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.
Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the
cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?
Rating: 5/5 stars
Genres: Young
Adult, Romance, Fantasy
Previous books in the
series:
My thoughts:
UNAVOIDABLE SPOILERS FROM RED QUEEN!
“Attend
to your own fate, Mare Barrow.”
“And
that is?”
“To
rise. And rise alone.”
As I sat wallowing in self-pity, speechless, angry at this
cruel world, I had a revelation -- Victoria Aveyard enjoys being an evil
mastermind. She enjoys making me laugh, fall in love with countless characters
at the same time and then drown into an endless puddle of my own tears. And she
does it with such glorious creativity that, even though my heart is breaking
into shards of glass, I cannot help but applaud her every time her writing mojo
blows away my mind. She's done it twice already. First, with Red Queen. And now, with a sequel worthy
of its predecessor -- Glass Sword.
Glass Sword is
unputdownable. If it weren't for Christmas chores and drooping eyes, I would've
read it back to back, because from the beginning you're caught in a whirlwind
of action, intrigue and betrayal and you cannot shut the damned book. The fast
pace sets the tone, but some profound, haunting psychological echoes reframe a
darker atmosphere.
This sequel brings the story of Red Queen to a whole other level, exploiting the divide between
Reds and Silvers in a realistic manner -- new allegiances are made, old enemies
gamble their power, queens and kings fall to their knees and some of them kneel
with bleeding hearts. The hunt for newbloods is on and Mare has to save as many
as she can while trying to patch up the deep scars Maven carved into her soul.
And this is where the main big difference between these
installments lays. Mare. The time spent with the Silvers molded her into
something entirely unique -- Red and Silver alike, not just her blood and
abilities, but her mentality as well. Mare, at her core, remains the heroine
we've been introduced to in the first book. She's strong. She's badass. She's
selfish around the edges. She's brave and she's cunning. But she's shackled by
guilt. She's haunted by memories. She's weaving webs of lies and she's loosing
herself into an abyss of heartache and, not surprisingly, fear. Who wouldn't
after such treacherous events? Not to mention her trust issues that, even if
they resemble paranoia sometimes, are good reasoned. 
“If I am a sword, I am a sword
made of glass, and I feel myself beginning to shatter.”
However, I adored her. I had a bit of a trouble supporting
her in the prequel thanks to her double faced demeanor, but now she had my
unwavering respect and admiration. I know some readers will feel conflicted
about her occasional stumble into merciless, ruthless, vindictive and
Silver-like behavior, but I felt it justified, although sad. And for the love
of gods, she tries so hard and so much in this book to keep everyone safe, to
concoct moves and countermoves, to get rid of her emotional instability, to
escape Maven's shadow and to change the world a little bit. To make a
difference. The little lightning girl is not so little anymore and I could not
help but love her, because even though she loses a lot of fights with inner and
outer demons, Mare always had the courage to battle for her beliefs.
“I see you as you could become,
no longer the lightning, but the storm. The storm that will swallow the world
entire.”
Cal is also a great difference. He reminded me of Celaena in
so many ways. Gone is the prince in his overwhelming intensity; a boy with
nightmares, a thirst for revenge and endless loneliness remains. I think he's
even more lost than Mare is, because his home, his people, his whole goddamn
country want him dead and he's running away from people he used to care deeply
for. That kind of messes with his head and it triggers subtle changes in his
personality and behavior, but still -- I.
Loved. Him. To. Bits. He's tough. Loyal. Kickass. And quite swoony -- a
scene with him and a child had me dying of FEELS.
Now on to the most interesting character of them all --
Maven. He was exactly like The Darkling in Siege
& Storm -- not there but for a few sparse pages, but always there. You
get it or I'm talking nonsense? His presence was almost palpable for he is
constant in our main characters' thoughts and whenever he does make an
appearance, he only instates his wicked, power-hungry, cruel ways, making it
even harder for the rest to escape his mental grasp. He's strong, cold and
calculated and a wonderfully nuanced complex villain -- I'm anxious and
enthusiastic at the same time for what it's to come.
“No heart can ever be truly
understood. Not even your own.”
I have to warn you beforehand -- the romance is certainly
not the focus. Actually, I could say that it barely survived the aftermath of
book 1. You can wave the fragile "love triangle" goodbye. With Maven
not being physically present for most of the story, that leaves us with Mare
and Cal and, um, well, to say that their relationship is complicated would be
the understatement of the year. Each of them got burned by the other and they
have walls in place to maintain distance. Arghh, and there's tension. And
wildness. And desire. Regrets upon regrets. They still use and hurt each other.
But, paradoxically, they protect one another despite their past. AND I JUST LOVED THAT. It's no secret I
shipped Mare and Cal to the moon and back, so I'll admit I devoured every scene
with these two in it, especially those where they just crumble without the
other nearby. *happy sigh*
“I must keep my eyes ahead, and
away from the fire of a fallen prince. I must freeze my heart to the one person
who insists on setting it ablaze.”
To Maven's fans -- don't worry, Mare still clings to him no
matter how much she tells herself not to. So you see, we have a confusing,
effed up mess, one deliciously agonizing.
Let’s get to what is also known as my new favorite secondary
characters. Shade and Kilorn. And even Farley. THEY WERE ASDFGHJKL. Shade
especially. I completely fell in love with Shade -- he was a great addition to
the cast. He's clever, easy going and just cute, not to mention that his love for
his sister was awww worthy.
The mild reminiscences of Shatter Me linger, but this time they are coupled with Breaking Dawn and The Young Elites deja-vus due to the expansion of the newbloods'
power palette. Nonetheless, there are some characters that have managed to
amaze me with their original abilities and I had an overall sense of badassery
every time their lot became the focus. I do have one slight regret though -- I
would have liked to know each one better, because there was a gold mine of
awesomeness for side stories.
Expect twists and turns. The jaw-dropping kind. The clever
ones. The shit-God-no-I-wanna-go-back kind and also the
yeah-you-are-going-down-bitches kind. These twists are part of what makes GS a
thrilling sequel -- no one is safe, no newblood, no Red and, for once, no
Silver. And I CRIED A LOT THANKS TO
THESE TWISTS.
“Love blinds.”
“I am a weapon made of flesh, a
sword covered in skin.”
Glass Sword was an
electrifying sequel (shhh, let my pun be). It was an emotional roller coaster,
one careening towards an explosive final, riveting, surprising, vivid and
glorious. It made me cry, smile in anticipation and crave more and more of this
enthralling universe. Glass Sword is
exactly what a sequel should be and I cannot wait to see what the dawn brings
for these amazing characters.
ENJOY! <3
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