Scan barcode
laeticiaz's review against another edition
2.0
idk why it took the last 20% of the book for smth to actually happen but also mare’s starting to annoy me can she stop isolating herself ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE SO UNSTABLE
carlottag's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed Red Queen but this book was a mess. A huge, never ending mess.
I could not stand Mare's self-pity for 400 pages. It was always the same thing. She truly never learned from any of her mistakes and when she messed up it was always someone else's fault. It took me a long time to finish this book and whenever I picked it up, I read 5 pages and then had to put it down. I fell in a reading slump because of it.
All the new characters introduced only popped up when Mare needed someone to fight for her and then were forgotten for 50 pages. There were no compelling backstories, no personality. I only somewhat liked Cameron because she called Mare on her bullshit in front of everyone. And when she was introduced I was majorly pissed that Mare forced her to join them.
I like Cal, I think he is dorky and sensitive but he also has a grasp on the situation that the others don't. He knows when a plan is foolish because he is a general and a soldier. I fully believe he cares about his people and he is split between the justice the Reds deserve and the understanding that not all Silvers hate and enslave Reds. As much as I wanted him to stay with the group so that I had someone good to read about, I also wanted him to leave to show them how incompetent and inexperienced they all were. Cal deserves someone much better than Mare, who is still pining over a boy who never really existed!
The story was going nowhere for 380 pages. And even that ending wasn't good enough to justify those 300+ pages of absolutely NOTHING. Shade's death, while sad, was too fast and unnecessary to invoke any long lasting emotion. His death only served to increase Mare's self-pity. (Also, pretty sure Farley is pregnant.) Elara's death was a disappointment. It was offensive to her characterization in Red Queen and to the reader who was told that she was a nasty villain with no one to match her except her protege, Maven. It was lazy writing.
I'm not completely sure if I should read the next book just to see how this mess wraps up or if I should give up on it and wait for someone to tell me how it ends.
I could not stand Mare's self-pity for 400 pages. It was always the same thing. She truly never learned from any of her mistakes and when she messed up it was always someone else's fault. It took me a long time to finish this book and whenever I picked it up, I read 5 pages and then had to put it down. I fell in a reading slump because of it.
All the new characters introduced only popped up when Mare needed someone to fight for her and then were forgotten for 50 pages. There were no compelling backstories, no personality. I only somewhat liked Cameron because she called Mare on her bullshit in front of everyone. And when she was introduced I was majorly pissed that Mare forced her to join them.
I like Cal, I think he is dorky and sensitive but he also has a grasp on the situation that the others don't. He knows when a plan is foolish because he is a general and a soldier. I fully believe he cares about his people and he is split between the justice the Reds deserve and the understanding that not all Silvers hate and enslave Reds. As much as I wanted him to stay with the group so that I had someone good to read about, I also wanted him to leave to show them how incompetent and inexperienced they all were. Cal deserves someone much better than Mare, who is still pining over a boy who never really existed!
The story was going nowhere for 380 pages. And even that ending wasn't good enough to justify those 300+ pages of absolutely NOTHING. Shade's death, while sad, was too fast and unnecessary to invoke any long lasting emotion. His death only served to increase Mare's self-pity. (Also, pretty sure Farley is pregnant.) Elara's death was a disappointment. It was offensive to her characterization in Red Queen and to the reader who was told that she was a nasty villain with no one to match her except her protege, Maven. It was lazy writing.
I'm not completely sure if I should read the next book just to see how this mess wraps up or if I should give up on it and wait for someone to tell me how it ends.
dianachai's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
bookwadreads's review against another edition
1.0
Now that my friends have finished book one and two, I can leave this. I've never one starred a book before, but here I am.
This review covers both Red Queen and Glass Sword. If you loved this series, that’s great! I wish I could say the same. I hated this series, and won’t be continuing after Glass Sword. I’m returning my box set because I know I am not going to read them. Kind of sad about that because I really loved the covers, but oh well.
At first glance, the summary of Red Queen gave me Hunger Games vibe. It’s set in a world where Reds are considered lesser to SIlvers, and while so far the only similar thing is it’s dystopian style setting, I haven’t been able to get that out of my mind either.
I’m going to preface this with a few things.
- Dystopian Novels are not my favorite, but I’ll read them if they’re well written. I can totally lose myself in a new world. That did not happen here.
- I saw a spoiler on one of the books that led to me knowing at least one tiny thing that would happen. I think it probably tainted the experience a bit, but to be honest, I don’t think I would have enjoyed this anyway.
I really tried to get into this series, but I don’t understand the hype for it.
Let’s start with Red Queen.
I’ve started writing my thoughts in a journal as I read. I like to tab favorite quotes, scenes, and anything that involves the romance between two characters I like. I had quite a few tabs for the first book because I love Cal. Out of the two books I read, I love Cal and him alone. I’m not sure if that would have changed in the second half of this series.
