Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)

by Victoria Aveyard

In school, we learned about the world before ours, about the angels and gods that lived in the sky, ruling the earth with kind and loving hands. Some say those are just stories, but I don’t believe that. The gods rule us still. They have come down from the stars. And they are no longer kind.

“You believe you are the masters of the world, but your reign as kings and gods is at an end. Until you recognize us as human, as equal, the fight will be at your door. Not on a battlefield but in your cities. In your streets. In your homes. You don’t see us, and so we are everywhere.” Her voice hums with authority and poise. “And we will rise up, Red as the dawn.”

Her eyes are on mine as he brings the butt of his gun down, shattering the bones in her sewing hand.

it hurts even more second time reading this ugh

“Thief,” he says, a strange surprise in his voice. I blink at him, fighting the urge to laugh. I don’t even have the strength to protest. “Obviously.”

He is the strangest person I’ve ever met.

LMAO

I’m Cal, by the way,” he adds, stretching out a hand to shake.

eye twitch

Something about the mud and shadows makes Cal uncomfortable,

I lose myself in trying to find the electricity, to bring it back and prove that even one small thing can go right in a world so wrong. Something sharp meets my fingertips, making my body jolt. An exposed wire or faulty switch, I tell myself. It feels like a pinprick, like a needle spiking in my nerves, but the pain never follows. Above us, the porch light hums to life.

inch resting? (AYE i was right first read through -mol second read through)

She taps the badge on her uniform. The crown winks in the low light. “You serve the king now.”

“The Prince Maven,

Ayeayeayeayeaye

All together you are poor, rude, immoral, unintelligent, impoverished, bitter, stubborn, and a blight upon your village and my kingdom.”

ate her up

“You will marry my son Maven, and you’ll do it without putting a toe out of line.”

AYE AYE AYEE

“My name is Maven,”

HEYYYYYY

the little lightning girl.”

From now until the end of your days, you must lie. Your life depends on it, little lightning girl.

At least I won’t have to deal with a good liar.

eye twitch (second read thru)

Conscription. Survival. Green-eyed children with my quick feet and Kilorn’s last name.

:(

I can’t even speak when Maven murmurs to me, his voice calm and level in assurance. “You’re doing fine,” he says,

MAVENNNN

He gulps at the sight of her. “Uh, this way, miss—ma’am—my lady.”

HES JUST SEVENTEEN IM GONNA WEEEPPP

“You’re a lot like Maven,” he says after a long moment that makes my heart race. “You mean engaged to a stranger? We do have that in common.”

“Here’s to a long and happy friendship, Officer Samos.” “Likewise, my lady.” “Don’t call me that.” “Whatever you say, my lady.”

“That’s why they gave her to me. Because I’m dangerous.” But Lucas shakes his head. “Lady Titanos, they gave her to you because your posture is terrible and you eat like a dog. Bess Blonos is going to teach you how to be a lady and if you light her up a couple of times, no one will blame you.”

okay he ate her up

He nods, looking a little better. “She does indeed. Well, I won’t keep you.” He takes my hand gently. The cold I felt on his skin before is gone, replaced with a delightful heat.

i literally am tweaking

You’re looking at a freak, Julian.

tea

Not like me. I’m not like anyone. “So what does this mean?” “I’m not quite sure. You are something else entirely. Not Red, not Silver. Something else. Something more.”

“You heard my bride,” another voice says. His words are firm and hard, the voice of royalty. Maven. “Let her go.”

The words stick in his mouth. He doesn’t want to say them, but he feels them all the same. “He’s strong, he’s talented, he’s powerful—and I’m his shadow. The shadow of the flame.”

i love maven tbh

Without thinking, I throw my arms around Maven. He doesn’t respond for a second but slowly lets an arm drop around my shoulders. When I pull back, a silver blush paints his cheeks. I can feel my own blood run hot beneath my skin, pounding in my ears.

aw

I can’t believe I didn’t see him for what he was from the beginning: a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Gisa fights tears, forcing herself to say the words. “He tried to run away. He was executed. Beheaded.”

HUH

“Let her go,” Cal rumbles, standing over me. The heat rolls off him, almost rippling the air. The calm he fights to maintain thins, threatening to come undone.

hot!

“Take me to Julian.” “Julian’s a fool,” he mutters.

tea

“You would know,” I snap, remembering Shade. “Because no matter how hard you try to hide it, I see it all over your hands.”

ate her up

This world is Silver, but it is also gray. There is no black-and-white.

“You are,” he murmurs, running a finger over the pages. “And that’s why you’re in danger, from everyone. Even Maven. Even me. Anyone can betray anyone.”

i do not trust this dude

It’s our nature, Julian would say. We destroy. It’s the constant of our kind. No matter the color of blood, man will always fall. I didn’t understand that lesson a few days ago, but now, with Cal’s hands in mine, guiding me with the lightest touch, I’m beginning to see what he meant. I can feel myself falling.

Then his fingers are under my chin, tipping my head up to meet his gaze. Gold flame flickers in his eyes, reflecting the heat beneath. “I’ll miss you, Mare.”

As much as I want to pull away, I just can’t do it. Cal is a cliff, and I throw myself over the edge, not bothering to think of what it could do to us both.

remember that my lips, now smiling for Maven, were kissing his brother last night.

PFFT

I want to kill her, I want to be her.

real

Cal spots me through the crowd, grinning that smile I love, and starts to come toward me. But he will never reach me, not before the deed is done.

“You saw that bloody red scarf. This is the Scarlet Guard and that”—he points back to the ballroom, still dark and burning—“that is who they are.”

this is soooo district 13 core

“I don’t know how,” she mutters, “but I hope you become queen one day. Imagine what you could do then? The Red queen.”

You forced him into this last night, when you put his life in danger for Kilorn’s.

literally fuck kilorn

Hugging him is like hugging my father or the brothers I’ll never see again. I don’t want to let him go, but the danger is too great for him to stay and we both know it.

sobs

Another breeze sends a curtain of my hair across my face, but Maven brushes it away and pulls me close with startling ferocity. Oh. His kiss is not at all like his brother’s. Maven is more desperate, surprising himself as much as me. He knows I’m sinking fast, a stone dropping through the river. And he wants to drown with me.

DAMN SHE PULLIN TWO PRINCES

Red crimes, including breaking of the curfew, will be punished by execution. And”—at this, my voice falters for the first time—“conscription age has been lowered, to the age of fifteen.

bruh

I compared your blood sample to theirs, only to find an identical marker in them, different from all others.

Like the others, you are Red and Silver, and stronger than both.

When the theater darkens, Maven throws an arm across my shoulders, pulling me so close I can feel his heartbeat. He smirks at the secretary, now peeking between the curtains. “Don’t disturb us,” he drawls, and he pulls my face to his.

maven growin on me!!!!!