The Invasion Of The Tearling

The Invasion Of The Tearling
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!

With each passing day, Kelsea Glynn is growing into her new responsibilities as Queen of the Tearling. By stopping the shipments of slaves to the neighboring kingdom of Mortmesne, she crossed the Red Queen, a brutal ruler whose power derives from dark magic, who is sending her fearsome army into the Tearling to take what is hers. And nothing can stop the invasion.

But as the Mort army draws ever closer, Kelsea develops a mysterious connection to a time before the Crossing, and she finds herself relying on a strange and possibly dangerous ally: a woman named Lily, fighting for her life in a world where being female can feel like a crime. The fate of the Tearling —and that of Kelsea’s own soul—may rest with Lily and her story, but Kelsea may not have enough time to find out. 

GoodReads synopsis because I am struggling to write right now and I can assure this is going to be a rambly, gushy review, with me trying desperately not to spoil but to also explain what I mean. So you know, this won't be short. But hopefully it won't be an essay either, who knows, I'm writing this at gone midnight literally after just finishing this book and I can't even with the feels I'm having. I mean, I wrote notes while I was reading and they're all over the place from the different feels I was having and I have no idea where the hell to start! 

I think I'll dive straight in to the action, much like the book itself did, because from page one we're there. There's a good dose of action in the book as we, like in the first book, get multi POV. Not only do we get Kelsea, but we get a jailer named Ewen who catches us up nicely with what's been going on while we've been away, and was an interesting perspective. But we also get the Mort Queen again, who is thrillingly chilling but also interesting, for a villain she has a hell of a meaty backstory and there's much more to her than meets the eye, I mean I actually found her relatable. Go figure. We also get Hall, who gives us a large dose of the action what with being on the front line and everything and ensures we get to know more about him. Then we get Aisa, who's taking a rather interesting path, and overhears some rather interesting things and has a rather interesting perspective. Hey, I'm trying to make this spoiler free, so I'm not explaining that anymore! We get one other POV but more on her in a moment. I should also mention we learn more about Andalie and wow plot twist! Sorry but I loved her character and was so excited to learn more about her! 

The thing that always struck me when I was reading this and Queen Of The Tearling, was how gritty and realistic it is in it's battle descriptions, and the tactics. Nothing is glossed over and that goes for the rest of the book, there are some serious issues and some dark things covered in the book and each is fully there for you to read. It's not glossed over or romanticised, you read it and you get the full horror/heartbreak/emotion/injustice of the scene as you read and it really comes off the page. Each issue is dealt with brilliantly, I thought personally, because as I said, it's all laid out there, you understand how a victim of one would think and I think, considering a lot of this stuff is on the news, it helps readers become more empathetic to others. But that's just me, and I actually like reading about real issues and things like the subjects in the book being glossed over or romanticised irritate me and that's being polite. I just think the author handled everything so well so full props to her. 

There was a lot of intrigue from the start, not just from the writing, but also as you dive back in to the world and remember the many questions you have. (There was a particular Merlin GIF I wanted to use on Twitter when I had finished my live tweet but I couldn't find it, so I can't share it here either. 10 points if you know what I'm talking about!). I saw from previous reviews that many people disliked the first book because of all that was left unanswered, I didn't see this as a problem for the book, I saw it as a perfect set up for the next book while still giving you a meaty plot for the first book and the same can be said for this one. Questions are answered but you're left with more, so you leave the book after having read a complex plot that takes you on a whirlwind ride, but still sets up the third book. But yes, there was lots to wonder at and try to solve yourself, but the book is so unpredictable, you're guaranteed to fail. 

A lot of that intrigue lies with Lily. Don't get me wrong, you want to know what Kelsea is going to do, there's a lot going on with her, but more on that later. You also want to know what's going to happen with the Mort and so on, there's lots of little intrigues as well as big intrigues throughout Kelsey's POV. But with Lily, the new character we meet this book, there is so much intrigue. She's a HUGE POV. I'm not talking occasional switches, I mean alternating between her and Kelsea. There's the whole intrigue of Lily's life and what she's going to do and what's going to happen to her, but most of all there's the intrigue of how she fits with Kelsea, because Kelsea is having these visions that suck her in to Lily's life and you're desperate to know how they link together. 

