The #1 New York Times bestselling series!Perfect for fans of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series, Glass Sword is the high-stakes follow up to the #1 New York Times bestselling Red Queen.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 … 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?
Plus don’t miss Realm Breaker! Irresistibly action-packed and full of lethal surprises, this stunning fantasy series from Victoria Aveyard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Red Queen series, begins where hope is lost and asks: When the heroes have fallen, who will take up the sword?
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This series is now my favorite of all time. It’s so good and I read all three of them in like a month which usually takes me a month to read one book
Beautiful story.
loved it
Read the Red Queen and had to go out and pick this one up. Working on my next book currently, but next trip to the store and I will be picking up the next one. Wonderful books, makes you feel lost in the story. Couldn’t put it down.
honestly , i read the first book yet skipped the begging cause i read it online & i dont like reading online like in reality (got all the major parts though) . also i loved the first book so i’m sure i’ll love this book as well as the rest . my problem though is that i need to know how you can read them online here
I listened to this book on Libby, and I want to say first of all that the narrator for this audiobook is amazing. There were times where I literally thought it was different people reading the different characters, that’s how adept she was at changing her voice. I think a narrator like that can totally make the audio experience.
The book itself was a wild ride. I remember getting so frustrated with various characters and their decisions because I am so emotionally invested in this story and in this world. At one point, and this is bad as I was listening during some down time at work, I was actually crying.
The events of this volume ended in a culmination of explosive scenes and a cliffhanger of sorts that had me reeling. I was so eager to see what was going on, that I borrowed book three and began listening almost immediately.
If you enjoyed the first book in the series, or are a fan of Dystopian Fiction, I think you will love this book and series. Grab a copy and Rise, red as the dawn!
Is the enemy of my enemy always my friend?
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Rating:5/5
This book was awesome, it picks off exactly where the last book ended. Cal and Mare barely escaped the arena thanks to the Scarlet Guard. Now they are on the run from a cruel and psychotic king and a manipulative queen.
Glass Sword is action packed, I truly enjoyed the pacing of it. It game breathing room to prepare for what was to come.There’s heartbreak, loss and betrayal and some shocking moments.
It feels like a crossover between X-men and the Hunger Games. Mare has changed a lot from the first book. She’s not as naive, she’s fiercer and stronger but she’s also lost herself in the process, She’s darker too. She feels there’s no one to trust and the weight of it all is crushing her.
Cal is dealing with loss and betrayal he’s out of his element and doesn’t have a clue how to get afloat. He becomes a crutch of a sort for Mare.
There’s a super ultra slow burning romance, completely in the background of the story. This book is a harrowing journey, a solid sequel that takes our characters to dark places while trying to save as many people as the can.
The lines between red and silver get somewhat muddled, pushing Mare to make some brutal decisions.
The ending was somewhat predictable but still beautifully accomplished.
I can’t wait to start the next one.
Glass Sword is the followup to the bestseller Red Queen, the powerhouse YA fantasy series from Victoria Aveyard that I found myself feeling decidedly neutral towards. I continued with the series in the hopes that the issues I had with the series beginning would clear up– and they did! But presented other issues. Glass Sword continues my opinions that the Red Queen series is fun and interesting, but nothing special. This is the second book in a four book series, and it suffers heavily from middle of series syndrome.
Red Queen left us off in a tenuous place: Mare Barrow, a new kind of human with Red blood but Silver powers, has been outed to the world as a terrorist. The boy she thought would be her husband and who had become one of her closest friends has revealed that their relationship was all a lie, and now he pursues her and her friends across the continent, murdering their friends and allies. Mare, her brother, the disgraced prince Cal, and the rest of the freedom fighters known as the Red Guard are on their own. Glass Sword narrows the focus to Mare and her heritage, which I appreciated. With the entire Silver kingdom against them, Mare and her friends go in search of others like her: Reds in hiding, concealing Silver powers that would put them in the crosshairs of the kingdom. But while she attempts to build her tiny army, Maven is forever in pursuit, and Mare has to make hard decisions: how much is she willing to give up to win freedom and equality for the Silvers? And who can she bring herself to sacrifice?
