Review: Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Name: Glass Sword
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Pages: 440
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Hachette
ISBN: N/A
Rating: 4/5

**I requested this book in advance from the publisher. All opinions are my own**

Glass Sword is the second book of Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen Series so I won't give details of the plot. Instead I shall spend a good amount of time explaining why I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

More characters were introduced in this instalment further developing the world and also the relationships between characters that already existed. I particularly loved Nanny and Ada. We also got to see more of Mare's emotional state which was interesting, if awfully harrowing. Considering everything she went through in the previous novel I expected her to be a lot more twisted and vengeful yet all she wants to do is help as many people as possible. A fact that everyone around her seems to forget and criticise her on when her aims conflict with their own. I spent a lot of time shouting at the book when this happened. 

Cal was also an intriguing character in this novel. We were constantly, or at least I was, waiting for him to throw in the towel and go it alone. It was easy to see the moments where he started to question everything and even easier to see the moments where Mare internally questioned him. The fact that their bloods are different remains a constant barrier and reminder they don't have the same 'people'. A fact this battle brings out more and more. 

Plot wise I enjoyed it but I felt it was an awfully long book for what actually happened. It supposedly takes places over about a month or so (I'm not entirely sure of the time line.) I felt like it could've been condensed by about 100 pages and it would've read a lot faster. The beginning was particularly slow. What I did think was wonderful was the reoccurrence of 'anybody can betray anyone.' I never felt like any character could be 100% trusted which was really exciting when you find out what actually happens. 

My god I don't know if I can wait for the next one...

Katie x

P.S sorry for no Literary List this week. They'll resume as normal next Saturday.