4-star quick review: Red Queen (Victoria Aveyard)

I enjoyed this book better than I thought I was going to. And, yes, the symbolism of the magically-powered elf-like “Silvers” (with silver blood) and the “Reds” (mostly-un-magical humans with red blood) is a bit heavy-handed. And, yes, the plot twists are broadcast a million years out. And, yes, the target audience of this book is more angsty Twilight than bad-ass Hunger Games. But, even with all that, I couldn’t put it down, and couldn’t stop turning the pages. This book MOVES, and the world it creates has a fascinating lived-in quality that allows for impressive amounts of generations-old mysteries and layers of intrigue and conflict. Nothing is simple and nothing is what it seems, and our protagonist is great (gotta love a thief-turned-princess-turned-rebel-leader). I wish I had gone into this book having read less of the hype, but it’s a fun YA read, highly recommended.