Glass Sword (Red Queen #2)

*SPOILERS*

Okay. So:

Red Queen was good ! I really liked the whole idea of the divide between silver and red bloods and finished the book rather quickly, to be brief.

Now, I was so excited for Glass Sword. Like, I got it the day it was released. So I really gave it a chance, I did. But boy, by page 40, I could not stand this book. Not just the book, but MARE.

Let me break this down into what made this book a disappointing disaster for me.

1) MARE

I’m going to call her nightMare because that’s exactly what she was throughout the entire book. What on Earth! I’ve never disliked a main character so much.

It started out by her calling herself the ‘lighting girl’ literally 20 times within the first two chapters. Yes, okay, we get it. You’re the Lightning girl, woopdy doo. Not only was that incredibly annoying, but her ENTIRE inner dialogue was a pity party that NO ONE wanted to be invited to. On every single page she had to remind everyone of how “broken” and “alone” she was and boo hoo. ‘Oh look at me I’m the Lightning girl and my heart is ice and my soul is black and I’m so alone I can’t smile or laugh because that girl is dead and I must become this and that and I must harden my already hard heart and push people away and I can’t trust anyone because ANYONE CAN BETRAY ANYONE’ (yes, we KNOW) and blah blah blah BLAH.
Literally all she did was whine!! I’m going to add some direct quotes from the book at the end but I’m just paraphrasing what her inner thoughts were like. We had to be told what nightMare was feeling after every single little thing instead of being SHOWN. Show, not tell. Hello?? NightMare was also incredibly disrespectful, heartless, and distant.
She didn’t give two craps about her family and belittled Kilorn FOR NO REASON. Okay, so with her family, she left them at that camp place. The Tuck? I don’t even remember and I literally just finished the book an hour ago. Anyways, then she gives NO THOUGHT to them AT ALL after that. In Red Queen she visibly cared about them! Even sneaking off with Cal to get to see them and now it’s like she did a 180 360 2 million turn around and couldn’t care less. ??!!!

I cannot understand her reasoning for using Kilorn as a punching bag and literally treating him like dirt. No, garbage. She called him useless to his face and belittled him constantly. When Kiliorn told her how he felt about her romantically (that scene kind of came out of nowhere and was messy in general btw) she didn’t care at all! Instead of being KIND to him about it, she was basically like, “Oh no, never wanted this to happen. Too bad for you Kilorn. I’m going to draw on my inner Mareena now because I don’t know how to deal with this on my own.” Ugh. NightMare did not deserve a friend like Kilorn who constantly forgave her for her disgusting attitude towards him. She honestly treated him so badly it was horrid to read. If that’s how she treats her friends, it’s no wonder that she has none.

Another thing: nightMare acted as if she were the center of the world/universe/Galaxy. News flash: YOU ARE NOT. In addition to calling herself the lighting girl (UGH) every 2 sentences, she also reminds the readers that she’s the most important, her ability the best and deadliest. Which, by the way, was not true. She was no better than Cal’s Fire or any of the other newbloods. In any way, shape, or form. NightMare needed to humble herself and sit down. She acted as if everyone else paled in comparison to her. And since Victoria Aveyard didn’t bother to give any of the other characters the time of day (getting to that soon), they really did pale in comparison to that whiny little girl.

NightMare also complained about being alone. How completely isolated she was and blah blah blah. But she made herself that way! She didn’t want to get close to anyone and was rude to them all, acting like a cold high and mighty leader. She kept saying that everyone was afraid of her, or, of the “lightning girl” (UGHHH) but why?? She never did anything to them to warrant their fear and so the whole thing was unrealistic. It was just an excuse for Victoria to not have to write any civil interactions between nightMare and any other character. I don’t really mind, all of nightMare’s interactions were painful anyways.

I can’t really say enough about how annoying nightMare was. She was the worst. Her inner dialogue didn’t make me feel bad for her in the slightest. Because of her terrible character (such a contrast to who she was in Red Queen by the way!) I didn’t care what happened to her. I’ve never cared less for a main character. Maven inwardly tortured nightMare? Oh well.
NightMare is sad and lonely? Oh well.
NightMare fell off a cliff? Oh well.
Don’t. Care. She was the main thing that ruined this book for me.

2) The characters

Characters are supposed to come alive. Authors are supposed to breathe life into them, to make them leap off the page and into our hearts. Did Ms. (Mrs?) Aveyard do that? NOPE.
I knew something was missing, even from Red Queen and now I know it was the characters. It wasn’t as noticeable in RQ but oh, was it noticeable here. They had no quirks. What kind of food do they like/dislike? What makes them tick? They had no goals that didn’t revolve around nightMare and her little quest. All Aveyard did was give the characters one word personality characteristics:

Farley- bold. (Speaking of Farley, wow did she turn translucent in this book. I can’t believe Aveyard took such a strong, fierce leader and turned her into essentially, a nobody. :/ NightMare over shadowed her with her awful attention-seeking self. Yuck.)
Kilorn-kind.
Cal- humble.
Cameron- fierce.
Shade- funny.
LIKE?
Honestly because of their lack of everything, I sadly didn’t really care about anyone. When Shade died it was upsetting but nightMare didn’t care so neither did I. The family didn’t seem to care so neither did I. The author skipped over every character just to get to nightMare who was the worst of them all. It was awful how little attention all the other characters got. And the newbloods ? LOL. Who are they? I don’t know. What are their goals besides being used my nightMare? I don’t know. All we know are their abilities, and I forgot their names as soon as they were mentioned. It was sad. It IS sad.

