Previously, when it was an issue, it was in regards to only two types of characters: those who stepped up, and those who didn't. I hadn't given much thought to why I typically crave bloodthirstiness from my heroines. BUT 'the inevitable disappointment' blah, blah, turned a statement that could have been a powerful illustration into overkill.ġ. 'Backs bent by work' was sufficient to get the point across. Our backs are bent by work and unanswered hope and the inevitable disappointment with our lot in life.

The only thing that serves to distinguish, outwardly at least, is that Silvers stand tall. Sold as I was (at first), the heavy-handed descriptions and comparisons, piled on top of unnecessary flourishes, piled on top of still more comparisons.

And as much as I love Red Rising and Golden Son, I would jump all over it if I thought this book was a copycat.īUT. royals with superpowers? And a heroine from amongst the downtrodden servant class? Okay, yes, that does sound kind of familiar, especially considering that said downtrodden heroine is a Red, but beyond that I didn't feel like there were many similarities. It then heads to Shakespeare North Playhouse from 28-30 Jul with tickets here.I mean, come on. The Red Queen and Other Monsters runs at Hope Mill Theatre until 23 Jul: tickets here. Running at a little over the advertised 90-minutes, The Red Queen could do with a slightly faster pace and perhaps more incidental music to add colour, but this is a production worth catching if only to give these women of mythology, literature and history their due. Aaliyah Barry’s costumes delineate each character with a memorable look. Set against the theatre’s black box, Sorcha Corcoran and Liv Davies’s design boasts a large checkered floor, coloured spotlights, and three crates that suggest anything from bed to prison cell. These are tales of women as second-class, forced to desperate measures – but on their own terms. The world of The Red Queen, as Lady Capulet (forced at 12 to marry a middle-aged man and bear him a child within a year), tells her daughter Juliet (a delicate Coles), “isn’t fair”.

Who plays the red queen