Mare's blood is red - the colour 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 the prince and friend who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.
Pursued by the Silver 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 crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from the prince and friend who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.
Pursued by the Silver 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?
It was so exciting to receive this ARC late last year, and I couldn't wait to get stuck into it because I enjoyed the first book so much. So I waited until 2015 ended before getting started on this book.
Mare Barrow might have escaped the clutches of the new Silver King and his power-hungry mother, but it doesn't mean she's entirely free. Rescued by what's left of the Scarlet Guard, they barely manage to get away alive and then she finds herself on an island that seems to offer freedom but is just another type of prison. Not even reuniting with her family and finding out the brother she thought was dead is actually just like her--a Red blood with Silver powers--is enough to keep her in the one spot.
Along with her closest allies, and the prince/friend who betrayed her, she heads off on the dangerous mission of tracking down all the other people with powers like hers in an attempt to round them up before the king kills them. Besides, they could come in handy against the crazy Maven.
But things rarely go as planned, and Mare finds out the hard way just how badly they can turn out...
Well, that was disappointing. Everything that I loved so much about Red Queen seemed to be missing from the second instalment.
It starts out well enough: action-packed, a few twists and turns, her reuniting with her family. But as a whole it just wasn't... exciting. There were too many moments where it felt like Mare kept recycling her thoughts, continually thinking about Maven even though he obviously didn't deserve a moment's thought. She doubted herself all the time. She doubted everyone around her. Which wouldn't have been a problem if it didn't dominate her every action and made her come across quite selfish.
I found it really hard to get swept away in her narrative, which is something I had no trouble with during the first book. Did I mention that I loved the first one? I did. I guess that's why I had such high hopes for this one. To be honest, at times this actually felt like it was part of a different world. I realise that everything was opening up to reveal more, but it wasn't enough. I found myself skimming forward too many times.
And I have to be honest, but I didn't like that ending. At all. O.o
Glass Sword is a well written addition to the futuristic, fantasy world of the Silvers and Reds. It's action-packed in places, sad in others, bleak all the way through, and offers a few unexpected things along the way. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me.
Mare Barrow might have escaped the clutches of the new Silver King and his power-hungry mother, but it doesn't mean she's entirely free. Rescued by what's left of the Scarlet Guard, they barely manage to get away alive and then she finds herself on an island that seems to offer freedom but is just another type of prison. Not even reuniting with her family and finding out the brother she thought was dead is actually just like her--a Red blood with Silver powers--is enough to keep her in the one spot.
Along with her closest allies, and the prince/friend who betrayed her, she heads off on the dangerous mission of tracking down all the other people with powers like hers in an attempt to round them up before the king kills them. Besides, they could come in handy against the crazy Maven.
But things rarely go as planned, and Mare finds out the hard way just how badly they can turn out...
Well, that was disappointing. Everything that I loved so much about Red Queen seemed to be missing from the second instalment.
It starts out well enough: action-packed, a few twists and turns, her reuniting with her family. But as a whole it just wasn't... exciting. There were too many moments where it felt like Mare kept recycling her thoughts, continually thinking about Maven even though he obviously didn't deserve a moment's thought. She doubted herself all the time. She doubted everyone around her. Which wouldn't have been a problem if it didn't dominate her every action and made her come across quite selfish.
I found it really hard to get swept away in her narrative, which is something I had no trouble with during the first book. Did I mention that I loved the first one? I did. I guess that's why I had such high hopes for this one. To be honest, at times this actually felt like it was part of a different world. I realise that everything was opening up to reveal more, but it wasn't enough. I found myself skimming forward too many times.
And I have to be honest, but I didn't like that ending. At all. O.o
Glass Sword is a well written addition to the futuristic, fantasy world of the Silvers and Reds. It's action-packed in places, sad in others, bleak all the way through, and offers a few unexpected things along the way. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me.
Glass Sword, February 2016, ISBN 781409159353, Orion
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