Now, firstly I want to mention that the different POV's are each well done, they're engaging, entertaining, and each had it's own voice. You could tell which character it was straight away. The switches were smooth and seamless and it all seemed so right, the flow from POV to POV was perfect. Each POV was very interesting because it added something to the story, more information, catch ups, everything. None of it was for the sake of it, it was all for a reason and like I said, added to the story. 

Lily's POV was particularly interesting because it takes us to pre-crossing New York. In the first book we'd heard about it and so we had some information, but as a lot of it was lost, and some of it wasn't even noted down, there was a lot we didn't know. But now we do. Lily's POV was fascinating because it was a huge dose of dystopia. We're in the future and things have definitely gone bad. Kind of terrifyingly bad because there were huge echoes of our current state and mental attitudes towards women in particular, I mean women were pretty much property and it was disgusting to read about to be honest, but anyway, terrifying. We see what life was like pre-crossing, why they migrated, and the lead up to the crossing and how it happened and so on. Which in itself answers a hell of a lot of questions and actually reminded me that, hello, this was the future. 

Another huge intrigue is who Kelsea's father is. Now I had a theory. It's probably the same theory everyone else had because it was kind of obvious which should have clued me in that I was wrong. But no. My theory was shattered and now I'm even more curious than I was before especially as it was a hell of a mind blowing plot twist. 

We learned a little more about the world of the book, we actually learn a little about Cadare which has inspired further intrigue although I'm not sure we'll see more of it, and they were kinda pansies but there ya go. It was still interesting to sort of get a closer look at another part of the world of the book. One of the things I love about the world of the book is how thorough the world building is, it's a large part of what sucks you in to the book and has you completely enchanted so you lose track of time. I mean a lot of the quotes at the beginning of chapters are by fictional authors on fictional texts about the Tearling and some are quotes from Kelsea or Father Tyler and it adds a whole little touch to suck you in to the world of the book, as if it wasn't vivid enough before! Another part of the world I love is the mash up of different developments they have for each kingdom. Each of the three specialises in something, Cadare is glass among other things, Tearling is lumber and Mortmesne is many things. You can easily see that they're all at different developments as they all have different skills and so on, but the most interesting part of this book was the difference in military weaponry. I mean you've got canons from the Mort as well as good weapons while the Tear don't have much of anything. It makes the whole concept of war between the two more interesting, as well as the tactics from Hall to get around it. 

That's not the only part of the book that's a mash up. There are so many elements in the book that I'm really not sure what genre it is, I mean I assumed it was fantasy when I read the first book, and the dystopia was, to me, in the first book so subtle that I kept forgetting about it, but that dystopian element comes raging to the forefront of your mind at certain points in this book. There's modern elements (Harry Potter for one), the dystopian elements, fantasy, medieval kind of times courtesy of the entire setting and I loved the mashup of medieval times but still having books and things from our time. Now I typed the whole thing about mashups before I had finished reading the book and it's this next bit that I'm struggling to explain. 

I feel like my perspective on the book has changed and there is another major genre to be added to the mashup that I won't name for fear of spoilers. I'm still not entirely sure what to classify it as, but I feel like it has this sheen over it from this huge plot twist at the end that has entirely changed my way of thinking about the book, I mean it was a huge game changer. The book had this whole medieval world but with modern things classed as old world curiosities, kind of like how things from the past are oddities to us, but like I said, whole new perspective. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN WHAT I MEAN AND WORDS ARE FAILING ME AND IT'S ANNOYING! Especially as I'm full on rambling now and making no sense. 