I didn’t like this book until the final twist. Reading hundreds of pages only to enjoy the final 70 pages was disappointing, but I hoped the sequel would hold my attention better.
Things I enjoyed:
- Cal, obviously. Mare dancing with Cal. Cal taking Mare home to see her family, which was thanks to Maven. (I am a very simple fangirl. I love Cal, but I feel that might have changed later in the series.)
- I really liked Julian.
- I loved Maven and Mare’s friendship, but we all know how that turned out. It’s worth saying that I liked Maven much more than Mare though.
Things I Did Not Enjoy/Fell Flat
- Evangeline vs Mare. I really hate the mean girl trope. I have for years, but from what I skimmed later on in the series, this may have turned into more than just one girl being terrible.
- I might catch flack for this, but I couldn’t get into the world-building. It’s probably my fault because I couldn’t stop comparing it to other dystopians, and also because I don’t love dystopians.
The writing wasn’t bad, but I hated Mare’s perspective. Still, I liked her POV more in the first book versus the sequel. I’ll get to that.
Despite not liking it much, I still thought this was 3.5/5 because of a) the ending b) I really love Cal and c) I decided to read book two anyway.
Onto Glass Sword
Both of my friends are enjoying this book series. I tried to keep an open mind, but I’m a picky reader. I wanted to get through it for book club, but my notes show that was not going to happen.
- It felt like Mare had this ridiculously inflated sense of self-importance even though book two began literally two fucking minutes after the end of book one. So, I deeply dislike her perspective still.
- At page 114, I decided I hated the Colonel more than Mare but then he’s not around for long so that didn’t matter.
- I enjoyed Mare being sealed in with Cal because she thinks Kilorn has betrayed her. Always a fan of oh-no-we’re-locked-in-together.
- I was glad Kilorn didn’t truly betray her, but I don’t like love triangles. It was resolved nicely though, so I liked that.
- While locked in together, Mare and Cal agree that they need to stop making mistakes for each other. I’m sure that will work out. (It doesn’t.)
- During book one, I thought the moniker ‘the Lightning Girl’ was nice. I hope that it would turn into a cool thing like the Boy Who Lived. Sweet fucking hell, I felt like I was being beat over the head with this title. It drove me crazy. Multiple times a chapter in Glass Sword, this was said. (That could be an exaggeration, but it felt like every other page.) I made a joke to a friend that I would just start taking a shot every time it was said. Don’t do that.
- Page 137: “Anyone can betray anyone, and Cal is no exception.” No. Not Cal. Leave my boy alone.
- I would have liked to have seen more action from Cal than I got to see.
Okay, I never like to write bad opinions of books because authors are still people. I hope that Victoria Aveyard is deeply proud of her accomplishments with this series. It was not a series for me, but that does not mean it was terrible.
Mare felt like a spoiled brat and an unintelligent protagonist. Someone told me they were glad Mare didn’t feel like a ‘Mary-Sue’ kind of character, but I wasn’t able to relate to Mare. Everything is about how Mare is special, how the rebellion can’t go on without her, and the narrative is centered on her to the point that I honestly have no idea who else was in this book.
We met a lot of characters. None of them were memorable. Throughout the book, it feels as though the same things are being repeated, but nothing ever happens. I was so bored the entire time, and at about half way, I started reading as quickly as possible. I wanted to know what happened, but I wanted it to be over as soon as possible.
I hate that I couldn’t get into this series and I plan on googling what happens to Cal because I did like him.
This review covers both Red Queen and Glass Sword. If you loved this series, that’s great! I wish I could say the same. I hated this series, and won’t be continuing after Glass Sword. I’m returning my box set because I know I am not going to read them. Kind of sad about that because I really loved the covers, but oh well.
At first glance, the summary of Red Queen gave me Hunger Games vibe. It’s set in a world where Reds are considered lesser to SIlvers, and while so far the only similar thing is it’s dystopian style setting, I haven’t been able to get that out of my mind either.
I’m going to preface this with a few things.
- Dystopian Novels are not my favorite, but I’ll read them if they’re well written. I can totally lose myself in a new world. That did not happen here.
- I saw a spoiler on one of the books that led to me knowing at least one tiny thing that would happen. I think it probably tainted the experience a bit, but to be honest, I don’t think I would have enjoyed this anyway.
I really tried to get into this series, but I don’t understand the hype for it.
Let’s start with Red Queen.
I’ve started writing my thoughts in a journal as I read. I like to tab favorite quotes, scenes, and anything that involves the romance between two characters I like. I had quite a few tabs for the first book because I love Cal. Out of the two books I read, I love Cal and him alone. I’m not sure if that would have changed in the second half of this series.
I didn’t like this book until the final twist. Reading hundreds of pages only to enjoy the final 70 pages was disappointing, but I hoped the sequel would hold my attention better.
