Mundie Moms

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

RED QUEEN by Victoria Aveyard; Blog Tour: Book Review & Giveaway


Hello and welcome to the second stop in today's RED QUEEN blog tour! Earlier I shared my interview with author Victoria Aveyard, and now I'm thrilled to share my review of her upcoming debut release. 

ABOUT THE BOOK




By: Victoria Averyard
Published by: Harper Teen
To Be Released on: 2/10/15
Series: The Red Queen #1
Pre-Order from: Amazon | B&N 
Add it to Goodreads 

The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.
To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?
A debut that more than lives up to all it's hype. Victoria Aveyard's RED QUEEN is an unforgettable read. This book hooked me, made me fall victim to it's brilliantly crafted plot twists, had me rooting for it's main character, and got me all riled up over the story's uprising. This book left me wishing the sequel is already out, because I couldn't get enough of this story. 

The World


This is a dystopian world unlike any other I've read about it. It's a world structured by inequality, and ruled by a powerful people. In this world you either are of Red blood, or Silver blood. Red bloods are powerless, and lack super nature abilities and power. They're the working class, and live in poverty. If you're of Silver blood, you are powerful. These are the people who have a variety of super powers and abilities. As super power goes, they are used for good and bad purposes. These are the people rule over all the others. If you're our story's main character, Mare, then you're something else entirely. 


The Characters


Mare has grown up with her red blooded family. She does what she can to get by and help support them. She dreams of falling in her brothers' s footsteps and fighting on the front lines of an ongoing war. After a chance encounter one night, Mare quickly finds herself in the house of Silver. There Mare learns she's of both Red and Silver blood. A powerful person in her own right, Mare has just begun to realize the power within herself, and they things she can do with it. Mare is strong, fierce, and that person whom can easily lead an uprising.  


The characters in this book are awesome. I love well written characters. Each of the characters Victoria introduces into her storyline all have a purpose for being in it. One of the things I really liked, was not being able to know who to fully trust. Mare has to learn to not only guard her heart, she also has to learn who to trust. In a game of politics, and power, she has to quickly learn who's a friend and who's her enemy, before it's too late. 

The Romance 


The romantic element is AWESOME! Fear not, the rumors you hear about a love triangle..... I personally wouldn't call it a love triangle. There's a political motive for the one, and a real feeling for the other. It was obvious from the get go whom had her heart, and to whom she's forced to be with. When a character is forced to be with someone, that does not make it a love triangle. The plot twist with one of the "romantic" leads was fabulously done! I completely fell for against my better judgement. It is that good, and well crafted. 


The Plot Twists

The plot twists are so awesome! These are the kind of plot twists that I at first could see some of them coming, but then along the way I fell victim to the twist itself, because of how Victoria wrote them. These are brilliant, surprising and oh so well plotted. I love it when I think I have things figured out, only to be fooled and fall victim to the twists. There are so many twists layered within the story, and the various characters, it is impossible to predict all the shocking discoveries, secrets, betrayals, and murders. 

Oh you evil, twisted characters. I fell for what you did, even though at first I saw right through it, and mentally screamed at Mare to not fall for it. Somewhere along the way you made what you did believable, and you lured me too. I can't wait to see what Mare and  those who are with her, have in store for you in the next book. What an awesome turn of events. This book is action packed! This book kept me on the edge of my seat at all the right times. And that ending? Didn't see that one coming. I need the sequel like now! 

RED QUEEN is epic! It's action packed, well written, and hard to put down. This is a debut worth picking up! 



ENTER TO WIN
One Winner will get Finished Copies of: RED QUEEN by Victoria Aveyard, THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE by Cynthia Hand and MY HEART AND OTHER BLACK HOLES by Jasmine Warga

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Ships in US only | Must be 13+ To enter

RED QUEEN by Victoria Aveyard; Blog Tour: Author Interview & Giveaway


Hello and welcome to the next stop on the RED QUEEN tour!
I'm so thrilled to be apart of the tour stop. Today's stop will feature two posts, my interview with debut author Victoria Aveyard and my review. Before I share my interview with Victoria, here's a little bit about her upcoming release:

ABOUT THE BOOK



By: Victoria Averyard
Published by: Harper Teen
To Be Released on: 2/10/15
Series: The Red Queen #1
Pre-Order from: Amazon | B&N 
Add it to Goodreads 

The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.
To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?


Hi Victoria, and welcome to Mundie Moms. How would you describe book in 5 words or less? 
division, secrets, superpowers, blood, and betrayal

What do you admire about your main character, Mare?
Her determination is really awesome. She has this great ability to push through both physical and emotional pain, and focus on what needs to be done. She’s so mentally strong, even if she doesn’t personally think so. To be able to navigate and survive the trials she faces, she has to be.

Which character did you enjoy either writing or getting to know the most?
Of course Mare, since we’re in her head and we get to know her so deeply. Beyond her, I really enjoyed Queen Elara – she’s obviously the antagonist, but she has her reasons and I loved getting into her character and learning her limits (there are none). There’s also a character in book 2 I really love, who serves as kind of a foil to Mare. But readers will have to wait a bit to meet her. 

