff i'd already read. poor family, younger sister who is a better person than you (prim anyone? helo) and a male best friend who it turns out you think you'll end up with as you reveal in one random sentence, despite none of this being hinted at in the book. i also felt like the beginning of the novel was trying a bit too hard to set up the memorable sentences - and because of this overbearing effort, a lot of them fell flat in the beginning. no actual tension was set up and these pretentious sentences were just thrown in there as an attempt to create dramatic effect to no avail. not cutting her hair because "i like the reminder that even my hair knows life shouldn't be this way." no babe, it's just light at the end cus of all your SPLIT ENDS not some philosophical life meaning. she was also set up as a lil' bit of a martyr, with many sentences just slightly re-worded but of the basic meaning "maybe causing pain is all i'm good for." the self-pity in the beginning of the novel was unbearable.

i also thought that some of the settings and relationships were slightly under-described. mare was in these supposedly beautiful and awe-inspiring settings but i just couldn't picture all of them because the description just wasn't enough for me. also when mare had this initial distrust of maven - why? the reader kept being told that she didn't for some reason trust him, but nothing in his description of him gave the reader the same kind of vibe.

HOWWWEEVVEEERRRR there was loads of stuff i loved about this book ! i loved the political spin this instantly had, setting it apart from other YA books of a similar kind. a rebellion, quiet wish to overthrow the monarchy, living in the society you despise without a choice. the invisible plots running under the surface that the reader has no idea about, let alone the protagonists. the powers were also unique - taking classics like the nymph or the burner and adding in others, like the whisper or the singer. this book has a main bulk filled with teenage antics and feuds, with an underlying bigger plot of the revolution that is to come. i just loved the training - the teenage royals battling each other, it was just so badass - they were the top of the food chain and were just so powerful.

i liked the romance - i liked how it honestly never consumed the novel, and was only really hinted at??? it was never the bigger plotline, and that's what i liked. the familial relationships were so good, between cal and maven, their parents, mare and her family. the plot also took twists i couldn't predict and i loved that! i started out the novel thinking that it would be one thing, and what i assumed it would end up turning into changed every other chapter and i never guessed right. which i kind of loved.

this was overall a thoroughly enjoyable read, with a mostly original and well-done plot bringing something a bit new to the YA book community. i hope this gets made into a (good) movie, as i can see how this well-woven world would really really translate onto the bigger screen and come alive in a different way.

looking forward to the next two books! ...more

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Mar 04, 2016 Catherine rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5/5

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Apr 18, 2015 Linda Bakker-Zwakhals rated it really liked it

Very good story! A fantasy world mixed with some things from reality. Good twists and character developments.

The only thing I did not like about the story, and why I didn't give it five stars, is the fact that the most important part of the rebellion is based on a teenage romance, and the fact that they acknowledge this. ...more

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