Anyone can betray anyone. 
 The truth is that fantasy and dystopia aren't my favourite genres. Nonetheless, this year I have read the greatest number of fantasy books in my entire reader career and, surprisingly, I enjoyed all of them. Red Queen proved a pleasant surprise and it certainly adds to that list. Even though Victoria Aveyard's debut doesn't abound in originality, being reminiscent of The Hunger Games and The Selection series, it is a worthwhile read due to the fact that the author constructed an interesting world, in which the people are divided by the colour of blood that flows through their bodies. The Red population dwells in poverty, is obliged to participate in wars and obeys the Silvers, who, oppositely, are predominantly royals, rich, educated and gifted with supernatural powers. 
 The story is told from Mare Barrow's point of view, a Red teenage girl who wakes up, in the blink of an eye, living in the palace together with the royal family. The rulers discovered Mare's astonishing ability to create and maneuver lightning, which is uncommon among the Red population, considering that, theoretically, only the Silvers have supernatural powers. Given all these, she is forced to pretend she is someone else, a Silver who was raised among Reds, and, in addition, the royal family decides that she is going to marry the younger prince, Maven. If the people knew that Mare is both Red and Silver, great chaos would result. 
 The author equally combined dystopian and fantasy elements in this fast-paced novel and she also introduced here and there either a predictable twist or a totally unexpected one. The ending was undoubtedly a cliffhanger. I knew a big revelation would come at the end of the book and I focused on anticipating it from the beginning. (view spoiler)[I presumed that Maven might be a two-faced character. However, it didn't occur to me that Mare's brother, Shade, who had been declared deceased, would eventually turn up alive. I expect that Shade will be a key participant in the action of the second installment of the Red Queen series. (hide spoiler)] 
 All in all, I believe that Red Queen encompasses many elements which contribute to the success of a novel in the fantasy and dystopia genres: compelling setting, interesting politics, well-constructed, likeable, rather intelligent but also naive heroine, characters who have miraculous abilities, an apparent love triangle, a revolutionary movement, secrets yet to be revealed. Should this book be included in your reading list? If you enjoy a novel that intermingles fantasy and dystopia or you have already read and appreciated the aforementioned series, the answer is definitely yes!