I had like, a vision of the world going to crap, them hopping on their ships with whatever they could grab and were allowed to take, sailing for days, months, whatever, and starting again in some corner of the planet that hadn't been destroyed yet or some new corner of the world that had sprung up from nowhere. Then rebuilding in an old fashioned kind of back to basics way. But with like Harry Potter and other modern books, and stuff that's thrown in and alluded to rather than shoved in your face, but there'd be little comments about modern things that would suddenly remind you "oh no wait, this isn't ACTUALLY a medieval fantasy world, the worlds gone backwards and has remnants" but you'd be reminded that it wasn't all medieval, this was the future. Then near the end there's a reveal, and it kinda changes how you think about the book, and how you see it, or at least it did for me. I mean you KNEW it was people from the future, and everything but oh my god someone hope me because I SERIOUSLY don't know how to explain what the hell I'm on about. Like seriously. This has been way too long and makes no sense to anyone but I don't know how else to word it without spoilers. 

Moving swiftly on. The politics continue to be intricate, along with the history and religion of the world. The Arvath had a bit more going on in this book, there were some game changers going on with it and they kind of quieted down at one point, and I'm eager to know what's going to happen next with them because SOMETHING has to be done. There's a subtle SOMETHING going on, I'm not sure whether or not to call it a romance as such, I mean one is in love with the other but i'm not sure if the other reciprocates properly. But it'll be interesting to see how it plays out and at a point or two I was literally fist pumping the air, getting all over excited and doing some serious "AAAWWW" ing. I will literally take any small amount of cute I can in this book because there aint much of it. 

Kelsea. Moving on to my precious. I LOVE Kelsea. Her struggles as a ruler are believable, not wanting to be like her mother, wanting to help people, with darkness tempting her and with no other way out. It's all incredibly believable and Kelsea is an incredibly realistic character, even more so this book with her struggles. Now, I used to be a chubby kid, like the bullied kind of chubby, and I can relate to Kelsea so easily because I can understand how she feels in this book, that what she looks like on the outside doesn't matter because a part of her will always feel like her old self on the inside. That really hit me and it's incredibly true and relatable. Kelsea is strong, she doesn't give a damn what others think of her. I feel she's a bit of a tom boy, I mean she's certainly no giggly girly girl. Yes she acts childishly sometimes, and makes wrong decisions, but she calls herself out on her childishness which I find admirable, and we've all made mistakes. Perhaps not on this scale, but she's only human and her mistakes and flaws make her more real to the reader. She's also incredibly intelligent. So yeah. Much love for Kelsea. 

I want to mention a couple of other characters I love. I already mentioned Andalie, but I also quite like Arliss. I really, however, LOVE, Kelsea's guard. Seriously. There was a particular scene with Elston that had me chuckling. To be fair, all of her guard make me chuckle. They're also my favourite, yes collectively, because they're friends to her, support, advise her, while still guarding her. I particularly love Pen, and I really badly ship him with Kelsea, but then I also kind of ship her with the Fetch, but then the Fetch in this book made me like "nah mate". So it's Pen all the way! I won't beg right now, but I will if I have to Erika! 

There were some other new characters besides Lily, including one that's technically an old character, we just learn more about said character and get to know this character better. This character is a rather lovely, intriguing villain, must see more of him I think! (You also get a huge inkling of who the Fetch is and what he did courtesy of this character). But there were other characters that I enjoyed and am hoping to see more of in the third book but seeing as they're from Lily's time I'm not sure we will! 

So many questions are answered in this book, but you're left with even more questions. There are some truly mind blowing plot twists and reveals that literally have you like "NO WAY OMG", shouting at the book kind of thing. Like the entire time you're trying to work out how everything fits together and then you end up being wrong and totally mind blown. 

The ending was so perfect. It gave you a sense that Lily's story had reached it's conclusion even though it left you with a longing to see more of her and what happens to her, and there is the odd question left. I really, really want to read more about what happened during the crossing and after and how they built up the Tearling, and about certain other Tearling monarchs! The other ending of the book, Kelsea's ending, don't even get me started on because the wait is just so hard for the next book, especially as you just know, from one totally awesome scene with the guards, that it's going to be SO EPIC. 

