Aveyard’s ‘Broken Throne’
Guest Post by Natalie Hess.
Broken Throne is a solid addition to Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen series. I give it 3.5 stars, and I enjoyed seeing these characters heal after all they’ve been through.
The first two stories occur before Red Queen. In “Queen Song,” Tiberias VI is portrayed as desirable from Coriane’s perspective, which is definitely interesting. The novella’s plot twist left me with questions, goosebumps, and excitement for the next story: “Steel Scars.” This follows Diana Farley carrying out Scarlet Guard missions. She meets Shade and their relationship blooms. It isn’t divided into chapters though, which makes it feel too long. “World Behind” follows a Lakelander princess running from her betrothed as she crosses paths with a red smuggler. These characters weren’t super memorable and I wasn’t particularly attached to them.
“Iron Heart,” with the remaining novellas, happens after War Storm and follows Evangeline and Elane, adjusting to Monfort and attempting to rebuild their lives in such foreign circumstances. How they care for one another is so unique and wholesome. Everyone should take notes. It had good political aspects, too.
Speaking of politics, “Fire Light” follows Mare and Cal, the stars of the show. These politics are decent, although they felt random. I also wanted more from the romance. After being apart, I wanted to see them actually together, not just awkwardly flirting like they’d just met. Reading from Maven’s perspective is always unsettling.
The author so cleverly dissolves the line between love and hate in “Fare Well.” The final story is such a cherry on top to the series as a whole. Something to note about Broken Throne is the little added sections of history, which feel unnecessary and read like a textbook. The stories themselves, however, really pull through, and even though this collection wasn’t my favorite, it’s totally worth the read.
Broken Throne: A Red Queen Collection by Victoria Aveyard. HarperTeen, May 2020.
Reviewer bio: I’m Natalie Hess and I’m simply a high school student who LOVES reading everything from scifi to romance to nonfiction and everything in between. I also love sharing my thoughts and I hope you enjoy!
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