#how do i not know cameron and kilorns ship name

[ball-of-butter]

how well the red queen ships would fare in a long distance relationship:

marecal: absolutely terrible. mare gets insecure but doesn’t know how to communicate her fears of losing him and cal can never pick up on why she’s pissed off at him all the time. kilorn has to block them both for his mental happiness because mare keeps sending him edgy text messages and cal keeps ringing him up stressed out of his mind. when one flies down to see the other they are inseparable but arguing all the time and the goodbyes are always painfully drawn out and they’re both crying for the next three hours over it.

evane: evangeline will get a little jealous when she hears about a new friend of elane’s and elane will get FOMO when she hear about thing evangeline is doing without her but they communicate effectively and would spend a lot of dough visiting each other as much as they can even if its mot so reasonable. i think this is the couple that will be the least likely to ever do long distance because they literally cant be separated it would have to take a miracle.

sharley: they are pretty okay. they miss each other heaps and when they facetime it hits how far the other is and diana will stay up late at night sweating about not being around shade for too long but other than that they don’t get very jealous of people around them and are secure in their love.

kilorn x cameron: stable as hell. kilorn gets occasionally sad but both are so busy with their lives they can go two weeks without a text and then remember ‘oh shit havent called my gf/bf’ in a while and when they do its no big deal. kilorn texts cameron an ‘i miss you’ text and gets his response 8 hours later and its chill. and then they meet up and hang like they saw each other last tuesday. they dont want to be apart but they know its not gonna last forever.

thomaven: maven is absolutely terrible at it. thomas will go away and 72 hours later maven will show up at his front door with no warning.

gisa x shopgirl: probably the most stable. there could be sabotage ploy after sabotage ploy on this ship and they would still make it out the other end without breaking a sweat.

[kittyinhighheels]

Kitty reads: Glass Sword Review

If there’s one thing Mare Barrow knows, it’s that she’s different. 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?

Because I need to get this out of my system, let´s start my reviews with the most recent book I´ve read. I´ve read some reviews myself and let it settle before I wanted to give my opinion and here we are. A bit unorganized but oh well, we´ll get to it some day.  Not spoiler free btw.

Glass Sword is the second book in the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. It was a no brainer for me to read it after I fell in love with Red Queen earlier this year. I couldn´t wait to see what would happen to Cal as a Silver prince in the midst of Reds but most importantly I couldn´t wait to meet more newbloods like Mare.

To give a hint about the quality of Glass Sword, let me just say this: It took me three months to finish this book.

Throughout the 436 pages we follow Mare as her and her group of friends search for the other newbloods, Reds born with Silver power, in a race against time as the evil king Maven and his even worse mother plan to kill each and every one of them. And that´s literally the only thing we do in this book. We get maybe three fights but they are only three or four pages long each and usually so chaotic and quickly resolved that they were almost unnecessary. The rest of the time Mare, Cal, Kilorn, Shade and Farley traveled from one city to another to find the newbloods. 

Now like I said, I couldn´t wait for them to appear and I give VAveyard kudos for coming up with all these powers without making them boring. I was prepared that we´d get a bunch of new characters and luckily we didn´t see every single recruitment. But those we did see felt so unnecessary because by the end, almost all of those whose recruitment we got to see not only got maybe one sentence during the end fight (if they got one at all), they also died off-screen. We didn´t get more than a “they weren´t on any of the ships that made it back.” George R R Martin at least got us attached to his characters so we would weep while reading every sentence of them dying. VAveyard completely wasted our time and the opportunity to perfectly gut punch her readers.

Speaking of wasted deaths, let´s talk about the two most important ones in Glass Sword: Shade and Queen Elara.

Starting with Shade, all I can say is that I didn´t see it coming but it also didn´t surprise me. Throughout the entire book I had the feeling that VAveyard had no idea what to do with him. He was important enough as Mare´s link to her old self but too much of an ex machina to give him more screen time. Having him in dangerous situations would have killed suspense; he could have easily escaped. So he was sidelined. And that´s exactly why his death didn´t really faze me. We barely saw him anyways, what did it matter if he was now permanently gone? The only reason I ended up caring was because I loved Farley and it broke her. By the way, her being pregnant from Shade really wasn´t a surprise. I called it the first time they said she had vomited.

