Reviews with content warning for Child death - Red Queen

I probably went into this book with too high expectations. Even though it wasn't bad, it didn't exactly impress me either. It is worth a read and has a lot of potential, which I hope will be carried out in the following books!

!!!Spoilers!!!

Worldbuilding
I felt like the whole world wasn't really original, the division between one superior and one less class is in almost every dystopian or fantasy book. There you can always find a special girl from the low class, who is being swept into the upper one by surprise. In this world a war has been going on for a hundred years, but no real consequences are shown of that in the society, and the silvers don't even seem to have any problems with it at all, even though war always consumes resources and causes problems that should affect daily life.
The powers in this world were pretty nice and I enjoyed the variety of them, even though I've kind of seen this before in Shatter me. My favourites are actually the singers and Magnetrons.
Politics
I liked the idea of two different princes, where one had to live in the shadow and kind of always wanted the crown. I also enjoyed the backstory of Queen Ilara and how she had killed the queen before to take her place. The rebellion was really predictable which is also found in a lot of books like this (Hunger games, shatter me, divergent, selection, an ember in the ashes...) which isn't a problem, if it is executed well. Which it wasn't. We get almost no backstory or more information about how the guard opparates and only know like 3 members by name, who we also know almost nothing about. I hope this will be established more in the future books. It has a lot of potential.
Characters
Mare is someone who is not a particularly kind person, which I actually enjoyed. She is pretty brutal, has no problem with using or killing people throughout the book. I liked how she knowingly charmed people into helping her and pretty much used everyone to her advantage or tried to at least (rip Maven lol). Still, I don't like, how she never seems to get something done on her own or has an original idea herself. She always counts on others to save her and plan everything, which makes her very much independent. But maybe she will be in future books.
Cal is sadly not a very deep character. I didn't like him throughout the book and only got a few sympathies for him at the end. His only character trait seems to be that he is loyal to the crown and is a good soldier. This makes him seem like he doesn't really question anything or can't form his own opinions.
Maven was veeeerrryy promising at the beginning. I admit that I adored him from second one and grew to like him even more throughout the book. He was very smart and cunning, so no problem seemed too big for him. I enjoyed how he treated Mare as well. The problem is, that he was such a disappointment in the end. The character twist wasn't even the problem, because I actually enjoyed that mischievous side of him that I'd seen before. The problem was that every move and his behaviour had been planned by his mother, which made his plans and achievements just feel very dull. He could've been turned into a good villain and dark character. Instead he just seemed like a foolish mother's boy, who couldn't stand being in his brothers shadow. I don't respect him anymore, just repulse him.
Julian was actually my favourite character after Maven (before the twist haha). He was this father figure for Mare and helped her figure out her powers, because she reminded him of his sister, the dead queen. I liked how he believed in her and what she could represent in the future and how she could change it. It really shows how much he thinks that Mare is special when he risks his own life to save hers. I really hope he survives in the second book and they meet again.
Other characters
Sadly the other characters were nearly not developed at all, which is not that uncommon from Aveyard, from what I've heard. Still it was a shame. Farley has great potential and I would love to get more backstory from her. Also Mares family has lots of potential since she has so many siblings which I hope will play a greater role in the future. I absolutely disliked Kilorn and I felt like they had no friendship chemistry at all. I didn't care about him and even though it said that she cared about him, I couldn't see why. I also felt like he was pretty indifferent about her or even bitter that she's so different. Evangeline was interesting at first, but turned out to be just a plot filler and obstacle for Mare and Cal... Too bad
Romance
So the romance was the subplot, which I always enjoy BUT it still shouldn't feel so flat. It sadly did not make me feel a lot or really care, especially with Cal I felt no chemistry at all. I did enjoy Maven and Mare together but I was not that invested and didn't feel sad when he betrayed her. I feel like this maybe could change, because I did notice some good moments between Cal and Mare at the very end of the book, but we will see...
The plot/end
I kind of saw the betrayal from Maven coming, because their realationship was just too perfect. He was too understanding and too compassionate. He also tried to push certain plans in the red guard a bit too hard, which made me suspicious. Even though I did not see the involvement of the queen coming, it did not really surprise or shock me either. I liked that Mare and Cal had to bond in the end, even though they were on different sides, because they didn't know there was a third side and were both betrayed. I must admit Ilara's plan was pretty smart and I give her all the credit, since all that Maven really pulled of, was being a good actor. However, I think that Mare's and Cal's escape could've been a bit more creative and not just winning in the arena. I still liked that they were saved by the red guard, even though I saw that coming. I like that Farley and Shade are still alive, because they have a lot of potential. Shade surprised me, but I kind of suspected that he hadn't really died in the first part of the book. I love his power (teleporting) and am curious how it unfolds.
One thing I really enjoyed (don't judge me haha) how brutal the books was and that it included death, torture and other dark situations. Because of this the book didn't feel childish or too "young adulty".

Content Warnings