I'd say I couldn't stop reading this book but that would be a lie because I had to stop reading this book to eat and sleep and work and so on, but I didn't WANT to stop reading. I would have loved to have read it in one sitting! I was completely enthralled by the plot, the characters, the politics and the world. Not to mention the intricate, almost chess like game being played between Kelsea and the Arvath and the Mort Queen. There's one point at the end that you need to brace yourself for because so many pieces fall in to place and you want to kick yourself because you should have already worked it out but you didn't and you can't actually berate yourself because you are too gobsmacked about what you just read. So like, fair warning. No reading in public I think. 

Anyway, the world of the book was easy to slip back in to, the pace was fantastic, sometimes time would pass but it wasn't at all jumpy. You were concisely told what had happened and thus the passage of time had been marked. The writing is simple yet not overly so, there's just no over complicating of things. Kelsea has a touch of Gollum about her with her whole "MINE" thing with her necklaces *wink*. Yes there's still questions and things that appear to make no sense, I for one would like to know why Kelsea set a specific amount of time, but I assume she had something up her sleeve or figured it was enough time for you know who to sort things out. There are many questions and I'm sure they'll be answered in the next book while leaving us with many more, although I'm not sure how many books there will be! All in all, despite that one thing, I thought this was a thrilling, electrifying sequel that pulls you back and easily reminds you why you fell in love with the first book. 

Angelfall

Angelfall
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of Bookbridgr

It's been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain. Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When Penryn and her family stumble into an angel smack down, the angels are so busy trying to cut off one's wings, that they nearly get away.....nearly. When the angels fly off with her sister, Penryn will do anything to get her back...but when she does...she might not be the same.

Penryn will have to work with the angel she saved to get to the angel's base and rescue her sister, while Raffe just needs to get his wings sewn back on...but things are always more complicated than they should be....especially when feelings are involved.

HOLY SHIT! I can't believe it took me THIS long to read this book! Don't get me wrong, I've been intrigued for a while, but I don't have a lot of time to read books that aren't review books right now, and so I've been eyeing this up, then it popped up on Bookbridgr, presumably because the final one is out next month! But anyways, I had to grab it and I've been itching to finally get round to it and oh my god it has everything I want in a book!

First of all the originality is all over the book, I mean it's so unique I got far too excited, we all know I love to read unique books, that are a little bit different from the norm, and this is no exception. I mean we have an agnostic angel and I seriously was just like....that is freaking brilliant! If I didn't already love Raffe that would have done it!

The main thing was the premise, so unique, apocalypse by angels! I was sucked in from the beginning and totally glued to the page. I seriously couldn't put it down, I was fascinated and enchanted by the book and it's world. The world was so vivid, you could picture every setting, every single thing described, characters, buildings, the atmosphere oozed off the page and engulfed you as you where reading, it was incredible. I was delightfully disgusted at more than one point, it had a nice dark edge to it in places.

The premise was just as strong as it's plot, I didn't even bother trying to guess what was going to happen next, I just rolled with it and went along for the ride. And what a ride it was, there was always something going on, something to keep you reading, action and what not. The plot was complex, there was the whole deal with Penryn looking after her sister and Raffe helping her, but there was a complexity in the angels. They have some serious political mess going on, they don't know why they're there, or what they're doing and their messenger was killed and now they need a knew one, so they're kind of all fighting over it, and one angel wants to be the new messenger, but Raffe's soldiers want him to be it and so on, but Raffe has gone missing as far as they're aware, none of them seem to know he was ambushed by the angels working for the dude who wants to be in charge and had his wings cut off and that he hasn't abandoned them. So yeah, it's complex!

The other thing about the angels that added a sense of originality was that the angels all looked different, in that they all had different wings, most books have them all looking the same but this one added this cool element! I'm trying to work out what each wing means!

Penryn was an awesome main character, she's everything I love, she's badass, her dedication to finding her sister was inspiring, and just amazing. She was written so strongly that you connected with her immediately and you have nothing but respect for her character, looking after her sister, going after her to rescue her, and having to deal with her mother at the same time. I'm slightly convinced there's more to her mother's illness than meets the eye, but maybe I'm just overly suspicious!

