~ Welcome to Day 19 of #29DaysWithLuigi ~
Hello wonderful readers! I am back with a book review of Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard. I have recently finished this book and I'm not much of a fan but I liked it and it would make me want to continue the series.I still think that the 1st book is better in some aspects.
Let's begin!
Details:
Title: Glass Sword (Red Queen #2)
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Number of Pages: 444
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-fi
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published on: February 9, 2016
Format: Paperback
Price: $19.10 (BD), Php 435.00 (FB and NBS)
*Prices may change due to different sales/offers.
Purchase the book at:
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Synopsis:
" If there’s one thing Mare Barrow knows, it’s that she’s different.
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?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."
About the author:
I’m a writer repped by Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc. I split my time between my hometown East Longmeadow, Massachusetts and Los Angeles. After graduating with a BFA in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California, I decided to try my hand at writing a novel. My debut RED QUEEN came out of the terrifying, unemployed year after college.Currently I’m revising the second book in the RED QUEEN series, along with pursuing other projects in literature and film. My proudest achievements are riding a horse in the mountains of Montana and navigating from London to Edinburgh without GPS.
Review/Rating:
Disclaimer: This review will contain spoilers for the series. Read at your own risk.
This book is one of my highly anticipated books of 2016. Ever since I've finished Red Queen, I have been dying to get my hands onto this book. All I can say is that, I was not disappointed.... much. Yes, there were improvements and some great parts in this book but along with it are some negative things that I think lowered down my rating a couple of steps.
Let's start at the beginning, one thing I loved about this sequel is that it started exactly where the first book ended. I kind of like that just because the story doesn't have much of vague details. It exactly picked up the last scene in the book and I loved that!
We follow Mare and our main characters as they were recovering from the previous attack on the first book on the Undertrain. They are having their drama and all, afterwards, jets attacked Naercey and the action begins. Then more of the hunt to Mare begins. There are explosions and all that things.
I kind of am very forgetful at the terms used in the book, so please bear with me. I think you'll get what I am saying even though my terms are probably wrong.
Then Mare is being hunted on by Maven with all of his warriors and they were constantly running towards the end part of the place. We see Cal using his fire abilities to fight the nymphs with their water abilities. Mare and Cal tend to join forces through this scene.
They escaped using the submarine controlled by the Scarlet Guard. We see Cal kind of feeling imprisoned and all. Shade badly wounded, Kilorn roaming around. Captain Farley commanding everything going on. And Mare being annoying. I loved actually how Mare could pick up what Shade was saying through his eyes and movements. It kind of strengthens their bond. They head on to Tuck Island where the supreme of the Scarlet Guard camps. We then meet the Colonel or Farley's father and him being disappointed to Farley. They 'capture' Cal because he's a silver and all of that things. Mare's family greets her in the most 'unwelcoming' way. Then things go on.
We then follow Mare and Kilorn as they try to 'rescue' Cal but Mare ended up the one in prison with Cal as the colonel arrives. I was afraid I was going to hate Kilorn throughout this book but luckily, he planned all this event out. It was amazing, I have to admit. I completely thought Kilorn turned his back to Mare. They moved fast to trap the colonel and immediately escaped. Mare, Cal, Farley, Kilorn, and Shade went with Blackrun, a jet they stole that the Scarlet Guard stole.
Then they head on to search for Newbloods. They went to Ada, Nix, and all of them with very interesting abilities. I love how Victoria Aveyard made them as vast as possible. They have shapeshifters, incredible memory, tough soldiers, and all. Basically, the Newbloods are not something you would want to mess with.
What I hate most in this part was actually Mare leaving Shade in the threat of him being in danger. I mean, that's family Mare! Family! I hate it that Mare had grown into a selfish brat. I mean yes she had gone through a lot, but really? That far? You're all about saving your family before then this? You do not leave family, Mare. Even if it means finding newbloods, you still do not leave family, Mare. Nope.
Then they meet Jon, who has the ability to see the future. He tells Mare, along with the other, that they need to go to the prison within 3 days and not 4 for Maven would be there. They went to the prison to recruit Cameron by force. Cameron is a very powerful newblood, she has the ability to remove your abilities and even human senses. Jon also told Mare that the answer to Farley's future question is "Yes", if my memory serves me right.
One thing I've appreciated on Kilorn's character is his loyalty to Mare. This is kind of already evident through out the book. I was so glad Victoria Aveyard did make his character a loyal one and didn't add him to Mare's list of traitors. The last thing I want is for Mare to complain about everyone's betrayal.