Glass Sword moves from Red Queen’s broad, sweeping dystopian narrative into a much smaller view. Red Queen was all about adapting to the lavish society that the Silvers inhabit, the national problems, the war that looms in the background that steals Red children from their families, and vast differences in the treatment of Reds and Silvers. Glass Sword is all about Mare, her mental state, and her hunt to find her place in the world among these other Red/Silver humans like her. This narrowing of focus was welcomed. The worldbuilding in Red Queen was something I really enjoyed, but I had a lot of complaints about the character work. This tinier scope provided us a much better view into Mare’s mindset and the struggles she goes through, not only in the oppressive hierarchical structure of her life but in her mind and how the war has changed her. Mare definitely became a stronger character in this novel; she’s always been hard-edged and a little mean, but we see the plot having a concrete psychological effect on her. Her paranoia that people are going to betray her, her meanness turning slowly into calculated cruelty, pushing people away. I normally don’t like narratives that turn into “freedom fighters become mean bad guys,” but Glass Sword was careful not to toe that line. Mare is still a good guy, but she’s making hard choices, and those choices have rational people disagreeing with her.
The romance was also much better in the sense that there was less of it. I just am not feeling this romance, guys! Sorry, I’m going to be petty about it. Cal and Mare are less lovey-dovey in this story; their respective statuses as Red and Silvers have barricaded the way to a deeper relationship between them. Mare is still furiously fighting for the rights of Reds, and while Cal is on her side and understands her, he is anti-violence and hates hurting Silvers, even if they’re hurting Reds. I found his pacifistic tendencies annoying and misplaced. I hope Aveyard has a moment in the second half of the series that forces him to confront his privilege in this system and has him realize that standing by and letting superpowerful Silvers hurt innocent Reds is not pacifism; his silence and refusal to fight against oppression is violence.
Ultimately, I feel like the failure of this novel is that it a) didn’t need to be this long and b) might not have needed to be a full novel at all. This book felt like a side-quest. Building a little army by taking detours all around the continent and then never ultimately doing anything big with it didn’t need the 450 pages this took. We got some interesting characters in these new Red/Silver people with some insanely cool powers, but did they end up adding anything to the story? Not really. This book felt like a lot of filler, something that could’ve been covered in a few chapters of a longer novel. It felt unusual to have a series of four books instead of a trilogy, and I can’t help but think that this was originally going to be a trilogy and the marketability encouraged the publisher to make it four, resulting in this book with little plot substance. I liked Mare’s development, I still like the world, but the plot was just unbelievably thin.
Red Queen continues to be a series that interests and disappoints me in equal measure. Like I said in my review of Red Queen, I am invested in the plight of the Reds, and this book did make me more invested in Mare. I have no intentions to drop the series, but as we continue moving through the books I find myself losing a little hope that it’ll have a satisfying conclusion.
review blog
It’s a bit boring at first but it soon captures your attention with the action scenes that come in the middle and soon you’re turning the pages wondering what’s next! The first book of the series is better though.
Billed as a teen read this series captivated me as a historical/futuristic tale of a divided world. The heroine is a girl from the “underclass ” who accidentally gets thrust into saving her people from the ruling class. The prince loves her and pursues her but also wants to kill her to prevent her side from winning. I have to keep reading each installment to see how it ends!
Sequel to Red Queen, Glass Sword pick up right after the end of this one.
Mare and Cal have manage to escape execution and his brother Maven now King will stop at nothing to capture them. They also need to find the new bloods before Maven do.
I love the second installement in this serie and looking foward to start reading the third book in this quartet.
Good book and didn’t see (SPOILER!!!!): the real death of the brother
his book was so intense with Mare and the other rebels searching for others like her. Others who have other powers different and the same as hers.
The ending to Red Queen left you with promise of more greatness and Glass Sword delivered it with such force it will knock you off your feet
There is way more battle and action in this book, which I think really makes this book so great. With Cal still with Mare and the rebels, they set off to different parts of the lands in search of other reds with silver powers, but as they are looking so is Maven and his men. It seems like for every one they find, they also find one that Maven has gotten to first.
The “love triangle” between Mare and Cal, and Mare and Maven is still in full force. Though Mare and Cal have yet to really “label” them that, you can certainly tell how much they care for each other even when they are at each others throats. They really work well with each other, and though a lot of people are TeamMaven, I am a TeamCal fan all the way.
This books ending was super intense! I was not expecting it and this is where you really see how much Cal feels for Mare. So being the romance reading I am, I devoured this little bit with all my might lol.
Victoria Aveyard knows how to create and write a world full of characters that you will love and hate, and hate to love. When you read her books you are truly pulled into the story seeing and feeling everything as if you yourself were a character in it.