Which character you surprised you the most in terms of their involvement in the story or their character growth?
A lot of the character growth that I saw, at least in book 1, happens between the pages. Seeds were planted in my brain and won’t come to fruition until books 2 and 3. Characters like Evangeline are definitely surprises in my head, in what they will be doing later on. But for book 1, I was definitely surprised by Maven. I knew his basic character arc of course, but the way he filled out that skeleton, the person he became while I was writing, was really fun and fascinating to me. His character and motivations are some of my favorites to play with. 

What is one of your favorite quotes from RED QUEEN? 
The truth is what I make it. I could set this world on fire and call it rain.

I love the cover for Red Queen. What were your first thoughts when you saw the cover for the first time?
I was so floored by the cover. Basically I sent my editor my ideas for a cover (simple, an upside down crown) along with some covers I like and some I didn’t. A few weeks later I got back the first pass and it was magnificent, with blood added to the crown idea, and the whole color scheme. The second pass became our final – I was so lucky in this whole process. We ended up with a cover so striking and better than I ever imagined it could be. Serious kudos to the design team. 

What are your book release plans? Hopefully you'll be able to celebrate your book's release.
I’ll actually be in Asheville, NC the actual day of release and my schedule is shaping up to be very busy for that day, so I won’t be celebrating properly until two days later. Harper set up a launch at Barnes & Noble in Los Angeles, and I have a lot of friends going, along with my immediate family flying in. Unfortunately I have to be in San Diego the next morning for an event, so I won’t be celebrating until all hours. After San Diego, I go to San Francisco, and then almost right into the Epic Reads Winter Tour. When that’s all over, I suspect I’ll celebrate with a long nap and Netflix marathon.
Thank you for stopping by Victoria! Congratulations on your upcoming debut release!



ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Victoria Aveyard is a screenwriter/YA author who likes books and lists. This site is the nexus of my universe. Her book RED QUEEN will be published Winter 2015 from HarperTeen at HarperCollins. She’s repped by the incomparable Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc. The genres she’s into include YA, Fantasy, Historical, Adventure, Apocalyptic - if people are dying, she’s buying.
Find Victoria on: TWITTER | WEBSITE


ENTER TO WIN
One Winner will get Finished Copies of: RED QUEEN by Victoria Aveyard, THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE by Cynthia Hand and MY HEART AND OTHER BLACK HOLES by Jasmine Warga

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Ships in US only | Must be 13+ To enter

Ten Middle Grade Books I Can't Believe I Haven't Yet; Top Ten Tuesday #18

This weekly meme is hosted by The Broke & the Bookish

Hello &  welcome to this week's post. Last week's topic was 10 New Series I'm Looking Forward to Reading 2015. This week's topic Ten Books I Can't Believe I Haven't Read Yet. With today's topic, we were given a choice as to how we wanted to list our books, so I'm focusing on Middle Grade book. There are SO many middle grade books I've had sitting on my shelves that I've yet to read. Here are my Ten Books I Can't Believe I Haven't Read Yet, but I will be reading this year.




  1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (book 4). I am so embarrassed that this is even on my list, but maybe by mentioning it I'll finally finish reading it. DO NOT laugh. I swear I started reading this book three or four years ago. Yes, I adore Harry Potter, and I swear one of the few people left in the civilized world who hasn't read the entire HP series. This series came out when I was in college, and I was too busy working full time, and going to school full time to read. Having seen the movie first, ruined my reading the series. So, I will finish this book this year, especially now that my son is starting this series. He can't beat me in reading it. haha
  2. The Unwanteds: Island of Fire and Island of Legends (books 3 & 4) by Lisa McMann. This is a great series, and I loved the first two books. I need to get cracking and read these two books, as the fifth book in the series comes out today!
  3. Keeper of the Lost Cities: Exile and Everblaze (books 2 & 3) by Shannon Messenger. Again, this is another series I have loved, and have both of these books sitting on my shelf. I need to sit down and read them both before the 4th book is released later this year. 
  4. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood, books 2-4. I loved the first book, and have meant to read the rest of the series, but again, these books are still sitting on my TBR bookcase. 
  5. The School of Good and Evil by Soman Chainani, This is a MG book I've heard so many great thing about, and I've been looking forward to reading it, and yet it sits on my shelf waiting to be read.
  6. Loki's Wolves: The Blackwell Pages by Kelley Armstrong, I should just say ditto to what I wrote above. 
  7. Storybound by Marissa Burt, I purchased this book not long after it was released, because all the early buzz over it was great. Sadly, two years later this book still hasn't been read. 
  8. The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer, people need to stop coming out with great MG series! Okay, not really. Like the previous books, I've bought the books in this series as they've come out, and sadly not one book has been read yet. 
  9. Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin, I should move this book up the top of my list, as it's been on my shelves since it was released. Sadly I still haven't read. It's on the top of my MG TBR pile. 
  10. The Water Castle by Megan Frazer Blackmore, thankfully I'm only a year behind on reading this book, and I'm looking forward to sitting down and reading it shortly.
The great thing about making a list and publicly sharing it, is that now I'll make sure to read these books. Not that I didn't want to before. Now I'll challenge myself to make the time to read them. 

What are ten books you haven't read yet that you'd like to read? Leave me a comment below, and share your link so I can come check out your post. HAPPY READING!

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