3) The Villain- Maven.

When you have a villain in a book, you want the readers to hate them. You want them to gasp and curl their fist, shout “how dare you!” In my
opinion at least. Maven was the softest villain I’ve ever read. We were all TOLD about him and what he was doing, like once in a while the author remembered to mention him. Maven was completely behind the scenes which stinks because he’s the reason nightMare is so broken and cold and alone and BOO HOO. The little notes he wrote were silly and childish. Even at the end when he captured nightMare (which I was not upset about by the way. Like I said, I don’t care what happens to nightMare. I didn’t care that she was humiliated in front of all the Silvers. Oh well, too bad for her. I’m glad Aveyard didn’t do two pages of inner dialogue on what nightMare was feeling at the time and how alone and sad she was. Thanks!) I still didn’t hate him. It was kind of like, “Oh, there you are Maven. Cool. Sorry about your mom by the way.” (Side note, Queen Elara’s death was not even written out. Are you kidding me? She gets whisked into the dust and fog and comes out electrocuted and burned and fried up. Aveyard writes painfully specific details about surroundings and places but not important scenes like the death of villain #2.) -__- Anyways, the villain wasn’t a villain and that also weakened the book a whole lot.

4) Repetitiveness/Boring

We were literally told nightMare was the Lightning girl 4000000000 times, and told how sad and alone she was. This annoyed me to no end. Seriously, no end. Aveyard spent so much time focusing on nightMare’s inner pity party that all the action scenes fell flat because after every little thing, we had to know how nightMare felt about it. Who. Cares. There was too much detail to the point where I skipped over half the descriptions. Yawn.

5) The romance

I understand why nightMare wants to keep Cal at a distance, after all that betrayal by Maven and whatever. But then she of course kisses him and sleeps in the same bed with him and so on, and then pushes him away for no reason like a spoiled brat. Just like Kilorn, nightMare treated Cal like crap. She even belittled him as well, literally saying “…he’s not the sharpest sword in the armory.” EXCUSE YOU. Who are you to talk?? No one.The fact that Cal overlooked her vile behavior and crawled back was also unrealistic. NightMare was so awful ( I can’t stress that enough you guys) that it truly was unrealistic that anyone could tolerate her and would continue to socialize with her. Kiliorn and Cal did not deserve the treatment they received from nightMare, and she didn’t deserve them, period. The romance was choppy mostly because nightMare treated Cal like a toy and only wanted him when it benefited her. Ugh. And I LIKE Cal. He is one of the only characters I like. NightMare doesn’t deserve him at all. Mareena did, but nightMare does not.

Now, those are the main 5 things that just made me want to throw my kindle while reading this book. Of course nightMare tops it all, she was 95% of why this was so frustrating to read. Seriously she was the worst. Anyways, here are some examples and my reactions to them.

*NightMare repeatedly referring to herself as the “Lightning girl”. Also thinking she is the best thing since sliced bread.

Example 1) “I am the little lightning girl—living electricity, a lighting bolt in human form….I am valuable, I am powerful…”

Me: Okay, yeah sure.

Example 2) “Kilorn is looking to someone else now… he’s asking the lightning girl.”

Me: Uh huh. Yup.”

Example 3) “….like every wire and circuit since I became the lightning girl…”

Me: Oookay.

Example 4) “”The lighting girl” echoes from them…”

Me: Lol okay I get it.

Example 5) “Afraid of the lightning girl…”

Me: That’s enough.

Example 6) “…but I am the lightning girl….”

Me: OKAY—

Example 7) “….I was the lightning girl…”

Me: I GET IT OKAY.

Those are 7 of MANY you guys. MANY. But I won’t torture you anymore.

Now, some examples of nightMare’s inner never-ending pity party.

Example 1) “…and yet, I’ve never wanted to cry more. For them, I hold back. I curl inward and bleed inside, alone, so no one can see…”

Me: Sorry? Why are you THIS upset again? Did you kill your own father under the power of your mother? No? Okay then lol.

Example 2) “…sets in, joining the cold still deep in my bones. Normally I would shiver—but I am getting used to his feeling. I suppose I should get used to being alone too…”

Me: And why? Oh yeah, because you push everyone away please be quiet now.

(you know what you guys, she had so many pity-party poor me boo hoo incredibly annoying moments that I just can’t. Let’s just say I was in a fetal position halfway through.)

