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kingrosereads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Okay, I’m going to start by saying it took me 7 months to read Glass Sword after reading Red Queen. Both books took me about two weeks to get through. These books are pretty slow and this one in particular was a bit boring. I mean I liked the adventure around Norta and learning about the wider world, but that’s it. I think Maven could be a formidable villain with him killing children and having an obsession with Mare, but it’s not something seen in this book. I said for Red Queen that it reminded me of Hunger Games and Mare definitely reminds me a lot of Katniss. Mare has done a lot for her family from stealing to becoming a Silver princess to protect her family. Though it seems her mission to protect them is lost after being betrayed by Maven. It’s not that she doesn’t care about them, she just forgets they exist or their feelings. But here’s the thing: Mare is a seventeen year old child. Children, particularly teenagers, are naturally selfish and not in a malevolent way but just the way they are. Mare and Cal’s relationship also reminds me of Katniss and Peeta where they seek comfort in one another, both have an understanding of one another, and they end up sharing a bed but nothing more, though Cal isn’t anything like sweet baker boy, Peeta. (Kilorn is just as annoying and toxic as Gale though).
Mare is this reluctant leader, she didn’t choose this path and she sure as hell hates being in the position to lead. She struggles with the role and makes mistakes and struggles to control her anger and hatred which has led her to be ruthless and cold. These traits are important when going up against Maven, so the fear is her going too far and losing herself. Mare’s not a likeable person and that’s not a requirement to be a good story, in fact I started this series because I wanted to read a morally grey and slightly unlikeable main character, Aveyard just hasn’t quite gotten to a point with Mare that she’s a complex character who does questionable things for the greater good.
I think I’ll continue the series, because Aveyard does do a pretty good cliffhanger. I like gritty political fantasies that really get into the violence and the crimes an oppressive and tyrannical government commits. This is in no way a romance. There’s no romance at all. It’s not even a subplot and really there’s no love interest that is all that likeable right now.
I will say the slow pacing and kind of filler information about the world and recruitment of the new bloods is something I’d expect from a middle of the series book, not the second book in the series. The first is supposed to be the foundation and world building, the second book is meant to be exciting and filled with twists and turns. But that’s just my opinion. When you have a 4 book series I feel like books 1 and 3 can be just exciting enough but filled with information, but books 2 and 4 are where the really crazy and fun things should. Just saying.
I think this series could’ve been better if it contained multiple POVs to give more dimension to the other characters as we’re only viewing them from Mare’s POV and she’s currently absorbed with her actions. I’m not sure if I’m giving Aveyard more credit than what’s due if the confusing fighting scenes are meant to mimic actual confusion during battle which Mare as a first person POV would be processing it or when two significant people die and it’s a “what the fuck just happened” moment because it was mentioned out of the blue and quickly with little explanation, or if it’s genuinely bad writing? I guess I’ll find out in the next 2 (2.5?) books. I hated that one of these people died and got a little teary eyed (but not full on tears thanks to Mare’s numbness/indifferences to it) but I’m happy the other is dead.
I’d say this is probably a 3.25 or 3.5/5 stars.
Mare is this reluctant leader, she didn’t choose this path and she sure as hell hates being in the position to lead. She struggles with the role and makes mistakes and struggles to control her anger and hatred which has led her to be ruthless and cold. These traits are important when going up against Maven, so the fear is her going too far and losing herself. Mare’s not a likeable person and that’s not a requirement to be a good story, in fact I started this series because I wanted to read a morally grey and slightly unlikeable main character, Aveyard just hasn’t quite gotten to a point with Mare that she’s a complex character who does questionable things for the greater good.
I think I’ll continue the series, because Aveyard does do a pretty good cliffhanger. I like gritty political fantasies that really get into the violence and the crimes an oppressive and tyrannical government commits. This is in no way a romance. There’s no romance at all. It’s not even a subplot and really there’s no love interest that is all that likeable right now.
