In a world divided by blood, Mare Barrow is nothing special. As a Red (blood), she’s believed that jer place is to serve, to fight, and to die at the whim of the supernaturally powerful Silver (bloods). She’s even less special in her family, a disappointment really as her only skill is a thief compared to her talented sister, Grisa whose weaving skills are the family’s only source of income while their brothers are at war.

But when her best friend and her are on the line for conscription, her hasty decision to find enough money to pay smugglers go awry leads to a series of events that has her serving the royal family. That turns into a different disaster when a near death experience reveals that she has powers. That’s supposed to be impossible for a Red so the family makes up a story that she’s a long lost Silver nobless, now engaged to the second prince. And she better cooperate or else.

Now with all that context out of the way, I must say this was a thrilling introduction to a brand new fantasy world (whose real world parallels are lightly touched on but quickly fall apart with the whole magical powers aspect) where love, revolution and power are major tools that all the players and pawns use in one deadly battlefield.

Mare was a good protagonist even though she was powerless and confused most of the time. Makes sense considering her background and now being thrust into a world she despises and fears. Her POV allows readers to see the extent of the power/wealth disparity between the Reds and Silvers and how it is not easy for the Reds to rise up against the Silver despite their sheer numbers. They’re truly mortal and powerless compared to Silvers who have a range of abilities from telekinesis (telkys), fire (infernos), metal (magnetrons), healers, whispers (telepaths), singers (mind control) and many more.

Understandable, Mare feels overwhelmed by those odds but like so many young revolutionaries, she has the love of her family fueling her and the unjust lives of her community, scrabbling in mud under the foot of the Silvers. Even if it means death, she sees that there has to be a widespread change and if it means using terrorism, fear and brutality, they have to go ahead.

Of course, it’s harder to stick by those words as she befriends a few good Silvers like her personal bodyguard, Lucas, and the ex brother in law of the king, Julian and the princes. As she gets entrenched in the world of the court and the revolutionary group, the Scarlet Guard, she cannot condone their tactics as she knows the pain of losing family members.

She’s also torn between two guys (well actually three but the third is a childhood best friend and virtual nonfactor), the princes. It wouldn’t be a YA fantasy without the love triangle and Aveyard makes a convincing case for both of them, and a convincing case of why Mare shouldn’t trust either.

Cal is the firstborn, son of the first queen who is rumored to have been murdered by the current. A good soldier, a good person, he’s the one who gives Mare a chance to escape her fate in the army but beneath that kind facade is a deadly warrior, utterly loyal to his cruel father and unwilling to change the current system putting Reds as battle fodder for an endless war.

Maven is the second born, a shadow to the perfect Cal and unfairly underestimated, and ignored. His lack of skill in the battlefield allows him to go undetected by his parents to further help Mare and the Scarlet Guard’s cause.

Like I said, Aveyard makes a good case for and against the two, the repeating refrain of how anyone can betray anyone being paramount importance. There is a bit of twist in the climax but if you follow the signs (and the parantage), you should be able to guess before the big reveal where the true loyalties lie.

So, Mare seems a bit special what with the unique powers and two princes vying for her attention, but Aveyard never lets it veer into “Not like other girls” territory as Mare has several flaws keeping her grounded like her naivity, inability to hone her powers immediately and carelessness which will lead her to a lot of guilt later on.

The world building is also well-done, never with too much exposition but bits and pieces are fed to the readers (and Mare who is unfamiliar with the Silver hierarchy so unlike the world of Reds she’s grown up with) in an organic way so they don’t feel lost but don’t guess the machinations of the royals right away.

Aveyard’s descriptions make the world feel out of this world and grand from the description of the hard-luck Stilts village that Mare lives in to the diamond-encrusted palaces of the Silvers. It’s a specific world unlike any other and you can easily envision it in your mind.

The battle scenes less so, but as long as you know what Avatar the Last Airbender is, I think your imaginations will be able to make the stretch.

A solid start and I can’t wait to see what comes next for Mare and the others who’ve join the revolution. It is giving me real Katniss Everdeen and the Hunger Games vibes with Aveyard suggesting that Mare is hardening up after the trauma of her experiences and I’m eager to see how she deals with it.

4 stars.