Off to Queen Elara: What the fuck was that? What the fuck was VAveyard thinking? How can you set up such a smart, calculated and dangerous villain, someone so vicious that Mare´s biggest fear is being caught by her again, and then not even show her death? I read the last pages of the fight ten times because I couldn´t believe VAveyard would be this stupid. It makes me so mad. How amazing would it have been to see Mare grabbing the queen and then sending the lightning through her body, looking her in the eyes while she´s basically being fried to death. That would have made the next chapter so much more meaningful. Instead, we got nothing. Again, a completely wasted opportunity.

You can´t say much about the plot because, as mentioned before, there barely was any. We saw recruitments and those three chaotic action scenes but around 80% of the book was Mare moping around. Which brings us to her and the other characters.

I liked Mare in Red Queen. An interesting thief who used her street smarts to somehow survive among her enemies. I could emphasize with her feeling of being alone, of not fitting into her family compared to her talented sister and then finding out that she somehow has those amazing powers without having silver blood. Her naivety did annoy me but it was okay because her ideals were understandable and actually noble. She grew up in a poverty stricken town where being older usually meant dying in an endless war. She had already lost at least one of her brothers and was about to lose her best friend. And suddenly she had to live with those causing her loved ones so much pain and suffering. She wanted change and she would fight for it if necessary. In Glass Sword, you barely see any of that. She acts as if she is such a martyr, as if she was the only one who gave up a lot for this fight, the only one knowing loss. She even thought her missing a guy she barely knew for more than a few months was somehow comparable to Cal missing his brother and best friend. And we´re supposed to feel sorry for her when Cal actually points out how ridiculous that is. Mare only feels sorry for herself in the entire book. She pushes everyone back, pretty much insults her best friend as useless because he doesn´t have powers, and is then confused why he wouldn´t talk to her. Her entire thought process is about how oh so dangerous and important she is and how much she suffers and how lonely she feels while lying to everyone and disregarding their feelings. I saw her “sacrificing” herself when I was halfway through. So cliché.

I think I liked Cal the most in this book and I wish we could have gotten a look inside his head instead of Mare´s. His conflict of being a Silver prince being amidst Reds who hate him and everyone he knows and knowing that it´s justified is so interesting. I live for arcs like his. Seeing his internal fight between what he was taught and what he is going through would have made such a great storyline. I would have paid everything to read a novella just about his character growth.

I can´t decide between Kilorn going on my nerves and liking him. He reminds a lot of Sokka from The Last Airbender because everyone underestimates him because he doesn´t have powers but he´s actually really smart and useful in battle (suck it, Mare). I could have lived without the cliché of him obviously being in love with Mare though.

I liked most of the side characters but I´m also not surprised that I barely remember anyone´s names besides Cameron, Jon and Nanny. I hope we get to see more of them in King´s Cage but I don´t want to see Nanny dying T.T

What I missed the most in Glass Sword besides the plot and a likable protagonist was the villains. Maven was merely a mention here and there until the end and even then he isn´t really worth mentioning. Elara died so easily AND SO USELESSLY and god do I miss Evangeline.

I already bought King´s Cage and War Storm so I´m not going to drop the series but Glass Sword was disappointing. I expected more of Victoria Aveyard.

[evangelineartemiasamos]

How do you feel about Mare, Cal, Maven, Eve, Farley, and Kilorn's character development from the RQ series so far?

Kilorn: I like him and I admire how healways finds a position to support the cause wherever he ends up, despitepeople’s protectiveness towards him as he isn’t a Newblood or soldier. He trulycares about people, is generally open to everyone and doesn’t give up hissupport no matter how stubborn they are. They might be for a reason and herespects that as well. His efforts to learn reading/writing are a good additionas well. The few times he shows up in KC are quality content although there shouldbe more in the last book.

Cal: What character development? No seriously, hislack of change is interesting on its own as it creates a flawed love interestwhose flaws are called out by the narrative. But when I started KC, I wasreally disappointed in him as I expected him to be better. Still mourningthe lack of the Farley x Calbrotp too

Maven: As avillain, he’s great. I like how he wiggles and meanders while seeminglyfollowing some kind of vision. Or how he’s aware of his mistakes but he doesn’tstop on his path. I think he changes his opinion several times although that ismore hinted at.