I know this series still gets many mixed reviews because it seems like other books, but I feel like it is becoming a story fully its own.
This review DOES contain SPOILERS.
SERIES REVIEW (Books 1 through 4.)
I have read books one through three of this series twice now, and I am still just as much on the fence now as I was the first time that I read them. I did enjoy them more the second time around, but I truly think that it is only because I knew what to expect. When this series first came out I tried to stay away from all of the hype. Difficult, I know, when you are a part of the YA book community. Most people either loved it or hated it, but I felt myself smack in the middle, both loving parts of it and hating the other parts. I can honestly say that I have never been so emotionally frustrated by a book series because of this. Part of me wants to love it wholeheartedly, but other parts just can’t. I am hopelessly, ridiculously thwarted from either loving or hating this book series.
The one thing that is lacking in most Young Adult books is the presence of family, but not in this series. While I thought that the main character’s family could have been more involved in the story, I was still happy that they were there throughout the series.
I truly loved the premise of the story. I know that there are many books that have similar premises, but I adored it nonetheless. I loved the subtle dystopian aspect of the story.
The relationships of the characters were well written for the most part. I loved the friction and snappy dialogue between Mare and Evangeline. I loved the friendships that Mare forged along the way. Friendship is sometimes overlooked in Young Adult books and they sometimes only focus on romance, but this series surprised me there.
I loved the character growth of several of the characters. Their internal struggles and how they dealt with them as the story progressed. At the same time, I also felt that there were some characters that could have been more developed.
The plot was well done and the world well developed. There is a lot of political intrigue in these books. It makes me think of a line from the book that comes up many times, “Anyone can betray anyone.” I am always a sucker for a “rich vs poor” trope, and this one was very believable.
One of the things that really brings the series down a notch for me is the romance. It was very bland. It certainly didn’t leave me breathless or on the edge of my seat. While I became invested in the characters while reading, the story just feels incomplete because of the undeveloped romance. And it makes me angry because there was so much potential to have a romance that burns or even for some quite convincing and warranted love triangles.
Another thing that bothered me more than a little was that I didn’t feel connected to the main characters at all. It is hard for me to love a story if I can’t feel what the main character feels. I was disconnected from both Mare and Cal throughout the books. I knew their intentions (mostly) but I did not feel them. Both characters were very one dimensional. They lacked depth. And Mare specifically lacked likability. I don’t even know how many times I wanted to smack her upside her head. She was very self-centered throughout much of the story. Most of all she just felt like words on a page, not someone that I was living through the story with. The disconnect with Mare is one of my most hated things about this series.
I did not care much for the ending of the series. Not one bit. It was vague, but not in a good way. I read the last words and thought, “Oh, okay. That’s the end then.” I didn’t cry or express any sort of emotion whatsoever. And to me, that really speaks volumes.
There were several things that I would have loved to see in this series. I would have loved to see Maven recovered from his mother’s torture and influence. Though I thought that Maven was one of the best characters in the story, I thought that his development could have been much deeper. He was a good character, but he could have been great. I would have liked to see things from Cal’s point of view. I wanted to know what he was feeling and how he was dealing with all the traumas that he experienced in the story. We see things from Mare’s eyes, and it really leaves things lacking. I think that it why I didn’t feel much connection to Cal’s character. Most of all I think that I just wanted Mare to be different. Or at least written in a way that made me feel something for her. I wanted to so many times, but it just didn’t happen.
I suppose that this review wouldn’t really help anyone interested in reading this series. I am quite in the middle of the spectrum when it comes to my feelings on it. But really, I am not in the middle at all and that is what is frustrating. One part of me in on the low spectrum and the other is on the high spectrum which just leaves me somewhere in the middle. -sigh- If I could impose anything on anyone that may be reading this it would be that I definitely think this series is worth reading. For bad or for worse.
THIS WHOLE series is so look good!!! I couldn’t stop reading it!
Absolutely one of my top ten favorites. It really sticks in your mind and won’t let go.
Some parts dragged, but even then I was so engrossed with the story. And that cliff! I’ll be reading the next book in the series in the near future.
Quotes:
“No heart can ever be truly understood. Not even your own.”
“I am a weapon made of flesh, a sword covered in skin.”
“While they stand with me, there’s no one beside me. Even with an army at my back, I am still alone.”
