Red Queen: Book 1

Aveyard packs a lot into a first novel: world building, court intrigue, caste divisions, superpowers, and a main character with multiple possible love interests. Like Tris or Alina, Mare is unique: She has amazing powers in a world where Silvers boast powers but Reds do not; like Katniss in The Hunger Games, she bears the burden of playing a part for society's rulers but secretly feeling a kinship with subversive revolutionaries. She's beautiful but doesn't see it; she's desired but can't maturely navigate her feelings for the Princes: Maven, the sensitive second son she's been tied to, or Cal, the fiery firstborn who's engaged to a nasty, but politically advantageous, match. And like most 17-year-olds, she can occasionally grate on readers' nerves with her indecision and insecurity.

While Aveyard's world-building starts off slow, it grows more complicated as the book continues. Even by the end of the book, readers may not master all the Silver powers, but by then the story is so page-turning those details don't matter so much as figuring out who's lying and who's going to survive to see Book 2. Aveyard's pacing starts off reflective, as young Mare discovers everything about the Silver court for the first time. By the last third of the book, the story is so compelling you can't stop reading. Don't bother trying to figure out the end game; Aveyard is a crafty writer who sneaks in twists and makes readers care, despite a few niggling plot holes and the occasionally exasperating shifts in Mare's romantic feelings.