Red Queen Review: Why I'm Still Not Over Mare Barrow

Is Red Queen worth reading? My honest, personal take on Victoria Aveyard's YA dystopian hit — the politics, the trauma, and why I love Mare so much.

8/14/20263 min read

Red Queen Review: Why I'm Still Not Over Mare Barrow

Some books you finish and move on from. Red Queen isn't one of them for me. I finished this book and genuinely could not attach myself to another character the same way for a long time afterward. Here's my honest, very biased take on why.

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Quick Answer

I love this book. Sincerely, unapologetically love it. Mare Barrow, the politics woven through every page, the fact that romance never takes over the plot — this is one of those rare YA dystopian reads that gave me a full-blown book hangover I still haven't fully recovered from.

What It's About

In a world sharply divided between Silvers (a ruling class with superhuman abilities) and Reds (an ordinary, oppressed underclass), Mare Barrow is a Red who discovers she has electric powers no Red should possess. Forced into the Silver court to hide what she is, she's thrust into a world of brutal politics, dangerous alliances, and a royal family who see her as either a threat or a tool — while she has to figure out who she can actually trust among the people closest to her.

Why I Genuinely Love This Book

The politics are the actual point, and I love that. So much YA dystopia treats the political system as a backdrop for the romance. Red Queen doesn't do that. The court intrigue, the power struggles, the way the Silver hierarchy actually functions — I was invested in the politics of this world as much as I was invested in Mare herself, and that's rare for me.

Romance never takes over the plot, and it's so much stronger for it. I want to be really clear about this because I think it's what makes the book work: the relationships between Mare, Cal, and Maven matter enormously, but they never derail the actual plot to become the point of the book. The tension between the three of them is genuinely gripping, but it's in service of the story, not the other way around.

Mare herself is why I keep coming back to this book. I love her. I love that she has electric powers — there's something so visceral and fitting about her ability matching her personality, this barely-contained current running through everything she does. She's not a passive heroine reacting to things happening around her; she's sharp, she's flawed, and she's fighting a system that was never built for someone like her to survive, let alone win.

This book genuinely traumatized me, and I mean that as the highest compliment. I'm serious — after finishing this, I could not attach to another character the same way for a long time. That's not a flaw. That's a book doing exactly what it set out to do to me as a reader.

The pacing had me completely hooked. I couldn't put this down. The plot moves, the stakes escalate, and every time I thought I understood where things were headed, it shifted again.

What to Know Before You Start

Go in ready to feel things. This isn't a comfort read — it's tense, it's political, and it will mess with your ability to trust anyone in this world, in the best way.

The Mare/Cal/Maven dynamic is central, but it's not the whole book. Don't expect a straightforward love triangle structure — it's more complicated and more interesting than that.

It's the first of a series. Go in ready to commit, because I promise you'll want to.

Who Should Read This

  • Anyone who wants political intrigue to actually matter in their YA dystopia, not just exist as set dressing

  • Readers who want a heroine with real edge, not just spunky one-liners

  • Anyone ready to get genuinely attached to characters and have their heart broken a little

My Rating

I'd give this a solid 5/5. I know I'm biased — I said upfront I love this book — but everything about it landed for me: the politics, Mare, the way it refuses to let romance overshadow the plot. This is one of my favorite reads, full stop.

Amazon link: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the romance the main focus of the book? No, and that's part of why I love it so much — the political plot and Mare's personal stakes always come first.

Is this a heavy or emotional read? Yes, genuinely. Go in prepared to feel attached to these characters in a way that might mess you up a little once you finish.

Do I need to read the whole series? This is book one of a series, and after reading it, I don't think you'll want to stop here anyway.

Final Thoughts

I don't say this about every book I read, but Red Queen is one of the ones that stuck with me hard. Mare Barrow, the politics, the way the plot never lets romance take the wheel — I love this book, and I don't think I'm ever fully getting over it.