Tag: Victoria Aveyard

This Chick Read: King’s Cage (Red Queen #3) by Victoria Aveyard

Warning! Slight spoiler ahead.

King’s Cage, the third book in the Red Queen series, starts with Mare being held prisoner by King Maven Calore. At the end of  Glass Sword, when their airplane was grabbed out of the sky and Maven’s forces threatened to kill Cal and Mare’s family she gave herself up for their freedom. Maven, surprisingly true to his word, let them go free and used Mare to convince the Red’s that the Scarlet Guard was a terrorist group. Mare, actually held captive by special manacles that inhibited her powers was helpless to stop his plans.

What is it about the villain being so fascinating? I thought the first half of this book when Mare was with Maven to be endlessly fascinating. Here was a boy king who was obsessed with this girl, yet at one point he had her! He betrayed her, but somehow he still wanted her to love him. The psychology behind that obsession, the torture at the hands of his own mother in his childhood. It was so good! I almost wish Mare had wanted him back. I think that would’ve made this book so much more interesting. Imagine if instead of hating him, she loved him and fought with his evil side to do the right thing and become who the country needed. Instead, Mare falls for the older brother, Cal, and fights against Maven’s tyranny. For The Whole Book. Tiring.

I will admit that as I was reading this book I kept thinking this was the final book in the series., and that totally threw me off. As I got to about 50 pages from the end I figured that out and I was so mad at myself.  Why? Why did I think this was the final book?  Why did I read this book before the next one came out? Oh well. Despite wishing Mare had fallen for the other brother, I felt slightly redeemed that things didn’t go quite as planned in the romance department for Mare. Not that I want her to be doomed to disappointment, but it at least made having to read one more book before finding out the resolution to the battle between the bloods and also the battle between brothers.  ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Kings Cage

Click this link to purchase!  King’s Cage (Red Queen)

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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This Chick Read: Glass Sword (Red Queen #2) by Victoria Aveyard

This second installment of the Red Queen series starts quick and never fades. Mare and Cal find themselves in the company of the Red Guard. Cal exchanging one prison for another and Mare discovering her interests may not align exactly with the Red Guards. Going rogue, they set out to find the New Bloods so that they can build their own army to fight Maven, knowing Maven will also be looking for them to kill before they can unite against him.

The pace of this novel was so much faster than in Red Queen, probably because the scene is set for Mare and Cal to put their plan in motion. The book isn’t as political, although some politics certainly come into play. The thing that struck me the most about Glass Sword was how it was an emotionally charged novel. You see some depths to Mare’s feelings for Maven, Cal and Killorn and are given insight into why she makes some of the choices she makes in this novel. The reader discovers more to her relationships with her siblings that also give power to a couple of plot points in the book tyat I don’t want to spoil if you haven’t read the book.

My only fault with this book was that it was so dark! Mare was inside her head, pushing away everyone she loved and that was really frustrating for me. However, that being said, I do realize this is the second book and you need to go through angst and pain to hopefully bring this story to a conclusion. I just hope that the next book has a few happy moments and isn’t quite as dreary. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click link to purchase! Glass Sword (Red Queen)

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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This Chick Read: Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard

The premise of a class structure that was separated, not by the color of your skin, but by the color of your blood was interesting. Those with silver blood, surprisingly called Silvers,  had special power talents, like telekinesis, mind reading, controlling fire, water, etc. Those citizens with red blood (Reds) were normal, and the peasants and worker bees in this fantasy world. When Mare Barrow, a Red, receives placement as a servant in the ruling family’s castle, she finds out that her blood, although red, is different. She, too, has a power! She manifests that power for the first time in a room full of Silvers, and because she can’t be explained, the monarchy decides to create a new identity for her, placing her as a princess of a lost Silver family. However, Mare knows she is not Silver, and in fact, still bleeds red in not only color, but also in idealisms.

Red Queen had the normal YA trope of young idealistic girl feeling her power/strength for the first time. It also used the threesome trope. Young girl torn between two brothers, the future king, who is a gentle warrior, and the younger brother, her betrothed, who is quiet and shares her idealisms. Maybe that was why I was ambivalent? I think if I had read this book when it came out, the use of those tropes wouldn’t have been as stale. It wasn’t until the book turned political that I got truly interested. When Mare started fighting back was when my interest was earned. Finally, I thought! A fight against prejudice, no matter what kind, I will relish. Knowing this is a trilogy, I am hoping the second and third book start quickly and the story doesn’t get bogged down by other over used tropes.

I did enjoy this fantasy world that Victoria Aveyard built. It was really well thought out, and kind of Machiavellian, which was fun to read about. Even though this book took a little time to get into, the positives more than made up for the negatives. I will totally pick up the next novel in the series and see how Mare’s rebellion continues. This book ends right when things were starting to get interesting! ❤️❤️❤️❤️


Click the link to purchase! Red Queen

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads10 Comments

This Chick’s Sunday Commentary: All Hail the Queens Book Tour


I live in Nashville, TN, and there is this fab-u-lous book store called Parnassus Books.  They have an amazing amount of authors who come in to do book signings, I think because the owner is a published author herself, Ann Patchett, and co-owner publishing veteran Karen Hayes. The book signing often includes a brief speech, or in this case interview with the authors. Last Wednesday I went with my mom and sister to Parnassus to see Victoria Aveyard and Sophie Jordan’s book signing. Victoria Aveyard has a very successful series called the Red Queen and she was signing the third book, which was just released, called Kings Cage. She is touring with Sophie Jordan who is releasing the second book, Rise of Fire,  in her series Reign of Fire.  Both of these books are young adult fantasy novels, a genre which I love and I thought it interesting that the audience was not just filled with teenage fans. I am not young myself, and my mother has read both series and she’s in her mid seventies.
Continue reading “This Chick’s Sunday Commentary: All Hail the Queens Book Tour” →

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