This review contains mild spoilers for Red Queen - please read with caution. You can read my review of Queen Song on Goodreads now!
It has been years since I read Red Queen, and I was somewhat hesitant to dive back into the series with so much time having passed, and the only major detail I could remember from the book was regarding Maven's little character arc that left Mare shocked. And to be completely honest, Maven was serving this entire book, he was funny and brandish despite being the villain, and provided an interesting perspective from Mare when it came to personal development. His iconic "No, I don't think so," line lives in my head rent free, and I have to hand it to him, it gagged everyone. I may not condone some of his actions, but I certainly can appreciate his flare for the dramatics.
I personally felt as though Mare was making herself seem a little too important throughout the book - yes, she is the lightening girl -- the Red Queen -- but she seemed to place herself above the common folk too often more my liking. Understanding that she is a seventeen-year-old girl who was thrust into an insane and unexpected circumstance, I can let it slide, since other characters tend to hold her higher than the masses. That being said, a lot of characters seemed to place an enormous amount of blame on Mare for things that were in no way her fault, or for events occurring that were inevitable the second Maven showed his true intentions.
The world-building was still a tad so-so for me, and I kept having to remind myself that this was a dystopia-fantasy world. At times it felt as though the world was medieval, and then you would be reminded that they have security cameras, guns, and jets. I wish it was more concise on the setting, but that may fall on me for not brushing up on the world before going back in. Cal was probably one of my favorite characters in this book - he was sassy, put people in their place when it was needed, and provided an internal conflict to Mare as she navigated a world in which the crown was now against her.
Shade's role in this book left me underwhelmed at times - his presence was endearing and provided hope for Mare, but I was not attached his development as the story unfolded. While he was not a major side character, his being was constantly on Mare's mind, so we received a lot of internal thoughts about his relationship with Mare and how he would aid in their cause. Kilorn had me stressed tenfold with any scene he was in, and I constantly had a feeling that he would not be the person we thought him to be.
The rest of the side characters were entertaining when they needed to be, and provided enough filler in between action scenes or emotional scenes that the story moved at a decent pace. It certainly picked up towards the end of the book, and definitely had me tuned in to see what would become of all these characters.
Glass Sword continues Mare's journey as she fights for a world without blood discrimination and to find reasoning behind the biggest betrayal by her closest friend. I have a feeling that I will return to this series in the future to see it to the end, but it may take another eight years for me to move on to the third installment.
You can add Glass Sword on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date with releases and publications.
No comments:
Post a Comment