A review by mysticslibrary
Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

4.0

Victoria Aveyard has a habit of writing books that I end up devouring. I finished Red Queen quickly and Glass Sword, while it took me a little longer (due to not having as much time to read) sucked me in every time I picked it up.

Glass Sword was as well written as Red Queen in my opinion. The characters have incredible depth. The world that Aveyard has built is also just as in-depth as the characters.

The other thing that I enjoy so much about this series is that everything is in a kind of moral grey area. There really is no good side, or bad side. All Silvers aren't evil overlord bastards that want to kill everyone. Just as all Reds aren't meek and subservient to the Silvers. And the Ardents... well... they seem to be having issues on both sides of the spectrum. Both sides, Red & Silver, have their fair share of good people and bad people, but there really isn't one side that is morally better than the other. I love it when stories take that path. Sometimes it makes you have to think a little harder about who you want to side with as the reader. Sometimes when there is a clear cut "good side" and a clear cut "bad side" you don't really get to make that choice.

I really enjoyed the direction that this book took. It was incredibly dark (much more-so than Red Queen in my opinion) and I'd be lying if I said that Mare wasn't starting to scare the ever living bajeebus out of me. Maven is creepy and awful, yes, but gosh. Mare was terrifying. There were a few parts where she was kind of whiny/angsty that I didn't particularly care for, but her character changed so much in this book, and possibly not for the better. I kind of feel like she's starting to take the path of a villain even if she swears she isn't (and if I've learned anything about her... she never really tells the truth anyway). But let's face it, she had a lot of really awful things happen to her and they aren't exactly going to get better after the way the ending left it.

Maven is going to try very hard to break her further than she's already been broken. And I really am curious to see what happens in King's Cage. Especially after the final reveal at the end with Jon being on Maven's side (or at least that's how it appeared.) I just think that Mare may end up doing a lot more awful things before the end of this series. I guess it's up to her on how it's going to affect her.

I can't wait to delve into this world again when I get King's Cage. Victoria Aveyard is quickly becoming one of my favorite YA authors.