So, they prepare in the Notch, a camp they've built with the help of newbloods who can put cloak fields and who can remove the sounds produced, I believe. They've harnessed their own abilities and trained very hard for the 'prison break.'
Then the prison break happens. Honestly, this is one of my favorite things in the book. It's so action packed and was a bit overwhelming but it lifted the whole book up for me personally. This scene was very fast paced. It follows Mare's team as they enter the prison with Nanny pretending to be Maven. Then they ambushed the guards and went in. They let all the prisoners out and the fight rages on. What I hate though is Cal's plan to release every silver in prison. I mean, not everyone will be against Maven right? What if someone's loyal to the throne and accepts imprisonment whole-heartedly? It made me suspicious about him and made me hate him more. What I loved is that the powers of Mare's team is completely utilized. I felt that they were really a team and they worked together. Although, I felt that Aveyard was too fast into the scene. I needed a couple of pauses to understand the whole thing happening.
One thing that surprised me is Queen Elara's death. I mean, I believed that Elara was the whole reason why Maven is all evil and that. So, killing Elara would leave the whole series villain-less. I was surprised at how easily her death happened, I don't know. I just think that something's not right when a super wicked villain easily gets killed. I don't have much of an opinion with her death, I don't quite know if either I'm happy because she's dead or annoyed that it would mean that Maven is really evil. I was all for him during the first book.
Another that surprised me is SHADE'S FREAKING DEATH. All caps for the feels. Why must Shade be dead? I don't really get that. I mean he and Farley was one of the main reason I loved the book even more. Why kill him? I was lost at words. I needed to pause a little bit to let his death sink in. He was honestly my favorite character. I am still weeping for him. WHY? Why? Shade's my favorite character in the series and he will forever be.
They survived the prison break, apparently. They head on to be back at the Tuck Island to empower the Scarlet Guard. Mare reports the death of Elara to the public and threatens the silvers while empowering the reds. Then they head off to Shade's funeral and I can't bear that scene. What I hated though was Mare. How can she think of herself at that time? She was all like jealous of Gisa's and Farley's relationship, like what the? Getting back to the funeral, it was unbearable. Pain was all over the pages. What I was surprised is Farley's possible pregnancy. It brought a spark of hope of being able to have a resemblance of Shade on the future books. I truly wish that if ever Farley is pregnant with Shade's son, is their son to have Shade's characteristics and possibly his abilities.
They head on to rescue those minor reds put in the front of the war front. They had all the planning needed and all.
On their way to the war front blew my mind. I really appreciated Aveyard's creativity and she was able to fully utilize the world and the characters to that scene. We see that Mare and her team had trouble on the way. Their jet went crazy. Soon they realized that it was being transformed into a cage by a magnetron. I really loved that part and appreciated it.
What I hated tho is how the book ended. Mare was captured without fighting and all. She simply sacrificed herself for others. It was not like Mare. It was not like her at all. It would've been okay if other characters were to do that but Mare? She's all full of herself! I felt that it was forced to kinda happen that way to give way for the sequel? I mean it was not like Mare at all. Another annoying thing was Jon being with Maven. It was unclear why, though.
Wrapping this up, I liked the book but hated some parts as well. It was an okay book with painful events and mind blowing revelations. The writing style, I had no much complaint. The pace was okay. The new characters were great. I hated Mare's redundancy and her being so full of herself. I hated some of the events partly because Mare was narrating it. Another factor on why I lowered my rating is because I had a lot of expectations with this book. I was waiting for that breath taking revelation I've experienced in Red Queen but I never got it.
Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard is a great sequel, overall. It had amazing new characters and mind blowing scenes. It was not better than the 1st book partially. In terms of great plot twist and breath-taking revelations, I liked the 1st book better. In terms of characters and their abilites, the 2nd book was amazing.
Reading with Luigi gives Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard a
4/5 Books
It was great and recommendable for readers who wants to have a sort of bridge to the Red Queen series.
Favorite Quotes:
"If I am a sword, I am a sword made of glass, and I feel myself beginning to shatter." page 250
"The thing with heat is, no matter how cold you are, no matter how much you needed warmth, it always, eventually, becomes too much." page 251
"We can't choose who we love. I wish, more than anything, that we could." page 255
"Anyone, anything, can betray anyone. Even your own heart." page 411
"No one is born evil, just like no one is born alone. They become that way, through choice and circumstance. The latter you cannot control, but the former..." page 411
"I know better than most that nothing in this world is fair." page 423
"No real father could ever be truly lost to the child he loves." page 424
"Metal is forged in flame, not the other way around." page 427
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And that is it for today's review! I hope you liked it and I will be back very soon with another post.
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