The premise is that absolute power corrupts absolutely and as such the construct of this society feels logical and inevitable given the reality of those who own everything because of their powers and those who don’t because of its absence.

Starting with the good: with their incredible superpowers, the Silvers are what the X-Men would be like if Evil Magneto were their leader or if The Avengers and their friends decided to take over the world rather than save it. Immersed in a new life and stripped from choice Mare needs to find a way to not only survive but to help her own people fight in a burgeoning revolution that could change the world. The Silvers concoct a plan so that Mare’s abilities will not become a problem for them and she is given a new identity as a long-lost Silver girl who is now welcomed back to Silver society until they can find out everything about how exactly has she can even exist. Impossible as it is, improbable as this is, it is now too late for Mare’s life to ever go back to what it was. On the most important night around the Silver succession for the throne Mare discovers she too has powers, powers that suddenly appear in front of the most important Silver individuals in the whole kingdom. Mare Barrow is a regular 17 year old Red who is about to turn 18 and because she doesn’t have any special skills who would allow her to get a job in this strict, stratified society, she knows she will be conscripted into war just like her brothers before her.īut one night, just as Mare is succumbing to despair, she meets a mysterious stranger who arranges for her to get a job inside the Silver Palace. In a dystopian world ravaged by war, there is a split between the Reds, poverty-stricken commoners with red blood, and the Silvers, those with unimaginable powers, their silver blood marking them as the ruling class. Why did I read this book: Because “elite warriors with god-like powers”. How did I get this book: Review copy via Netgalley Stand alone or series: First in a new series And in this world divided by blood, who will win? One that threatens to destroy Silver control.īut power is a dangerous game.

She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change. The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.

In the Land of Contrived Plots, a young woman rises from the gutter to find out she is different after she meets a stranger who conveniently turns out to the crown prince.

Red queen book series