This is the second book in a series, I reviewed the first one, Red Queen, HERE.
If you don't want anything spoiled for Red Queen, I would highly recommend not reading this review.
Props to this book series for sticking to the blood covered crown theme for the book covers instead of beheaded women.
Here's the amazon summary so you have time to think about it, "The electrifying second installment in the Red Queen series has all the drama, intrigue, and steamy romance that made it a #1 New York Times bestseller.
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 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?
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." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
Recap of book 1 ending, in the briefest way. Maven's mother orchestrated Cal to behead his Father on camera, paving the way for Maven to take the throne. Mare has escaped the madness of the Silver court with Cal, and retreated to the Scarlet Guard to hopefully find the other newbloods. There is hope that Cal's uncle is still alive, but that remains to be seen. It's important that in the first book, Cal's uncle has given the list of reds with unusual blood to Mare; they are most likely reds with powers, aka newbloods.
Book 2 begins with the Scarlet Guard escorting Cal and Mare to a safe haven of sorts, and I'm going to over summarize this for my sake. Mare's family is safe, Kilorn is safe, and through a series of mishaps, Mare has convinced Farley to go out looking for the newbloods despite other people in the Scarlet Guard NOT being on board with the plan. They bring Cal along, who the Scarlet Guard had locked away...and they also kind of locked Mare away too. By kind of, I mean at one point they were both trapped in a room of silent stone.
So there's that.
There's also crazy King Maven who can't really undo the world knowing that a red has powers (Mare) and has been scrambling like mad to do damage control. While also publicly grieving for his father that he helped murder. And attempting to run the country with the aid of his manipulating mother... yeah, I think I got everything on the Maven plate. Maven, because he was part of the Scarlet Guard as a ruse in book 1 and ultimately used their plans for his own gain, knows about the list given to Mare. Maven has also started hunting newbloods....but literally. If he gets there first, he usually leaves bodies in his wake as he thwarts Mare and her team. Sometimes Mare wins, sometimes Maven wins.
This has also opened a whole cast of new powers, but again, I'm not seeing any sort of original powers. I'm going to chalk that up to my rabid consumption of superhero comics, but it's still like, C'MON! Make someone do something that hasn't been done before! It's like a weird Marvel, DC Universe, and even random TV shows like Heroes set of powers. ...but again, I know this is probably just because I've been kind of hyper exposed to those stories/powers. ...so that's me. ANYWAYS.
Let's talk about Mare. So in book 1, I read her as a survivalist character. Literally, doing anything in her power to survive, then trying to protect her family, and then trying to protect other people. Mare definitely came first though. I could get behind that. In book 2, I just kind of really wanted Mare to get over herself. WHICH, is pretty much impossible when you have an exiled prince fighting with you for your cause, and the King dogging after you, leaving weird, creepy stalker messages on dead bodies. Complete sidenote: I find it wonderfully weird and kind of ironic that both brother's are flame manipulators. Hehehe....hehehe. I know they explained that the females powers are recessive, but like whatever. Mare is the 'first' red with powers, why couldn't one of the brothers be the first male with their mother's powers? I digress. Anyways. I take issue with how much Mare constantly puts on herself to always 'do the thing' (no spoilers) when she really DOES NOT FREAKING HAVE TO. She seems to have this weird complex of, "Well, the world knows me as the face of reds with powers. CLEARLY, I SHOULD LEAD THE PEOPLE" she says with no experience in leadership or really forming coherent plans that didn't only involve saving one person (book 1 sass). The Scarlet Guard definitely had more of a dramatic eye roll to her attitude....so then Mare left to put herself into a leadership position to save the newbloods...because she holds herself responsible for Maven's involvement with the Scarlet Guard in book 1 and that's the only reason he ever found out about the list Cal's uncle created or something... AND THEN. She's in this weird place where she's like, "I don't really love Cal, I just NEED to be around him. He's the only one who understands me! I also miss Maven! But was that really Maven, or just the mask Maven was putting on? Who is the boy beneath the mask? I loved the caring and vulnerable boy, but who is he now!?" and then she gets a case of the vapors. Mare, has for the most part (in case this rant wasn't enough of a hint), has really tried to go full throttle into useless prop of a narrator land. I will give her credit that she does constantly try to do her best, but she just doesn't really seem to learn from any of her mistakes.
Does anyone else find it weird how much technology exists in this world, but there is still such a rigid caste system? The more technology that keeps cropping up and being hinted at, the more I really question how the Silvers have managed to have such oppressive power for so long. Eh. I guess it makes for a most interesting story now.
With ALL of this being said, I'm going to read book 3. There's definitely enough interesting things going on as far as world building, political plot, even just action scenes that I can make it through another book.
Happy reading!