Raffe. I liked Raffe. I didn't suspect what his real name was and as a fan of Supernatural I'm slightly aware of angels and who is what. Should have seen it coming. I loved his interactions with Pen, their banter and bickering where hilarious, and they work together, they have a certain chemistry that jumps off the page. I was so gutted when someone stole his wings and he got stuck with the demon wings, but he's so adorable, trying to be all " I don't even like you" yeah...sure mate, whatever you say, and then checking they had her in the van and everything. So adorable. He better get his damn wings back and takeover and kick the asshole angels asses. I swear.

I enjoyed how the romance was almost secondary to the plot, it was subtle, growing naturally and then kind of coming to centre stage towards the end, and I can't wait to see how their relationship develops in the final two books! It's going to be very well done either way and probably with lots of feels and aaawwss!

So yeah, before I gush on about it for pages and pages and pages, I'd better end the review here! The ending just left me wanting more and I really didn't want to leave the characters or the world! I can't wait to get my hands on the second book and I may have to take a break in my reviewing schedule to fit it in, because I'll be damned if I'm waiting months!

Angelfall is darkly atmospheric, enchanting, enthralling, original, expertly crafter, incredibly written, atmospheric, macabre....I could go on all day! Not to mention the rich background and history and mythology to the book and the angels and the world. I love me some rich mythology and background! Especially when it's slotted in perfectly with an engaging narrative.

Red Queen

Red Queen
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy!
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!

The world is divided in to Red and Silver, if you're a Silver, then you're practically a God (X-Men or is man?), an elite warrior with incredible abilities ranging from control of fire, to controlling people and anything in between. If you're a Red, then you're a commoner, poverty stricken, and treated like dirt. You live under the rule of the Silver's and you're conscripted in to the Silver's war if you don't have a job by 18. A war that the Silver's started and don't actually fight in. It's only the Red's who spill blood for this war.

Mare Barrow is a 17 year old girl from the Stilts, and to her it looks like nothing will ever change. Her three older brothers are away fighting, and Mare looks set to follow in their footsteps with no job, her only skill being to relieve Silver's of their valuables while they remain unaware. She lives in the shadow of her sister Gisa, a seamstress with incredible skill, who carries the entire family on her shoulders. But when Mare's BFF Kilorn is set to be conscripted after an unfortunate twists of fate, Mare makes a rash decision to save the both of them, and when she comes up with a plan to get the money needed to save the both of them, her timing isn't too great.

You see, she picks the one day, to enact her plan, when a terrorist group of Red's known as the Scarlet Guard decide to blow a couple of Silver monuments up. In the chaos that follows Mare has to run, but not before her sister does something stupid. Something that ruins the future for the Barrow's.

In another twist of fate, Mare happens to steal from the wrong person, or the right one, depending on how you look at it. The next thing she knows, she's working at the Silver Palace, right in the middle of the people she hates, and fate is really getting around, because she soon discovers that she's not so different from the Silver's, her blood may be Red, but she has an ability of her own, one that's going to threaten the control of the Silvers.

They think they can use her to quell a rebellion, but she's harder to control than they suspect, and they made her part of their game.....the question is...who's going to win?

"We will rise, Red as the dawn"

OH MY GOD THIS BOOK THOUGH, THIS BOOK, I'M STILL NOT OVER IT AND I NEED THE NEXT BOOK NOW AND I'M TYPING IN CAPITALS AND I'M STILL FEELING ALL THE FEELS AND I CAN'T EVEN RIGHT NOW, JUST OH MY GOD.

Calming down now, I'm calm, it's all good, let's get to business and discuss one of my favourite books  EVER, yes, just like that it's one of my favourite books ever, and this series is going to be so much awesome, and I can already tell it's gonna be one of my "re-read it until the book is falling apart" series. So...fair warning, fangirling ahead, and copious amounts of gushing.

Red Queen draws you in from the beginning and grabs your interest with the narrative and the voice of the character, not to mention the world we see a glimpse of at the beginning not to mention the action. I could immediately tell it was incredibly original and different, and that the politics of the world, the history and well...the world itself was rich, and I wanted to know more immediately about this strange new world and what was going on.