Things I enjoyed:
- Cal, obviously. Mare dancing with Cal. Cal taking Mare home to see her family, which was thanks to Maven. (I am a very simple fangirl. I love Cal, but I feel that might have changed later in the series.)
- I really liked Julian.
- I loved Maven and Mare’s friendship, but we all know how that turned out. It’s worth saying that I liked Maven much more than Mare though.
Things I Did Not Enjoy/Fell Flat
- Evangeline vs Mare. I really hate the mean girl trope. I have for years, but from what I skimmed later on in the series, this may have turned into more than just one girl being terrible.
- I might catch flack for this, but I couldn’t get into the world-building. It’s probably my fault because I couldn’t stop comparing it to other dystopians, and also because I don’t love dystopians.
The writing wasn’t bad, but I hated Mare’s perspective. Still, I liked her POV more in the first book versus the sequel. I’ll get to that.
Despite not liking it much, I still thought this was 3.5/5 because of a) the ending b) I really love Cal and c) I decided to read book two anyway.
Onto Glass Sword
Both of my friends are enjoying this book series. I tried to keep an open mind, but I’m a picky reader. I wanted to get through it for book club, but my notes show that was not going to happen.
- It felt like Mare had this ridiculously inflated sense of self-importance even though book two began literally two fucking minutes after the end of book one. So, I deeply dislike her perspective still.
- At page 114, I decided I hated the Colonel more than Mare but then he’s not around for long so that didn’t matter.
- I enjoyed Mare being sealed in with Cal because she thinks Kilorn has betrayed her. Always a fan of oh-no-we’re-locked-in-together.
- I was glad Kilorn didn’t truly betray her, but I don’t like love triangles. It was resolved nicely though, so I liked that.
- While locked in together, Mare and Cal agree that they need to stop making mistakes for each other. I’m sure that will work out. (It doesn’t.)
- During book one, I thought the moniker ‘the Lightning Girl’ was nice. I hope that it would turn into a cool thing like the Boy Who Lived. Sweet fucking hell, I felt like I was being beat over the head with this title. It drove me crazy. Multiple times a chapter in Glass Sword, this was said. (That could be an exaggeration, but it felt like every other page.) I made a joke to a friend that I would just start taking a shot every time it was said. Don’t do that.
- Page 137: “Anyone can betray anyone, and Cal is no exception.” No. Not Cal. Leave my boy alone.
- I would have liked to have seen more action from Cal than I got to see.
Okay, I never like to write bad opinions of books because authors are still people. I hope that Victoria Aveyard is deeply proud of her accomplishments with this series. It was not a series for me, but that does not mean it was terrible.
Mare felt like a spoiled brat and an unintelligent protagonist. Someone told me they were glad Mare didn’t feel like a ‘Mary-Sue’ kind of character, but I wasn’t able to relate to Mare. Everything is about how Mare is special, how the rebellion can’t go on without her, and the narrative is centered on her to the point that I honestly have no idea who else was in this book.
We met a lot of characters. None of them were memorable. Throughout the book, it feels as though the same things are being repeated, but nothing ever happens. I was so bored the entire time, and at about half way, I started reading as quickly as possible. I wanted to know what happened, but I wanted it to be over as soon as possible.
I hate that I couldn’t get into this series and I plan on googling what happens to Cal because I did like him.
amyapple's review against another edition
2.0
So what a drag.
This one is really long for no good reason and with all the inner turmoil that filled up like 300 pages back and forth, it felt like Ive just been baited to read her next book.
All the travelling and recruiting happens so near the end that the first 60% was really a waste of time.
Mare thinks way too highly of herself and even all the characters around her think so. She makes bad deicisons on a whim and I get this vibe that she herself has no idea what’s going on. Or maybe Aveyard didn’t but needed to get a book out while the iron was hot with her series.
This one is really long for no good reason and with all the inner turmoil that filled up like 300 pages back and forth, it felt like Ive just been baited to read her next book.
All the travelling and recruiting happens so near the end that the first 60% was really a waste of time.
Mare thinks way too highly of herself and even all the characters around her think so. She makes bad deicisons on a whim and I get this vibe that she herself has no idea what’s going on. Or maybe Aveyard didn’t but needed to get a book out while the iron was hot with her series.
mzcaty's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kma_425's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
juulisbad's review against another edition
2.0
I was kind of disappointed by this book. Nothing really happened and Mare was only whining around all the time. But I like how she turns a little unpredictable and "mad" if I can put it that way. That was the only thing I found enjoyable. I actually didn't even want to read this but I got a signed edition and thought that it would be a shame if I would not read this. Not sure if I'll read the third book. We'll see
marrydebi's review against another edition
3.0
Os irmãos Calore são um pé no saco, muito triste por Maven ter traído Mare
juicete's review against another edition
5.0
This book was so much more intriguing than "The Red Queen". I can't wait to read book 3 bc the ending was so unexpected agh