Published in 2016, Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard is a cleverly blend young adult fantasy fiction. Glass Sword is the second book in the Red Queen series.
Glass Sword, one of the most awaited releases of 2016, recites the battles faced by a “Red” teenage girl possessing “silver” abilities. It starts off right from where Victoria left her readers stranded in Red Queen.
Mare Barrow, the lightning girl as they call her, is being hunted down by Maven and his mother, Queen Elara. “He doesn’t know how to be anything else, alongside red, hunted by his own, betrayed by his blood” – Cal has joined the cause, but will he stay? Or will he betray just like his brother Maven? Along with Farley, Shade, and Kilorn, Mare and Cal set out in the hope of recruiting new blood from Julian’s list. Was the list a fake? A trap spread out by the silvers? Will Maven destroy the secret even before it could unravel? Are there more like Mare?
“Strange, my enemies know me best, my family doesn’t know me at all”. Will Mare survive the treachery and Rise as Red as dawn?
Victoria Aveyard is an American novelist, popularly known for her Red Queen series, with Glass Sword being second in line. This Massachusetts born twenty-eight year old developed her interest in creating stories right from when she could write. In 2015 she was awarded the Goodreads Choice Awards Best debut novel.
Title: Glass Sword
Goodreads rating: 3.9/5
My Verdict:
From “Rise as red as dawn” to “To rise and rise alone”, Victoria Aveyard has been quite successful in evolving her characters, the fresher’s and the old ones to a completely new level. Right from chapter one, it’s been a roller-coaster of “new blood” hunting, plotting, and even betrayals. The storyline revolves around Mare’s newfound identity and the recent discovery of these so-called new blood, people with red bloodline but silver abilities. Glass Sword is a sequel to Red Queen, Victoria’s debut to a fantasy fiction series, mainly focusing to notch more finite outlines for the main characters. Through her master plotting and writing, Victoria could successfully ramp me up for the sequel. Even though most of the new characters were introduced in haste, making it hard to remember, I could still connect.
The title struck a bit out of place and odd until Mare personifies it to herself. “I’m a sword made of glass and I feel myself beginning to shatter” – that’s just my take on the title. The writing, again, needs to be commended. Boredom is absolutely lulled with words, staging the whole plot in my mind. I would certainly give Glass Sword a 4.5/5 for its live characters, the confusion, and not to forget the ending. All this made me inquisitive to get started with King’s Cage, the next in glass sword series.