His actual character development aka his relation to Mare israther confusing to me. Nothing implied him to become physically violenttowards Mare yet he brands her in GS. But once he has her in his capacity, hehardly spends time with her and apart from her restrictions as a prisoner, hismost physically violent act is a forced kiss. I don’t think that adds up. Ifeel like Aveyard added the branding to say once and for all that Mare x Mavenis a bad ship but when she wrote KC, she didn’t want to include actual tortureporn. So why is he violent in GS? Either because of Elara’s mindfucking, as hesays that cutting out romantic feelings doesn’t work so she would’ve triedother methods which made him even more unstable. But that takes awayresponsibility from him. Or because all that matters to him is having Mare closeto him under his control, even if he can’t create a harmonic situation betweenthem, nor bring himself to spend time with her and enjoy it. That’s lowkeyvictim-blaming and reduces Maven’s functioning to be dependant on Mare - whichmakes him utterly boring if his sanity depends having a girl under his control.I really hope Maven won’t go back to his old ways from GS but shows that herealized that Mare hates him and will never be his. I’ll deny the blurb summary until I read the last book myself.

Eve: Another character who doesn’treally change, or only very subtly. I mean the way she regards Mare. At first,Mare is her rival and later enemy who she could attack but during KC she beginsto respect Mare, actively protects her and shows slight envy of her. Although alot of Eve’s actions are ordered by her parents and not coming from herself. Iwouldn’t call the broadened lens we see her from development as she supposedlyhas always been like this, we only haven’t notice. I hope to watch heremancipate herself from her parents though, and Evane happiness as well.

Mare: As the main character, she changesconstantly and still will in the last book. It’s difficult to describe this ina short answer but I like her progression. Mare takes responsibility yet sherues her decisions. She suffers from her emotional injuries and displaysdissociation, denial, loneliness, vengeful feelings and emotional need ofsupport. And sometimes she’s pure spite. This is very well-rounded andespecially her change to show more compassion is well done although she staysinattentive in other regards. But she never gives up, she even puts her beliefsabove her love life which is admirable. I wish her happiness.

Farley: You see, she’s my favourite and to agreat part because of her character development. I use this ask to describe ita little more thorough, okay?

She starts as the soldierstill burying her grief deep inside of her and completely denying to trust inthe one person sharing her feelings, her father. She’s extremely resentful ofhim and this doesn’t change of a sudden. Her denial of closeness and opennessextends to her comrades despite her concerns for them and the responsibilityshe feels for them. Note that a lot of them die and the grief she bears forthem isn’t mentioned in the books although it has to be present in her mind. Someof those deaths are her fault, by trusting Maven and by telling him aboutNaercey, which increases her guilt and justifies the colonel stripping her ofher rank. Yet she fights on and seeks allies despite a bad reputation followingher during GS.

She denies her crush onShade as well, for a long time, and this is both very believable and cute af.The moment he asks for a her first name shows how much attention he pays to herand that he doesn’t merely accept her cold front and it’s probably somethingshe needed to happen - she couldn’t open up by herself but she continues toopen to Shade and other people from this point onwards. This is one of my favouritemoments of RQ.

I believe she keeps hertrust about personal information limited to Shade for a long time. I believethere are many moments of pillow talk about her past, feelings and hopes andShade reciprocates in equal manner.

And while his loss has tobe devastating, she doesn’t allow herself to be dragged down by grief. Shestill remembers her promise to protect Mare (when she and Shade watched Queenstrial)and does as much as possible to save her while keeping a cool head. Farleymight be very outspoken but she’s level-headed as well and you know,level-headed characters are the best and I wish there were more. Also, when Icall her a feminist icon, I mean that I adore how she never thinks, not for onesecond, someone was allowed to talk down to her, belittle her, or disregard heropinions, no matter that she’s Red, without a superpower, a woman, a mother.She’s ambitious and self-confident all around and this is the kind of characterI want to met in fiction because she’s inspiring af.

I think her motherhood is acharacter development per se - how can you have a child without changing insome ways? Her pregnancy correlates to Shade’s death her increasing openness andcare for others, so you can either put that to down to maternal instincts orher realization that she doesn’t wish for more losses and estrangements, thusshe takes the lead in building friendships now. When it comes to Clara, I headcanonthat she wants to avoid emotional restraints to begin with, instead she showersher with love and tries to be as honest as possible. Her concerns about privacymay remain in some instances, but her child will be an exemption. Please noteshe doesn’t try to hide that she loves her child in an attempt to appear resoluteor to exude authority. It doesn’t matter.One second she can smile at her baby and the next she voices orders and she’srespected just the same.

But I don’t mean to sayshe’s perfect. She’s lied for her purposes and one of her victims is Mare. Farleyconfesses her lies to Cameron, so it’s not like Aveyard has forgotten aboutthem, but it should be Mare herself to hear the truth and forgive Farley or not.