Book Review: Red Queen

"The gods rule us still. They have come down from the stars. And they are no longer kind."

Red Queen, page 11

Mare Barrow is a girl, just shy of eighteen, who lives in the Stilts, a poor Red village. Separated by the color of their blood, Reds are considered commoners, workers, disposable. Their Silver counterparts, veins running with Silverblood, are gifted abilities that make them greater than human; and they make sure to let the Reds know it.

Mare is sworn to a life of conscription, and will be sent to the war front upon her eighteenth birthday, something she has watched her three older brothers, Bree, Tramy, and Shade, for years. Kilorn Warren, Mare's orphaned best friend, with glowing green eyes and a fisherman's apprenticeship, has his world turned upside down when his master dies suddenly, and out of nowhere Kilorn is given the same fat as Mare: conscription.

Willing to do anything to save Kilorn from such a fate, Mare befriends Farley, a Captain of the Scarlet Guard, who promises to save Kilorn from conscription at a hefty price. So Mare does what Mare does best: steals, putting her gifted sister, Gisa, in danger. When Mare meets a mysterious "Red" servant of the Silver palace at a pub, she doesn't realize that her life is about to change forever.

Mare is suddenly shoved into the lives of the Silver elite when it is discovered that although her blood is Red as could be, she possesses Silver abilities; and that the "Red" servant who gets her a job serving the King is actually the son of the King himself, Prince Cal. Mare is quickly made to be a lost Silver lady, and betrothed to Prince Maven, Cal's younger brother. As twisted as her life becomes, Maven and Mare are suddenly thrust into the Scarlet Guard, planning ambushes from within the Silvers' lives.

While Maven softens before Mare, becoming someone that she could actually fall in love with, regardless of their difference in blood, she is still drawn to the handsome king-to-be, Cal. But Cal has been raised to be king from birth, and so Mare is never sure of how much trust to instill in him. While Maven seems to be the more trustworthy brother, Mare's Silver teacher, Julian Jacos, teaches her an important lesson: Anyone can betray anyone. 

As life as a pseudo-Silver becomes more complicated, everyone's lives seem to be increasingly more in danger. In a world of betrayal and lies, who can one actually trust? Red Queen is the perfect combination of deceit and action, with tidbits of romance in between. Mare is still a bad ass lead female character, which is something I personally value in YA books.

I sometimes felt that there were similar vibes to other popular YA books in Red Queen, such as Cinder, The Hunger Games, and even a bit of the Twilight saga (Team Cal or Team Maven? Victoria Aveyard is #TeamMare). That being said, I enjoyed Red Queen much more than I did Cinder or any of the Twilight books; The Hunger Games is still a favorite past read of mine. I still thoroughly enjoyed the book, and can easily say that it is one of my favorite books since the Maximum Ride series.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone, considering I've already recommended it to at least three people since re-reading it last week. Pick it up; what are you waiting for?!

Abby

Why Deciding to be Single in College Did Me Wonders

I wanted to start this off with a disclaimer: this post is not for me to talk about how great it is to meet so many new guys while unattached. While it is great to have the freedom to talk casually to whomever I see fit, being single for me has nothing to do with the pursuit of new love interests. It has everything to do with ending my previous relationship to better myself, and to put myself in the happiest place I could manage, since where I was just wasn't benefiting me anymore.

Deciding to end a long-term relationship was hardly an easy task. In fact, I would say that it was something I sat on for too long a time. I think that part of my hesitation came from a stubborn desire to make the decision for myself and by myself, and to not let anyone else's opinion sway me in one direction or the other.

I had never really considered myself "Relationship Girl" in that I've never felt that I need a boyfriend to feel complete. That being said, I can't really remember a time when I wasn't at least searching for a relationship. So I entered college a single girl, and within a few short months I somehow found myself in a new relationship.

It was a good run, but I had a realization this past fall; by spending time in a relationship that wasn't causing me complete happiness, I was doing myself a huge disservice. All things considered, I don't regret the relationship I was in, as that would be a foolish way to live. The almost-two years we spent together weren't all bad, but I shouldn't have to put up with "not all bad" when I still have so much time to find something great. Now that I'm not in a relationship, I've been able to figure out who I am on my own, and I totally dig the stronger sense of independence I've gained.

