Born into a world of stark separation: poverty against power, minions against monarchs, red against silver. Mare is a red, born to the servant class ruled over by the aristocratic silver class with the help of their god-like powers. Desperate to escape the fate of her brothers, consigned as soldiers in a never-ending war, Mare will do anything needed to escape.

A chance meeting with a stranger in the night thrusts her from everything she has every known – into the Silver Palace among the very imperial class she hates, but with more power than she ever imagined possible. Fearing her strengths, the royalty force her to assume the identity of a Silver lost as a child and raised as a peasant making every moment of her life a danger. Can Mare not only save herself, but also seize her chance to change her entire world?

Based in a future world of evolved humans, Red Queen is a striking variate from the recent trend of dystopian novels. With the pomp of Marie Antoinette and the brutality of the Roman Empire, this novel is quickly paced, and draws you in with every passing chapter. Lead character Mare is pushed to her boundary with each turn, yet the author keeps her as honest and loyal as from her first moments among her family in the poverty-stricken Stilts neighborhood. Her actions speak as someone trying to simply do the right thing, even as she is caught up in rebellion and revolution.

Overall, I give the book 4.5 stars. It’s new and refreshing, and I could barely put it down. The sequence of events was well laid out, and the scenes were rich with details. While there is an element of romance, it doesn’t overshadow the main narrative, and adds to the story instead of bogging it down. If you enjoyed any series from Hunger Games, to Game of Thrones, to Maze Runner, this series will have something for you.