Red Queen:
I was so very pleased to pick this book up after deciding to leave off on The Scorch Trials right in the middle of itself. I very much ended up liking this book, even though I did figure out the hard, surprise twist by about 50-75% of book, because in my head there was only one big betrayal that could happen to the character that would derail where the novel had been leading.

I do like the stratification displayed in both the Reds, and then the slow revealing of it in the Silvers. I'm curious about the powers and I hope we learn more about them. I, also, hope we learn more about The Scarlet Guard, The Choke, the Lakelanders, and everything else. I can't wait to see some of the effective character changes and arcs coming, too.


My only tiny complaints with this novel was that the author is too reliant on the word 'smirk' and 'murmur,' and then, following closely, 'mutter.' I bet this will be something that slowly winnows down as she learns through her first books.

Queen Song:
I was very curious about this time period and relationship, since it was hinted at forever throughout the first novel. I feel like this novella was far too short for what it tried to cover. The courtship is entirely too short, and the way people felt about her far too brief all together.

The marriage almost non-existently off to the side. The years covering the loss of babies, also, was barely a line or three. We hardly heard about baby Cal. I'm still very, very, VERY confused about how Elara did anything to her, since we never see it (either her being driven insane, or being forced to lose her babies, or whether the dreams are dreams or being forced into her mind) -- and Elara managed to lie through the singing, or something like that? Or? I'm still very baffled about that part.

Basically too short, too jammed, and too much still unexplained.

But -- as a secondary fact, I did like getting hear about her having interests that passed down to Cal and I loved getting to learn more about the stratification of the Silver World.

Steel Scars:
This was a lovely look at the inside of Farley, and I found myself swept away in the world of the Gaurd. I loved getting to see this side of Shade in his appearance as well, and I like that the novella works as a prequel from the other side, before the big things that happen to Mare in the first book of the series. I, also, love the dispatches.

Glass Sword:
This books is so bad I dreamed about how I was going to write this up and somehow even convinced myself that I already had. I was so incredibly disappointed in this book it was like expecting to fall back on a soft, perfect bed and instead getting repeated smashed in the face with a hammer. I loved Red Queen madly, and I can't/won't ever be able to recommend this series to anyone now.

This addition was just so badly written, and the main character slides between hero, leader, martyr as she's needed to be, to get whatever she wants done, every few pages and sometimes just every few sentences. No one else is doing anything except her. I don't understand why the Red Gaurd is no longer doing anything once Mare is free. I don't understand how Farely's whole existence and personality vanishes into being a cardboard follower of Mare. Which really is a good descriptor of what every character in this one becomes. ( )