Month: March 2018

2 Comments Posted on Books, Misc. Articles

Great Women in Books

In honor of International Women’s Day, which was yesterday, March 8th, I’ve decide to highlight some of the great women characters in books.

Hermione Granger: The Harry Potter series

Hermione is a brilliant, super-smart friend of Harry Potter in the widely successful book series. She used her intelligence to get out of multiple tough situations, not only saving her friends, but the Wizarding World as a whole.

Katniss Everdeen: The Hunger Games series

Katniss Everdeen saves her little sister’s life by volunteering to enter the Hunger Games in Prim’s place. She shows determination, leadership skills and perseverance to get through multiple Hunger Games throughout the series and lead and inspire a rebellion against her corrupt government. Her storyline inspired many copies and similar stories about strong girls in a dystopian society.

Tris Prior: The Divergent series

One of the very first and probably most successful Katniss Everdeen knockoff, Tris and the world she lives in is a compelling story on it’s own. Tris is a young woman just trying to figure out who she is in a world where that is frowned upon. Like her predecessor, Tris helps to overthrow and inspire a rebellion against her corrupt government.

Scout Finch: To Kill a Mockingbird

Scout is an inquisitive, kind, tomboy who grows up in a world of racial tension that she is unaware of. When her father defends a African American man in court however, Scout is thrown into reality and discovers many things about race and the way that people treat each other.

Clary Fray: The Mortal Instruments Series 

Clary is a creative teenager with a normal life ahead of her—except when she learns that she’s actually living in a world of monsters, and she is born into a family of Shadowhunters—the ones who kill them. Clary develops from a innocent and normal teen to a fierce warrior, who also saves the world.

What female characters in books are your favorite?

Images on Google Images

Graphic via Canva.com

Leave a comment Posted on Book Reviews

Book Review: Red Queen

Red Queen is dystopian/fantasy novel written by Victoria Aveyard. It follows Mare Barrow, a young woman who pickpockets for a living and is from the lower class area of her society called the Silts. She lives in a world divided into two classes, people with Silver blood and people with Red. The Silvers are the ruling elites who have the gift of superpowers. The Reds are the impoverished, poor, unpowered common folk, who are sent off to war to fight for the Silvers and barely have any rights. Mare is a Red. After meeting a strange young man who she attempted to pickpocket, she finds herself working as a servant in the King’s summer home nearby. During the Queenstrial, a competition in which possible future queens (Silvers) show off their powers to the royals, Mare accidentally falls into the electric field guarding the arena while attempting to serve an upper-class Silver.

However, instead of disintegrating into tiny bits, Mare survives, only to realize that she is a Red with the the powers of a Silver. Now she has to navigate the volatile lifestyle of pretending that you are a Silver (when you are in fact, a Red) while being in the spotlight of someone who is betrothed to a prince.

Pros:

  • great plot twist at the end
  • lots of interesting world-building
  • interesting take on how to overcome you oppressors (is terrorism right if it is for the right reasons?)
  • interesting commentary on social class
  • compelling characters with lots of additional backstory for most of the characters that you have to infer to totally figure it all out
  • great villain and mysteries that have to be uncovered

Cons:

  • it’s concept and premise suffers from feeling unorginal
  • very similar to the YA novel trope of a young woman standing up against and starting a revolution against a corrupt and evil government (however, this book makes that government more human by inspecting them up close and personal)

My Rating: 8.5/10

In conclusion, go out and read it! Although it sometimes uses some overused tropes, it’s still a compelling novel with fresh elements to bring to the table.

If you have read Red Queen, did you like it? And if you have not, are you interested in reading it now?