I will say the slow pacing and kind of filler information about the world and recruitment of the new bloods is something I’d expect from a middle of the series book, not the second book in the series. The first is supposed to be the foundation and world building, the second book is meant to be exciting and filled with twists and turns. But that’s just my opinion. When you have a 4 book series I feel like books 1 and 3 can be just exciting enough but filled with information, but books 2 and 4 are where the really crazy and fun things should. Just saying.
I think this series could’ve been better if it contained multiple POVs to give more dimension to the other characters as we’re only viewing them from Mare’s POV and she’s currently absorbed with her actions. I’m not sure if I’m giving Aveyard more credit than what’s due if the confusing fighting scenes are meant to mimic actual confusion during battle which Mare as a first person POV would be processing it or when two significant people die and it’s a “what the fuck just happened” moment because it was mentioned out of the blue and quickly with little explanation, or if it’s genuinely bad writing? I guess I’ll find out in the next 2 (2.5?) books. I hated that one of these people died and got a little teary eyed (but not full on tears thanks to Mare’s numbness/indifferences to it) but I’m happy the other is dead.
I’d say this is probably a 3.25 or 3.5/5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Blood, Murder, Slavery, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Torture, Confinement, Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
kimxchi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Torture, Violence, War, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder
Minor: Child death, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Confinement, and Blood
rosenau's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Police brutality, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and War
readwithde's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book was both exactly what I wanted and completely unexpected at the same time. It both holds up the tropes of the genre while subverting them in the best ways.
I honestly can't believe all that happened in this book; the writing is so immersive, but also very tight -- so much is conveyed in concise and simple lines. Every page packed a punch; every new chapter came with new conflict, new missions, new obstacles, but it never felt overdone or like too much was happening. The tension and pacing kept me obsessed and invested.
I was expecting someone to die, but my guess was wrong.I also expected Mare to end up in Maven's grasp again, but I was not prepared for how that happened. I thought there would be a bit more romance between Mare and Cal, but their relationship would have felt unnatural if it had been pushed anymore in the narrative; they are still both processing and dealing with a lot in a short amount of time.
I am so excited for the rest of this series; I am completely hooked!
I honestly can't believe all that happened in this book; the writing is so immersive, but also very tight -- so much is conveyed in concise and simple lines. Every page packed a punch; every new chapter came with new conflict, new missions, new obstacles, but it never felt overdone or like too much was happening. The tension and pacing kept me obsessed and invested.
I was expecting someone to die, but my guess was wrong.
I am so excited for the rest of this series; I am completely hooked!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Racism
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and War
trulydevious's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Body horror
Minor: Confinement, Gore, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Torture
madsmcw_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
After absolutely loving Red Queen, I was really exciting to see what happened next in the story. This book took me an embarrassingly long time to read but I finally finished it!
I didn't like this one as much of the first. It was quite a bit more slow placed than the first and we spent a loooooot of time just reading about Mare trying to wade through her thoughts. And the big action scenes felt very tactically placed and not always organic to the story.
There were parts of this that felt very typical YA dystopian/fantasy story plot points. And honestly this gave me big Breaking Dawn vibes with how they were going all over the place to hunt out people to help their cause.
While there were things I didn't like, I was still so capivated by the story. I love Cal and Mare, and I NEED to see more of them. The cliffhanger in this one was absolutely insane and I need to start the next one asap. I loved learning more about this world and trying to fit all of the pieces together, old and new.
I didn't like this one as much of the first. It was quite a bit more slow placed than the first and we spent a loooooot of time just reading about Mare trying to wade through her thoughts. And the big action scenes felt very tactically placed and not always organic to the story.
There were parts of this that felt very typical YA dystopian/fantasy story plot points. And honestly this gave me big Breaking Dawn vibes with how they were going all over the place to hunt out people to help their cause.
While there were things I didn't like, I was still so capivated by the story. I love Cal and Mare, and I NEED to see more of them. The cliffhanger in this one was absolutely insane and I need to start the next one asap. I loved learning more about this world and trying to fit all of the pieces together, old and new.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Torture, and Violence
taymariereads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
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