Book Title:       Glass Sword (Red Queen #02)
Author:           Victoria Aveyard
Number of pages:  448

Synopsis:

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.

(re: Goodreads @ Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard)

Should this book be picked up? the tl;dr review:

– The cover screams: “why fix what isn’t broke?”
– World building veers toward Sci-Fi introducing a wealth of technology; lack of explanation for caste-defining blood distinctions
– Plot is “recruitment to the cause“-centric similar to X-Men: First Class
– Lacking threat and presence of villains throughout (Maven basically gets Darkling’d a la Grisha Trilogy)
– New characters share similarities to those in the X-Men, but more importantly, they read as token shields and plot pushers with limited charisma other than their utility
– Mare remains Mare; continued repetition of old-and-new quotes
– Recommended to have the map of Norta handy as it isn’t provided (see below)

Initial Thoughts

Oh look, the bringer of negativity is back. Glass Sword didn’t redeem the shortcomings of Red Queen (2/5 review here). I seriously wanted to like this book, okay?

Fine print #1: You probably shouldn’t read the review unless you’ve read Red Queen. There aren’t any Glass Sword spoilers.

Fine print #2: Disregard my opinions below and read Glass Sword if you’d like to. (Then come back to me and we can talk about it.)

Full disclosure: I received an ARC courtesy of a giveaway from Brittany @ Brittany’s Book Rambles. Thanks Britt (and sorry Britt :(!)

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