Review:
This book had me on the edge of my seat for literally every single page!! I’m not even kidding. It was so much more than I expected from a sequel. I tend to have a lot of problems with book two in a series. It seems they’re simply there as a filler book and serve no purpose. That definitely wasn’t the case for Glass Sword. This book involved a LOT. We had so many character developments and changes to the overall movement from the Scarlet Guard.
It’s really hard to talk about a sequel without spoiling things that happened in book one. I will say it was action packed. We also got to meet a ton of new characters. One of my favorite newbies was someone named Nanny. I won’t give anything about her away, but let’s just say she’s a great addition. While we met some new faces, we also got to keep some of the older ones. Red Queen really did a number on those who survived though. I just wanted to reach into the book and bear hug every single one of them.
May I just add, the villains in this book….BLEW ME AWAY. They were awesome. I could feel the hatred rolling off of the characters. Trust me, I was feeling their anger as well. It was so easy to immerse yourself in this story and go through all the emotions the characters were. Overall, I adore this series. I cannot wait to read the next book and see what happens next. After the ending to this one…..I’m not sure if I’m ready for it….EEK!
Glass Sword, by Victoria Aveyard, is a compelling sequel to the first but leaves this reader wanting more in both positive and negative ways.
This book picks up exactly where the Red Queen ended. Cal and Mare survived the Bowl of Bones execution much to Maven’s dismay. Saved by the rebels, Cal (grudgingly) and Mare (fervently) join the rebel cause. Unable to trust anyone, let alone each other, Cal and Mare cling together to maneuver through the politics of a rebel stronghold, both not fitting in. He is a silver and who they wanted to defeat; she is the Lightning Girl, a mutation of a red and dangerously more powerful than
them all. As they set out to recruit and save other New Bloods like Mare, Maven is hunting down their recruits and murdering them, demanding her to return to him. The problem is, Maven the monster begins to rub off on Mare and she grapples to not lose herself in loneliness and a sickening addictive desire for revenge.
Sorry to say, but the whole premise of her becoming just like the evil Maven was too much for me, as I already viewed her as a monster before. She had wanted and had taken everything from Cal in book 1, so much so his betraying her then was only a slight sting. In this book, she betrays him to new levels speaking of him as a weapon, not a person, supposedly to save his life. You can tell from Aveyard’s subtly about Cal that he loves her, despite everything, and yet there is only room for hatred in her heart for Silvers, not seeing them as human. She also sickeningly loves the idea of the fake Maven which seems misplaced as she always appeared attracted and in love with Cal deep down. Everything Cal does for her should warm her heart to him and not some fantasy of someone she never actually seemed to be in love with prior. It’s like she suddenly fell in love with him when he became the monster; it leaves me in disbelief. I feel like she gets what she deserves in this book. I have no sympathy for her yet. Cal, on the other hand, I feel so bad for, as well as Kilhorn, her family, and all the New Bloods she seems to use for her own benefit. If Aveyard’s goal was to create a monster, she did so most effectively.
The plot was not as exciting as the first. Again, romance is stilted and not by plot or characters’ decisions, but simply a cut-to move by the author. Not sure why. I usually only see this in YA romance when it gets too risque for the readership and this is far from that. I wanted more. The plot dragged in places giving us a realistic timeline when jumps in time would be preferable. It’s a lot of the same thing.
Onto the positives. The development of characters, even minor ones, was outstanding. Even though I dislike Mare, she is well rounded. I’m in love with Cal now, absolutely hate Maven–the author is playing me into her hand through her characters, making me need more. The emotion of this novel is staggering. So much sadness, hopelessness, and yet there are characters who uplift you (can’t spoil that by saying who) and make you smile through the hard parts. I was fully vested in their fates. Again, the world building of cities and rebel camps make the reader feel a part of the experience. The exciting parts and the eventual progression of the plot are well told and page-turning. It leaves you satisfied and yet unsatisfied by wanting more. Aveyard has a great knack for starting the next book at the end of the former one, so you long to continue the scene. I’m honestly more addicted than I am annoyed by Mare.
I’m foreseeing that I’ll love this series in the end but that a couple of the books perhaps could be condensed down together to make a trilogy instead. I also have the feeling that Mare will redeem herself in my eyes. She has started the journey, but I’m going to have to see a lot of her suffering before I’m on her side. Only reading the next book will tell me.
Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard I listened to on Audiobook narrated by Amanda Dolan. I enjoyed the story and the narrator. They pulled me in to the story and I didn’t want it to end. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.