Review: Glass Sword

The revolution between the silver bloods (gifted with supernatural abilities) and red bloods, the likes of the Scarlet Guard and new bloods like Mare (red bloods with silver like abilities) is beginning to spark in the addictive next instalment in the Red Queen series. This plot twisting, adventurous and high stakes sequel takes readers on a road track mission against time, around Norta and it surrounding lands, to find new bloods like Mare before Maven does.

In the Glass Sword, Mare is recovering from her time masquerading as Marena in the royal silver court, where Maven (after betraying the scarlet guard and Mare) forced his brother Cal to kill their father, and become King. Mare is reunited with her family, in the safety of the Scarlet Guard’s headquarters, while Shade’s hidden relationship with Farley is brought to light. Cal, however, is struggling with the knowledge he was forced to kill his father, and neither wanting to join the silver nobles but neither activity helps the Scarlet Guard.

Mare is now on a mission, with the list of new bloods (red bloods with silver blood like abilities) like her and sets out with Farley, Shade, Kilorn and Cal to find red and silver bloods alike; along with the hope of finding and training new bloods from Julian (Mare’s old silver teacher, when she was pretending to be a Lady) to fight against the silvers, who seek to destroy their kind.

When Mare learns the harsh realities of a revolution, she feels like a falling hero when people she trusts turn against her and feel she never learns that “anyone could betray anyone”. Her new scepticism and fierce views on new-blood powers and training them, of Mare, makes it hard for people to take her seriously, showing how some people don’t listen to those they don’t understand.

In this sequel, Mare and Farley have to adjust again and again. For Mare, she went from a Red about to become conscripted into the army, and from a fake silver princess to firmly becoming part of the Scarlet Guard. The organisation that Farley herself is a captain for and on her way to becoming a Colonel. The two girls seem polar opposites but their common goal to track down new bloods and Farley having found a partner in Mares recently returned new blood brother Shade, starts to bring them closer. It’s an interesting character development for both Mare and Farley as they went from polar opposites to working together and perhaps in time, friends. Mare sees firsthand the stress, trauma and skills Farley has gone through to become a captain, as her character becomes more fleshed out in this novel.

This novels takes readers outside of Norta and its hierarchy of reds and silvers and more into the strategy, secrets and serenity of the Scarlet Guard as the track and recruit mission to find new bloods, that soon consumes Mare and Farley brings up a lot of personal and blood issues for Mare (as some new bloods like Cameron do not take quickly to Mare and the guard), as the tension gradually builds up into the sacrifice she decides to make in exchange for others, including her potentially more than a royal friend, Cal,

The shocking conclusion to the novel will leave the characters lost and broken, as they are forced to put personal problems aside for the bigger picture – taking down Maven, no matter the cost. While the revolution of silver nobles against reds and new bloods reaches a tipping point – the discrimination and divisions are present on both sides of the revolution, but how far is each side willing to go to overthrow the other?