Glass Sword

Glass Sword is a tragedy. Any faith that I had in Aveyard as an author died in Glass Sword.

Back in Red Queen, I had issues with the writing:
Mare’s narration tended to be the cheating kind. First person point of view is very limited to only that single character’s head. Mare can’t possibly know the motivations behind characters’ decisions or actions without their telling her what they are. Mare knows without ever asking. The Maven twist came along and I settled back into enjoying the story. Aveyard used Mare’s confidence in reading people against her. Mare will learn from this experience and ask people what they are thinking and feeling more often, right?

Nope.

In Glass Sword, Mare continues to read people’s minds and be show more generally correct with no real fall out when she is wrong. It is much easier to create an emotionally intelligent character that can read people as easily as if the author is reading them for them (aka cheating) than it is to have that same character be flawed and grow from mistakes.

The world building is flimsy for such a grand scale story. For instance, the fact that Farley charged Mare an insane amount of money to escape conscription rankled. I know that people who cross the American border from Mexico lose a lot in the journey. I can understand where Aveyard may be coming from with this. However, it was set up as though no one has ever escaped conscription before let alone asked for help in escaping. It stuck in my head. Jewish babies were smuggled out of Nazi Germany ghettos. Why isn’t there a system in place for the Red population? It’s eventually revealed that there are chunks of Reds living somewhat free from Silver rule within Norta. It was a nice surprise.

This world building issue, however, continues into Glass Sword. Many other reviewers have spoken about this. We’re taken to different cities, but we don’t take the time to know them. Mare is brooding for the entire novel and can’t stand to give anyone her attention or trust. That included the newbloods that they spend most of the novel searching for and the towns that they visit. Yes, they may have found less newbloods if the characters took their time exploring the cities, and the suffering people within, but the story would have been significantly more satisfying.

Characterization is also thin. No one in Red Queen seemed to have any interests or hobbies. What do they do outside of class? What do the kids in the royal court think about besides the crown? Cal got slightly more as the romantic lead. He builds motorcycles and reads a lot of books on war. Why not take the time to get to know Walsh even if she’s now lower in station than Mare? Or show Evangeline have an emotional range past rage or jealousy? What does Maven’s bedroom look like?

And so on in Glass Sword. I mentioned before that Mare spent the novel brooding. Even though she can read everyone’s minds through slight body movements alone, she doesn’t actually know anything about any of the characters. She gets Shade back and immediately pushes him away. What was he doing when he was in the Choke? Not a clue. It eventually becomes a small joke amongst the characters. Mare didn’t notice something because she too busy being self-involved? LOL.

It’s not a cute look, Aveyard. Change the point of views or change Mare. Instead, we get neither, and the story drags and drags yet manages not to give any real new information.

I could go on for a while, but this review is long enough. show less

Goodbye Mare Barrow aka the Lightning Girl. It's been fun. But I don't think I can read books three, four or five. Don't get me wrong. The writing is excellent. But the story seems to repeat itself. Go to battle, lose, get captured and taken prisoner. Only to escape and do it all over again. Instead of keeping her alive, why not kill her and be done with it. Oh wait, that would end the story. 3 of 5 stars for me.

[b:Glass Sword|23174274|Glass Sword (Red Queen, #2)|Victoria Aveyard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1436460934s/23174274.jpg|42720997] picks up only moments after the end of the previous book, meaning that there is no skipping over any fallout of the previous book's explosive climax. While a lot of Red Queen was about the rise of Mare Barrow, the lightning girl, the girl with red blood and silver powers, Glass Sword was about her slow destruction, in every way. In a lot of ways, that sets this book and its protagonist apart and elevates the book in an ocean of similar YA dystopian fantasy.

The main plot of Glass Sword involves Mare Barrow and a small team of followers racing against newly crowned Silver King Maven and the mind controlling show more queen mother to either capture or recruit 'newbloods' - people like Mare and her brother, Shade - on a commandeered military plane. Because of that it's heavily reminiscent of [b:Mockingjay|7260188|Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)|Suzanne Collins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358275419s/7260188.jpg|8812783] and [b:Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|818056|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)|J.K. Rowling|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351958236s/818056.jpg|2963218]; though I feel that Aveyard manages to dig deeper into Mare, so that you don't realize you've been reading the deconstruction of her until she does.

I surprisingly enjoyed the continuation of the relationships between Mare and what I assume are her 'love interests' exiled prince Cal, childhood friend Kilorn, and even her cruel, turncoat ex-fiance Maven. Each relationship went in interesting directions, with Aveyard managing to sidestep obnoxious love triangles (the true villain of YA fantasy) and a whole trope of cliches. I actually quite loved the way Maven cast a shadow over the entire book despite appearing only rarely, it added atmosphere. His petulant, clever brutality makes Maven a dangerous villain, while his age and desire to control Mare add a subtly menacing sexual vibe to his evil. I also loved the relationship between Mare and her brother Shade, though I'm disappointed in the lack of Farley.

