Kneel Or Bleed

I recently finished reading Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard. This is book #2 in the Red Queen quartet.

~POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT~

  Rating: 3.75/5 stars

"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?

The electrifying next installment in the Red Queen series escalates the struggle between the growing rebel army and the blood-segregated world they’ve always known—and pits Mare against the darkness that has grown in her soul."

I swear I have no idea how I managed to finish Glass Sword. I'm not saying this because I found the plot slow like I read on many reviews, or because it suffered from second-book-syndrome, but because I wanted to physically hurt the heroine with such a seething passion. It's like Mare's face was calling for my fist.

Mare is a horrible, horrible person.

I gave up every effort to understand her and instead I started imagining which death is more appropriate for her. She kept acting like a martyr and God's greatest creation and gift to all those unfortunate souls who were not powerful and amazing like her. Hey your Superiorness, I have news for you! Power doesn't come from the random ability to manipulate the elements around you, power can be found in sharp minds and kind hearts. Your lack of brain and heart makes you a weak and pathetic brat that only cares about herself and the other newbloods and ignores everyone else.

There was actually a point where she wondered how Kilorn managed to survive since he was no one, just a simple fisher boy! I am not a fan of Kilorn (I found him annoying most of the times but he surprisingly grew on me towards the end) but I wanted to cut my arm and throw it at her! Always thinking her decisions are the best, always ignoring the voice of reason, always so self-righteous and self-involved, eager to manipulate and control, to sacrifice others for her own purposes. The way she kept judging and blaming Cal made my blood boil. She accused him of fearing to act when he wanted to show mercy, a concept unknown to her, she judged him for not trying to make things better for the poor when she was the one who stole from the poor to satisfy her selfish needs, and I keep wondering how did she know that he wouldn't change things when he never had the chance. She turned his world upside down, she betrayed him and took everything from him, she was his downfall.

And I also hate Maven. I can't find any redeeming quality in him, I knew from the very start how rotten and corrupted he was. He's not a misguided soul that started off as good and lost his way. He craves power, he's full of jealousy and hatred. But I can't help but admit he's one of the reasons that made this book so gripping, while he had very few scenes, he was always present, making you shiver.

Cal. He's the victim of the worst betrayal, he has no one, he is no one, he clings to Mare and tries to salvage the humanity that's left in her but he rarely succeeds. He doesn't belong anywhere, he's broken and scarred but he's still noble, he endures the mistrust and the insults and he starts to realize the awfully wrong way the world works. He is smart and kind. I just want to hug him and tell him everything's going to be alright.

As for the plot, I loved the idea of recruiting newbloods, it reminded me of Professor X and Magneto in X-Men First Class (only they did not force anyone to join them) and Hunger Games at the same time, with the revolution brewing. There were times I wished Victoria Averyard didn't elaborate so much in some scenes, but in general I found Glass Sword action-packed and I was constantly afraid of what was about to happen next, I was fully invested to the story with its schemes and beautifully crafted fight scenes and plot-twists! And of course, the world-building was utterly intriguing, the blend of modern technology and dystopia and high fantasy is what won me over in the first place!

Victoria Averyard is without a doubt a very talented author, and the fact that she created so many flawed and three dimensional characters and inflicted so many emotions (albeit the most dominant ones were wrath and terror) is proof enough! The cliffhanger though shattered any resolve I had left, which means I need some anger management sessions.

Check out Glass Sword, and discover what happens when your choices are kneel or bleed.

Happy Reading :)