This review has gone on along enough, and though I have so much more to say about the utter annoyance, frustration, and disappointment this book caused, I think I’ve made my point. I won’t be reading book 3 or 4 because I doubt there can be a comeback after this. It’s just a shame to see a series with good potential go to the pits. :/

P.S: But Cameron/ Thank goodness for Cameron. Thank you for telling nightMare OFF. Too bad your character faded away shortly afterwards.

The Red Queen which is the first book in this series is fantastic. I would describe it as a Hunger Games meets Harry Potter story. I was hooked immediately and tore through the first book but unfortunately thats where this series peaked. Book two was meh and books three and four were terrible. First, they should have been combined and this should have been a trilogy. Second, they just seemed to drone on and on with so many unnessary scenes and story lines. Finally and most frustratingly is that after reading these books its appearant Miss Aveyard has never been in love and has quite possibly only experienced terrible relationships. She excelled in describing the disfunctional relationships between the characters but all the emotional moments just fell flat. All the romantic relationships within the book were luke warm at best and unfortunately you are forced to read all four books to figure that out. I had such high hopes for this series after reading Red Queen and was thoroughly disappointed. If you dont mind ending in a cliff hanger Id say Red Queen is an enjoyable beach read, but save your money on the next theee books. You wont get the satisfied ending you expect after spending $45 and countless hours reading.

My commentary on the second installment of Red Queen trilogy may be similar to some of the other negative reviews here, however I did not allow the book’s shortcomings to prevent me from enjoying the novel as a whole.

The plot of the trilogy in itself is just really well done. I like the idea of the separation of class and stature by blood type, and the thrown in element of superpowers. All of it wrapped up in a somewhat dystopian future. Though this book is a bit slower paced than the first novel and maybe a bit too descriptive and boring at times, I still enjoyed the book.

I, like many others, thought Red Queen was a much better book than this one. In that book, the story flowed much better, it was faster paced, characters were better developed, and the main heroine (or non-heroine as some might say) Mare Barrow was far more likable. I haven’t given up hope on Mare just yet, but I agree with others who say that throughout this second book, Mare totally transforms into this whiny, selfish, and somewhat cocky leader who doesn’t really deserve to be followed by anyone. We are used to reading novels with a lead character who is kind, who is caring, who doesn’t spend the entire book wallowing in self misery and putting others down. Mare Barrow’s inner voice spends 80% of it’s time pitying her, and the other 20% talking about how amazing she is as “the lightening girl” and how horrible her so called friends are, Cal and Kilorn. Her treatment of them at times just makes no sense, and her behavior throughout the book makes the twist ending seem rather unsatisfying. It just doesn’t add up with how she has felt the rest of the book. Her choices in the beginning and middle do not match her choices at the end, although I suppose a person is allowed to change their mind. I just wish that Aveyard had chosen to keep the Mare we knew intact. I understand she has gone through horrors in the first book that would reasonably change anyone, but I just didn’t see why she had to turn Mare into an unlikable person. I hope with the choice she makes at the end of the book we grow to love her again in the third installment.

Though this books had its faults; pacing, character likability, dragging sections, unbelievable plot lines, I did enjoy it and will read the third book when it comes out.

Now he is king. Now he will fool and control our whole world.

This book went all kinds of wrong for me and Im gutted because I absolutely loved Red Queen.

The storyline itself was interesting, find the newbloods while being on the run from the crown.

The difference in Mare grated me. She was broken and betrayed yes, her trust issues are somewhat understandable but she droned on, and on, and on! It was insufferable. I didnt like how on one page shed complain about never being Mare Barrow again, never feeling whole or being able to smile, but then a few pages later shes smiling and thankful that Kilorn makes her feel like Mare, then hes worthless and useless and all this other such nonsense.
Shes also meant to be uneducated, yet she can detail every corner, side alley and building in a place shes never been to. Her being able to call lightening is honestly more believable. Her knowledge for someone uneducated was too far fetched.
She became worse than those she was trying to oppose.

The town scenes were too detailed, I personally didnt need paragraphs of detail of a town I dont even remember the name of. I would have liked details on the prison break scene, it ended too abruptly. I was expecting a showdown not a next thing I remember’ moment where she was whisked away to safety with two bodies at her feet. There was a huge build up for this moment and it ended up being nothing at all.

It also lacked in character descriptions for all the newcomers. I can’t recall what most of them look like or what name belongs to what ability. It was too much all at once, and not enough to stick with me at the same time.

Im at the point where I dont want any of them in power, none of them have the right ideals at all. Julien is the only person who could run the place fairly, but thatd mean keeping a Silver in power. It was awfully disappointing. Im not sure if I want to continue this series at all.

I loved the first book, but the first half of this book was just so tedious. Constantly repeating Mare’s feelings over and over again. I get that she’s going through some guilt , some personal love interest feelings with the three men in be life, but I don’t need to keep being told in every paragraph.

That being said, I gave it four stars as I struggled past the 50% Mark on my kindle it started to get Interesting, we met Jon and suddenly the story had a plot line, some direction and action again. I read the last 50% in one sitting whereas the first half took me two weeks as I just didn’t keep my interest.

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