Glass Sword (Red Queen #2) by Victoria Aveyard

Amy    

Lynnie 


fantasy, young adult fiction

Glass Sword begins right after the events of Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen. Mare is on the run from her former fiance, King Maven. As she seeks others, Red and Silver, who will help her fight against the system, she discovers that there are others like her--Reds with Silver powers.  Mare has to work together with a growing rebellion to fight against the crown.


Amy's Review

I really enjoyed Glass Sword. I listened to the audiobook and it kept me very entertained on a long road trip. The pace was terrific. It kept moving and I continually wanted to find out what came next. Of course, I’m a sucker for action and adventure. In most novels, the process of “gathering the team” can be cumbersome for authors to manage and usually tends to run too long. That was not the case for Glass Sword. I thought all the superpowers were interesting and, while they were not unique superpowers in the realm of fiction, proved effective for this storyline. My main complaint was that Mare’s memories of Maven seemed hyped up in this novel—she seemed to have more regard for the boy he was in the last novel than I remember her having during that novel. It could be that it’s just been too long since I read Red Queen. Alas, as with most young adult novels, the sequel won’t come out for another year which always disappoints me. This is one of those novels for which I’ll have to make notes so that I can remember some of the details of this one before I read the next one.


Lynnie's Review

I enjoyed this sequel to Red Queen quite a bit--there's a lot of action, and the new and old characters remain interesting. Unlike many books who seem to add new characters for the sole purpose of having someone you aren't invested in die off, this book gives the new characters purpose in the continuing story which was a nice change.

What I didn't like about the book was our main character Mare. Unlike the fire & determination I associate with her from Red Queen, in Glass Sword she was doubting, mopey, and generally displeased with herself and everyone around her. Mare's self-pity was on par with Katniss' in Mockingjay. I kept waiting for her to get over herself & do what she needed to do.

That said, the story really held my attention and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.