Red Queen

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (Harper Teen, 2015) is the first book in the Red Queen series, which follows one girl’s battle to bring equality to her people in a dystopian fantasy world where the power hungry Silvers oppress the lower Red class. The book won the 2015 Goodreads Choice Award for Debut Goodreads Author and was nominated for the 2015 Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction.

New York Times bestselling author Victoria Aveyard grew up in western Massachusetts before moving to Los Angeles, where she obtained a degree from the University of Southern California’s screenwriting program. She writes young adult science fiction and fantasy, including the Red Queen series and the Realm Breaker series (2021). This guide follows the 2015 Harper Teen version of Red Queen.

Plot Summary

Red Queen is set in the world of Norta, a country divided into Red and Silver classes. Reds have red blood while Silvers have silver blood and supernatural powers. Each Silver house has a different ability (such as superstrength or fire manipulation), and the Silvers believe these powers elevate them above Reds. As a result, Reds are oppressed while Silvers live in luxury. Seventeen-year-old Mare Barrow is a Red living with her parents and younger sister. Her three older brothers were conscripted into the war between Norta and its neighbor, a fate that also awaits Mare when she turns 18. Mare spends her days skipping school and pickpocketing to provide for her family.

Mare and her friend Kilorn Warren attend the First Friday televised fight between two Silvers, one of the many ways the Silvers keep the Reds in line. Later that night, Kilorn learns his employer was killed in an accident, which means Kilorn will be sent to the war. Desperate, Mare makes a deal with the Scarlet Guard, a rebel group of Reds, who agree to smuggle Mare and Kilorn to safety for a hefty fee. The next day, Mare accompanies her sister to the Silver city, where she works embroidering silks. Mare plans to pickpocket the Guard’s fee. While there, a news broadcast comes on, which is interrupted by a member of the Scarlet Guard threatening the Silvers. Fearful Silvers round up Red workers to demand information, many using their powers to torture Reds. While trying to escape the city, Mare’s sister attempts to steal money, but she is caught and her hand is broken as punishment.

Mare hides out at a nearby tavern, where she pickpockets drunk patrons. A boy a bit older than her named Cal catches her but doesn’t turn her in. Instead, he gives her a few coins before disappearing into the night. The next day, Mare is given a job working at the Silver palace. She learns it is Queenstrial, the day where the daughters of noble families compete to wed one of the princes. As she works the trial, Mare learns Cal is the crown prince and that his wife has already been chosen.

During the Queenstrial, it becomes clear that Mare has her own Silver-like powers. As a coverup, the royal family outfits Mare with the identity of a long-lost noble daughter and betroths her to Cal’s brother, Maven. Mare spends the next several weeks among the Silvers, learning to use her powers and lying to keep up appearances while she seeks a way to undermine the Silvers from within. Mare joins the Scarlet Guard and learns Maven also supports the Guard’s cause of Red freedom. Together, they form a plan to kill key figures in the Silver ranks at the grand ball before the royal family returns to the capital.

The assassinations at the ball are successful, but Kilorn and other members of the Guard are captured. Knowing her secret identity is in danger, Mare helps the prisoners escape. The next day, the royal family leaves for the capital.

Maven proposes the Guard stage a coup. The Guard agrees, but the coup doesn’t go as planned. Mare and Maven are captured. While Mare’s powers are suppressed, Maven reveals he has been double-crossing her the entire time. Maven and his mother force Cal to kill his father and then spin the story that Cal is a murderer. Mare and Cal are sentenced to death by public execution.

The execution is a televised fight. Cal is allowed his powers but Mare’s are again suppressed. While Cal battles, Mare tricks one of their opponents into killing the Silver restraining her powers. Mare and Cal win the match, but Maven sends in a contingent of soldiers to kill them. The Scarlet Guard rescues Mare and Cal, and the story ends with the Guard in retreat.