A fairly satisfying 8/10 show less

Glass Sword, the second installment in Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen series, struggles to recapture the magic and momentum of its predecessor. While the stakes are undeniably higher and the world broader, the execution leaves much to be desired.

One of the biggest issues is the overwhelming flood of new characters—many introduced so quickly that it becomes difficult to keep track of their names, let alone their powers or personalities. This bogs down the story and creates confusion rather than intrigue.

Mare, once a compelling and conflicted heroine, becomes increasingly difficult to root for. By the end of the book, her cold, often dismissive behavior makes her feel distant and, frankly, unbearable. Her inner monologue becomes show more repetitive, and her “I am a weapon” mantra wears thin.

Cal, on the other hand, remains a consistent highlight—loyal, thoughtful, and quietly strong. He deserves better than the chaos he’s been dragged into. The same goes for Kilorn, whose loyalty is constant but often unappreciated.

Overall, Glass Sword feels like it’s trying to do too much, too fast. It expands the world but loses the emotional core that made Red Queen so engaging. While fans of the series may stick around for the ride, this sequel stumbles more than it soars. show less

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Glass Sword was just not for me... It was one of my highly anticipated reads of the year and it was so painfully boring that it wasn't even funny... Reading should not feel like a chore, but with this one it felt like just that. The plot was underdeveloped... I craved excitement. The romance was basically non existent... I actually wanted Maven back? & the story was so slow paced that it took me two weeks to finish it. I wanted to be blown away and I expected more since Red Queen was awesome, but this one just felt lack luster to me. I'm sure others will eat up Aveyard's words, but I wanted to close the book and mark it DNF.

I did get some good feels in certain scenes, but for the most part it was show more just a bunch of information that I didn't care about. Mare came off as a royal b* and I actually felt bad for everyone that had to deal with her. In Red Queen she was an empowering leader... Well don't expect that in this sequel. She was the puppeteer controlling everyone around her. She completely disconnected with her family showing no emotion at all and was constantly trying to manipulate people with her words. I couldn't believe how much I disliked her in this book. It was quite sad because I was actually hoping for a new love to get the focus off of her... Maybe Cameron and Cal? Now that would have been an awesome twist.

All in all... This one just didn't do it for me. I hope that other readers love it, but my advice is... If you loved Red Queen, lower all expectations. show less

OKAY HOLY SHIT.

This book was clever, and it was vicious. It started slow, like Red Queen, but hit the interesting point about a third of the way in rather than two-thirds. And from there, it only got better and better. It was fast-paced and you never got time for a break and it really fit with the frantic pace of the rebellion. Red Queen was like The Selection, with pretty dresses and love triangles in the forefront for most of it. Glass Sword was like Mockingjay - desperate.

Mare. Oh, Mare Barrow. Her character evolved so, so much in this book from a traumatized but angry teenage girl to a ruthless antihero unable to stop her own cruelty, and it was amazing. I am so here for vicious and dark girls. I love her character. And it's about show more to get worse. I love how everyone who loved her stand for her ideas but not for her now. It's complex. It's good.

I think what Victoria Aveyard did with Shade was interesting. You knew he was fated to die. He kept getting injured and almost dying, and when he did die, the only reason you knew it was real was because they showed the body.

And that ending. Holy shit! Holy shit! What a fucking cliffhanger. I can't wait for the next book. I need the next book now, because oh my god. Oh my god. Maven. You fucking bastard. I hate him so much. (Aside: How do people still ship Maven/Mare? He's an abusive, manipulative asshole and his actions in this are reminiscent of sexual abuse. It's creepy what the fuck don't ship it.)

All in all: Holy shit. show less

This book was very slow at the start. It was good 60% until something exciting really started happening. Then it kept happening and happening, and got more and more exciting. I just wish I didn't have to wait so long for it.

Victoria Aveyard is still amazing at endings. This one was so well written, though not as utterly stunning and devastating of that of [b:Red Queen|22328546|Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)|Victoria Aveyard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1449778912l/22328546._SY75_.jpg|25037051]. Red Queen also took off running while this one had quite the slow start. I'm very excited to read [b:King's Cage|30226723|King's Cage (Red Queen, #3)|Victoria show more Aveyard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1467121158l/30226723._SY75_.jpg|42721001] though, especially because of the ending.

I also found it hard keeping all of the characters straight. There are a lot of them with similar names and it's been since before I started Goodreads that I've picked up anything in the series. But I did not feel like I missed out on everything. I was able to get them straight in the end and was fully invested by the end.

In conclusion, I just wish this book had gotten to the good part a lot quicker than it did because the start was boring and nearly painful to get through, but once it got good, it got good. Very good. Like "I feel really bad for the beginning and the potential this book had" good. Because if the whole book had been like that last bit it would have blown me away, I can feel it. Hopefully one of the next installments does this. show less