The world of Red Queen is created from page one, it's built up with each new bit of information, and the writing is incredibly descriptive. The world is vivid and I disappeared in to the world from page one, and from that point was totally lost to the real world, I hated having to leave the world to go and do something else, or you know....when the book was over, every time I just wanted to sink back in to the world and get lost again. It was engrossing and oddly enchanting.

Information about the world and it's politics/rules and so on are established from the beginning and built upon, slotted in to the narrative at just the right moment and combined with the narrative so smoothly that is doesn't impact the pace or flow, it just fits there at the right moment, so you know what's going on and what the importance of the upcoming/already happened event is. You get maximum information about this rich world, with none of the pages and pages of information to paw through before you get back to the story. Just how I love it! 

In Red Queen we see a section of what is hinted to be a fairly expansive world, we see Mare's village, the summer palace, and then the capital, Archeon (which I want to see more of!) and a smidgen of the Bone Bowl, all of this is in Norta, which is a small piece of the world. I'd be intrigued to see the area of the battle, more of the town supposedly deadly because of radiation where the Red's are hanging out, and I'd be interested to see some of the other Kingdoms of the world of Red Queen, like the one they're fighting against in their war! I definitely think the opportunity to visit different areas is there, and I'm excited to see what other parts of the world we get to take a good look at in the other books! Especially as there's the whole "if we have a rebellion the other Kingdoms will crush us because they won't change" thing going on. Is that true? I don't know, but I want to find out!

The world is kind of hard to explain and probably about to make a mess of it right now, to me, it seems to be out of time. At points I thought it was a new fresh world, but then I'd start to wonder if it's the future of our world, and so it seemed quite out of time to me. At points the world seems to be quite old school, and by that I mean kind of olden days, medieval, perhaps, with the dresses and the armour and the fighting and some of the events, but then you see technology being used like cameras and so on which gives it a more futuristic/up to date feel to the world, added to the general awesomeness of the powers of the Silver's it creates a unique world that is enchanting.

The politics of the world is quite impressive, with the houses and how they feel towards the King and the royal family, and how a Queen is picked and how the Red's are treated, I love how the reader can insert themselves in the story, because you know......we are the Red's. So you connect to the Red's as a whole on that level, or at least I did! Now this might just be me, but I kind of felt like some of the politics of the world, and the "terrorists" in particular and the war, seemed to echo some of the news broadcasts you see today in the real world, if that makes sense.

"Anyone can betray anyone"

I loved all the different abilities and the different houses/families, talkies, strongarms, magnetrons etc while the abilities are mostly nothing new....they where used in a new way in this world, and had a different meaning, and there where a couple of different ones thrown in there, but from the different families with the different abilities and colour, you could really see how intricate the world is, and that's not including the history of the world or the politics. I also loved how the Silver's acted, how they reacted differently to situations than a Red would and you could see that so clearly through Mare and her sudden dual identity.

Speaking of Mare, I connected to her immediately, I absolutely loved her and she's the type of female lead I love, with all the sarcasm and everything. She's the type of character whose skin I can easily slide in to as I'm reading. I connected to her so easily for more reasons than I already said, it wasn't just the sarcasm and so on, but it was because of her whole story, and how she feels, and how she's been treated by her family and so on, I could empathise with her so easily and I could understand her and see where she's coming from.

“The truth is what I make it. I could set this world on fire and call it rain.” 

Some of the other characters, however, I couldn't work out, so I was pretty much in the same boat as Mare. I'm talking about Maven and Cal, my opinion of them kept changing as I kept reading, one minute I thought Cal was soooo great but then he'd do something or say something or fail to do something and I'd get the hump with him, but then he'd be so adorable again and I'd be like "he can't possibly be the bad guy in this world". It was exactly the same with Maven. With Maven I felt exactly like Mare did. I thought he was going to be exactly like his mother, totally evil, and I kept expecting him to turn round and be a dick, and have some secret plan going on to screw over Mare and the Scarlet Guard, but I actually ended up liking him and thinking "I really hope he doesn't become a dick", but then there was the mother of all plot twists, that I really didn't see coming even though I should have and was half expecting it, but Maven kept doing things to make me think he wasn't the enemy and so on. But yeah, plot twists and booooommm he went full douche.