When I'm at school, it's safe to say that my middle name could easily be Busy. Abigail "Busy" Pieger. My college life is such a happy, high-speed, chaotic mess, with little time for a friend-filled social life, that finding the proper time for a love life was becoming a task and a half. Relationships are time-consuming, and they require a lot of effort; a relationship isn't healthy unless enough time is put into it. A relationship is kind of like a plant: it needs sunlight, water, and a whole lot of love. Okay, so a relationship isn't really much like a plant, but it sounded comparable.

On my part, I was struggling to find the time to really put enough effort into all that a relationship requires. Now that I've been single for roughly six months, I can't even imagine trying to balance a guy with a two jobs, an internship, a club, and classes! If there were an extra day of the week then maybe I would consider, but right now I'm working hard to find enough time for self-care in my average, 7-day week.

It's also really important to realize that you do not need to find your forever in college. I repeat: you do not need to find your forever in college. It is okay to be single in your twenties! You do not need to have everything figured out by the time you graduate, regardless of what everyone tells you. If you do, you're one of the lucky ones, and if you have a relationship, a place to live, and a great job, then power to ya! You are the exception, and I'm sure people envy you. But to the average soon-to-be college graduate, I'd focus more on finding a job and a roommate than on finding a man. I'm just saying.

Now, college for me is about finding my bridesmaids, not about finding a groom. I'm not saying that being in a relationship held me back from greater experiences, but I am finally given an opportunity to figure out who I am during the remainder of my time in college. At this point, I only have a year left of school, and I don't plan on wasting it preoccupied picking petals and wondering if a guy likes me or likes me not. We have so much time to grow up, but our time without ties is limited, so I plan on enjoying what it means to me to be single in college; working my tail off and laughing every bit of the way.

Abby

What It's Really Like to be the "Baby" of the Friend Group

As my twentieth birthday grows closer and closer, I've taken quite some time to reflect upon how age has defined me. As a second-semester junior in college, I am one of the very few who are still nineteen, (although only for the next two days!). As my friends keep kindly reminding me, at least I've beat teen pregnancy! While all of the friends I grew up with begin celebrating their epic twenty-first birthdays, I'm still stuck in the age of seeming unimportance... and this is the first year that the age difference has really hit me.

In elementary school I was given the fortunate opportunity to skip a grade, leaving me academically and socially similar (after getting over horrendous separation anxiety, that is), to those whom I went to school with, but legally and biologically younger. I made a slow adjustment into first grade before turning six, and continued from there as a pseudo-six-and-a-half-year-old. So even though I was aware of my age difference, growing up never made me feel any different than my peers.

That being said, I have a pretty intense pet peeve of being called a "baby", which stems from these circumstances. When people find out my age, usually the first thing out of their mouth is, "You're such a baby! I honestly never would have guessed," which, honestly, sounds a bit contradictory to me. I will never understand how my budding twenty-one-year-old peers suddenly feel exponentially older than me upon finding out that I'm a few months younger than a majority of them. A quick reminder that I have an early birthday, friends!!!

Before disclosing this information to others, many people I meet often think I'm older than I truly am; but the second people find out that my birth year ends in '96 and not '95, I am a biological outcast. The novelty of the news usually fades fast, but I have always hated how people treat me in that short amount of time, and I'm not sure I've ever told people that.

Over the years, I have learned to cope with being the "baby" of the friend group. Other than an actual age difference, I know that there isn't much that separates me from those around me; and one day, the age difference won't matter at all. All of that being said, this is the first year that I actually feel younger than the rest of my friends. Going to a school close to Boston means an incredible night life for all of my legal friends, and a whole lot of Netflix for me and my Friday nights.

One year is such a small speck of time in the grand scheme of life. As cliche as it sounds, age really is just a number, of which I have never let fully define my life. After 2016 comes and goes, I will go back to living a life without any regard for age difference, and until then, my Netflix nights will have to do. I'm still the oldest damn twenty-year-old I've ever met, and that will have to do. You can't always control the circumstances of your life, but you can absolutely ride it out with a smile on your face.

Abby