Review : Glass Sword, Victoria Aveyard

So, there it is. The sequel everyone in the bookish community’s been waiting for, if you ask me. Red Queen is back. Where Red Queen was fast-paced, Glass Sword will leave you breathless. As always, in a first book of a trilogy –wait, this is actually going to be a quartet of some kind- WHY?- was setting the mood, with new characters we got to know, and just making our minds churn everywhere…well, Glass Sword does all that, too, but with more intensity. Oh, so much more intensity.

I NEED A BREATHER…AND A MAP.

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Picking up the story right where we left off, Glass Sword takes us with Mare away from all the mess she left, and onto another mission: finding all the people like her, people with abilities, in order to face the crazy Silver Royalty. From the first pages, from the first word, you’re thrown into action, there’s no time to breathe. Left to remember where the story left off in the first book, to remember what happens –even if, hey, I clearly remember what happened, or most likely WHO happened at the ending of the first book. If you’re looking for some action-packed book, then Glass Sword will definitely do the trick for you. There was no time to breathe, no time to clearly understand what was happening, at times. And, I have to admit, it was confusing. One second they’re in battle, the other they are just, somewhere else…but where? I don’t know, I didn’t have a map, and sometimes I wish I did. It got confusing at times, and I had to go back and read again to see if I didn’t miss anything important. Know what I mean, when I say, I NEED a breather?! Moreover, I still need to know more about the history behind this Silver/Red division. In between the action, I wanted some more background I didn’t get, sadly.

REMEMBER: DON’T TRUST ANYONE – TRY AND REMEMBER THEIR NAMES FIRST

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Glass Sword is a race against time, a race against the evil of the Silver Royalty, a race against the whole world. It is breathtaking, at times, but it is highly entertaining. In the first installment, we met Mare, once again a Katniss-like badass heroine. In Glass Sword, she’s changed. She’s taking hold of her abilities, and she knows how to control them –well, most of the time. She’s strong, she’s one of a kind, and she’s the “Lightning Girl”. To be honest, this kind of felt a little bit too familiar, between the Mockingjay and the Lightning Girl, there’s just one step. Right now they are side by side, looking at each other almost like in a mirror. Mare becomes colder, harder, and she doesn’t trust ANYONE. Which is understandable, given what happened in the first book. However, I found it harder to relate to and harder to like what she was becoming in that book. Handling a whole rebellion in your hands surely is crazy, but sometimes Mare just, annoyed me. A lot. But she wasn’t the only character in this story. Actually, there were TONS of those. In her quest for newbloods, our Lightning girl meets many people, with many different abilities. I will admit it, it was sometimes hard to keep up with who’s who. But, damn, Victoria Aveyard has a knack for making up crazy abilities, I loved that. There was a bit of romance thrown in there. Some of it was clearly disturbing, some of it was completely unnecessary. When you’re trying to avoid people being killed everywhere, well…do you really have time for a LOVE TRIANGLE? Guess not. But yes, it’s almost there. Note the almost, and my smile. I love a good romance, but there, it’s definitely not needed.

OVERALL

Keeping up with the standards of the genre, the second installment gets darker, edgier, and messier by every page. Where you thought you’d be shocked, uncomfortable, or anything like that while reading Red Queen, you definitely will be while reading Glass Sword. Murder is just another move in a chess game that no one seems to win. Bloodshed, lives ruined, hearts breaking…if there’s a lot of action, Glass Sword leaves some places for us to be REALLY ANGRY, mad, upset, confused, and HEARTBROKEN, too. If I can begin to understand the hype for that title, it’s because maybe, it’s a rollercoaster. And you never know what’s awaiting for you at the end of the ride. Because Victoria Aveyard sure knows how to surprise you, and how to make you scream WHY. At the last pages. At the last WORDS. And, even if you were upset by some elements in that story, she sure makes you ask for the next book, with tears on your face and a deep need to throw the book out the window in frustration.

Final rating:  Three drops!

A BILLION thanks Tanaz @ Bookish Freaks for sending me an ARC copy of this book. You are AWESOME and perfect and thank you again!. 

Did you like Red Queen? How excited are you to read Glass Sword? Tell me EVERYTHING  in comments! 💬

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Victoria Aveyard, Glass Sword,  Published by Harper Teen, February 9th 2016.

 

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?