The author has written the book so incredibly that it's hard to predict, or if you do predict something that happens, you convince yourself it won't happen because there's no evidence it will and then the thing you didn't think would happen, happens and you're totally shocked and surprised. The author has written Cal and Maven in the book so they're switched for most of the book, we think Cal is the enemy because he won't do what's right, even though he's totally sweet and totally likes Mare and she likes him but won't admit it, and we think Maven is the hero, when in reality it's actually the other way round and Cal's the good guy, but Maven/the author has manipulated your thoughts so subtly through the characters and so on, that you're wrong. It's so hard to explain but you'll see. Everything you think as you read is wrong, and you don't realise until right at the end.

“Many things led to this day, for all of us. A forgotten son, a vengeful mother, a brother with a long shadow, a strange mutation. Together, they've written a tragedy.” 

But the thing was, as much as Maven and the King where dicks, I could also see where both of them where coming from. Cal is the last thing the King had to remember the woman he loved, and I'm not even going to touch Maven's issues, but I did feel for him more than once, and I could understand him and see where he's coming from, as much as I dislike him, to the extent I've half given him the benefit of the doubt and I'm like "maybe it'll come out that his mother is controlling him and making him do it" and yes I do know how stupidly unlikely that is, but I really did feel for the poor sod. 

I would really like to see more of Cal in the next book, he was in the book a fair bit, don't get me wrong, but I'd like to get to know him better, possibly as Mare does! They had a couple of scenes together, but we mostly saw her with Maven, so yes, I'd love to see more of Cal and Mare together, and get to know him a little bit better now Maven is out of the way. I'd also love to see and learn more about Kilorn, Julian, Shade and Farley, as I really liked what I saw of all of those characters, but we didn't get to know them all that well, and seeing as what happened at the end of the book...well...happened, I'd love to know them better this time round! Not to mention Mare's other brothers, they where hilarious and I loved them! Gisa...well....I feel a bit of resentment to her because of poor Mare, but we'll see!

As you can probably tell, the author creates all of her characters, including the secondary ones, very well, so well that you feel what they feel, and they come alive right in front of you. Each character has hidden depths to them, and have more going on than you would think, and each is, like I said, beautifully created, you can picture them clearly, and you want to get to know them better. They're another reason why it's so hard to leave the world! I'd LOVE to see more of Lucas, but nooooooooooo.

"In the fairy tales, the poor girl smiles when she becomes a princess. Right now, I don't know if I'll ever smile again.” 

Like I said, I never knew what was going to happen next, I had my own ideas of what was coming up next and was always wrong, and surprised, and even if  I had half guessed, I was STILL surprised. Red Queen has you on the edge of your seat with all the action, and the secrets and the general wanting to know what happens next! Any theory you have, the author will convince you that you're wrong, so you're even more surprised when you where, in actual fact, at least semi right. Red Queen is a roller coaster of action, and feels and so much happened, I LOVE it when loads happens in a book and you go on a real journey with the character not just in terms of plot, but in terms of the characters development.

This book was so hard to put down because there was never a good enough place to put it down, there was never a lull in the action, or the intrigue or the general OMG, and the world is so engrossing you just don't want to leave it. I was so gutted that I couldn't read it in one go like I wanted to, I had to be up super early for work every day, and so I had to keep stopping and starting, but it was so easy to disappear back in to the world each time, and get back in to the action and instantly remembering exactly what had been going on.

I'm going to tell you a tale of horror and strife now, you see, I had to stop reading this book with 50 pages left. 50. I had to be up early for work and for the first time in my life I decided to be sensible. The struggle was real guys. It was legit the hardest thing I have ever had to do, and I still don't know how I managed to force myself to put the book down. It was right at the OMFG NO WAY I CAN'T BELIEVE IT WHAAAT moment, where you NEED to keep reading because you HAVE to know what's going to happen next. And. I. Put. The. Book.Down. I deserve a medal. The entire next day was total torture until I could finish reading it. I have stared in to the abyss. Seriously. 

