Title: Glass Sword
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Publisher/Year:  Harper Collins 2/9/16
Length:   402 pages
Series:  The Red Queen #2

Overview

The electrifying next installment in the Red Queen series escalates the struggle between the growing rebel army and the blood-segregated world they’ve always known—and pits Mare against the darkness that has grown in her soul.

Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control. The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.

Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors. But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat.Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?

My Thoughts

While it took me far longer than it should have to read this book, i have to say that we were taken on an exciting path here.  I think that there are a lot of lessons being shared and learned in this second installment, and that’s something impressive to carry us through the series.

In this 2nd book, Mare is in the unfortunate position of not only having to escape the Bowl of Bones and then joining the Scarlet Guard in a sense to get away from ‘King Maven’ – but she learned that she’s not alone in being a Red but having Silver powers, and that’s something that is completely new to everyone in the country.  Where she goes from here is a very precarious place given that she’s not even sure if she can survive, she doesn’t know exactly what it is that Farley and the Scarlet Guard do, and she’s got ‘Prince Cal’ with her, the prince who we’re not quite sure who’s side he’s on, yet it seems like he’s got this soft spot for Mare.

We see relationships grown and shatter in this book – there’s an interesting dynamic that we see between Farley and Mare, and we even learn Farley’s ties to the leadership of the Guard.  We also see that there’s a LOT more to Cal than we ever expected, and wonder if there’s a future there for him and Mare – and on what level.  Then there’s the fact that Shade – Mare’s brother who was assumed dead, well he’s not.  And we have to see what role he’ll play throughout this.

The biggest piece of this story is that there are ‘new bloods’ – others who have these abilities like Mare and they are abilities that the Silvers don’t even know to expect.  Remember that the Silver powers all fall into specific categories and you know exactly what you’re going to get.  With the newbloods – there are so many unknowns that the assumption is that they can be more powerful than anything the world has seen.

The question is – will Mare get to them in time, or will Maven hunt each down, and hunt her and Cal down, and who’s going to live.

The ending of this story is not at all surprising – the journey itself a lot more complex and twisted than i had imagined.  There are friends and allies that you really aren’t sure what to make of them, and like i said earlier, relationships being built and broken.  There’s the constant wonder of who you can trust and who’s got motives of their own.  I think that there are so many unknowns here that it makes for a fantastic story.  Really, our author – Ms, Aveyard has something really impressive here – the means to write us a story that keeps you engaged but still so confused that and curious that you can’t help but to continue on and want more.

On that note – happy tuesday everyone!