I'm a lover of all things unique and original, so this book was literally heaven. There where so many little original quirks, like the Silver's version of blushing and so on, and I loved seeing each new little thing that added little touches to the world to make it really come alive. I'd made the people and the world so original and Red Queen is a breath of fresh air to the genre!

“I see a world on the edge of a blade. Without balance, it will fall.” 

Romance. I know you all want to know about the romance, but as you can probably tell from the whole character paragraph, I had NO idea who to ship her with! As I started to read I assumed I'd ship her with Kilorn, but I didn't get enough of a feel for him to form an opinion, other than he kind of threw some things back in her face, so he's on my no list. I shipped her with Cal immediately, as soon as they met. You could say I shipper her with Cal the entire way through the book, and here's where things get complicated. While I shipper her with Cal, because he was so sweet and adorable and it was too cute, Maven obscured that, by saying certain things about his brother and doing the things Cal wouldn't, I kept wanting Cal to do certain things, and he wouldn't but then Maven would do something like joining the SG, and Cal wouldn't try to make change, and I'd ship her with Cal but then I'd have moments where I was like okay maybe she should be with Maven, as he's clearly better, but then Cal would do something else and I'd be like no don't be silly, Cal and Mare need to be together and there's just a couple of obstacles in the way.

Cal was way too cute and adorable to her, saving her, being all jealous, it was honestly so cute and made you all squirmy inside, so of course, I'm Team Cal. I reached a point where I was like "this is going to be an intense love square" but then Maven did the thing and now I'm like I can handle the triangle that Kilorn will help make, I trust the author to write is incredibly well as she's written everything else, so it's going to be a good one! Her and Cal are the more interesting pairing I think, as they have so much to overcome, and it's so complex, especially after the end of Red Queen. I can't even. It will be fixed in the next book though, right? RIIGHT?!

To be perfectly honest though, for the majority of the book, the romance was kind of secondary to the plot and everything going on with the Guard and Mare learning how to be Silver and how to use her powers and who she really is and how she exists and so on. So the romance was there but it was pretty subtle most of the time, there was the odd big gesture, but you where mostly focused on the plot, especially when Julian was all "here have some info I found, it'll change your life". I'm intrigued to see where the romance is going to go, what with my ship and all, don't get me wrong, but I'm more excited to find out what's going to happen in the world next with the rebellion, and everything.

There where so many points of intrigue in the story, what happened to Cal's mother, what Julian's beef is with Maven and so on, that you're always focused on the story and coming up with your own theories. Always wanting to know more about the book and the world.

“Words can lie. See beyond them.” 

My reaction to the end of the book? Lots of swearing, a mini temper tantrum and OMG's. I ship Cal and Mare so hard and the end just killed me, because they need to be together and then Shade and omg. And then the direction the plot has been pointed in for the next book? SO EXCITED. So much OMG.

Red Queen really brings the feels, it makes you feel all the feels, it's fast paced, there's never a dull moment, the world is vivid and original and the history of the world is rich. Red Queen is fantastically written, always intriguing, and is set to be an incredible and popular series, fast becoming a favourite of mine. Most importantly Red Queen is original, different and unique, and it's a true breath of fresh air in to a genre filled with books that are far too similar. It stands out from the crowd and the romance/triangle/square, will have you freaking the hell out, while being all "awww" at the same time. You have been warned!

I cannot wait for the next book, seriously, I really can't, I need to know what happens next, I need to see Cal and Mare getting back together again and repairing their relationship and I need to see them being all badass and taking down he who shall not be named, Kind of douches. 

The wait is going to be excruciating. I have the book hangover, of all book hangovers, and I loved every minute of it! A little bit of X-Men, (seriously Cal's supposed to marry Magneto) a liiiittle bit of the Selection, a splash of Dystopia and a dash of fantasy. Boom.