KING'S CAGE BY VICTORIA AVEYARD {review}

Hardcover, 528 pages

Published February 7th 2017 by HarperTeen
Rating: ★★★

The Red Queen series is a pretty standard dichotomous dystopia and King's Cage is more of the same. North America has been divided into various smaller countries, most with two separate peoples: the Silver ruling class, who have silver blood and various superpowers, and the Red slave class, who have no powers, no money and no hope. Mare Barrow is discovered to have red blood and silver powers - the power to control electricity and lightning, and what resulted was a fairly standard YA novel. She was forcibly engaged to the second son of the silver king, Maven, while falling in love with his older brother and heir to the throne, Cal.

The second book improved upon that, spending more time on characterization and relationships, with a twist at the end. Mare trades herself to her tyrant ex-fiance, Maven, for the safety of her friends. Maven snapped a collar around her neck and led her about on a leash in front of Silver and Red crowds.

Mare comes across as a stronger character here. Red Queen was about hiding who she was from everyone; Glass Sword was her coming to terms with being the rebellion's figurehead (their very own Mockingjay) and the deconstruction of self; and in turn, much of King's Cage is Mare piecing herself back together and finding her strength even as she fades into a ghost. After his mother's death in the previous book, the reader is given the opportunity to see who Maven is without his cruel mother whispering in his mind, controlling him. What's left is not pretty. Maven himself is clever, cruel, and thoroughly obsessed with Mare. He's an interesting, if despicable character. I expect he gets romanticized a lot if these books have a prolific fandom.

THE SWAN RIDERS BY ERIN BOW {review}

Hardcover, 384 pages

Published September 20th 2016 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
Rating: ★★★

I spent the last 50% of this book raging in disappointment. The Scorpion Rules was excellent; an interesting premise, an engaging and strong main character, and a strong, sophisticated plot that brought you along at a slow but steady pace. None of that is present in The Swan Riders.

At the end of the previous book, to save her own life and that of her fellow condemned Prisoner of Peace Elian, the main character Greta willingly became an artificial intelligence. While the first bit of the book dealt with how she adapted to her new expansive intelligence and inhuman experiences, Greta quickly became a background character in her own story. She went from a quiet but compassionate and firm natural leader to a passive person who was largely reduced to saying character names in an admonishing tone. Taking away an aspect of a character needs to be countered with the elevation of another aspect, if it's not, you just end up with a shadow character. That's what we got in this book: a shadow character. Perhaps it was intentional, perhaps not, but it didn't engage me.

For me, the plot of The Swan Riders was weak for one reason: Talis. I found it very, very hard to care about an AI that had spent the last few centuries committing genocide, mass murder, and ritual child murder as ways to force peace onto a resistant world. I didn't care that he was in pain or his 'journey'. It's like how the Star Wars prequels tried to make Darth Vader a sympathetic character: sorry, but petulant fascism is not interesting to me.

THE SCORPION RULES BY ERIN BOW {review}

Hardcover, 384 pages

Published September 22nd 2015 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
Rating: ★★★★★

Futuristic dystopian young adult novels are a dime a dozen, but The Scorpion Rules brought some new twists to old ideas.

It's at least five hundred years in the future, where the ice caps have melted and the face of the world has changed drastically. The countries we know are no longer, replaced by places like the Pan Polar Confederacy and the Cumberland Alliance. An oddly informal artificial intelligence named Talis keeps a peace, of sorts, by blowing up cities and maintaining a system of ritual hostage taking. The hostages, called the Prisoners of Peace, are the main characters of this story. All leaders of all nations must submit one of their own children to be a hostage in order to lead. When nations declare war on each other, the children are executed by the mysterious Swan Riders, the idea being that leaders are less likely to declare war if their own child's life is on the line.

The main character is named Greta Gustafson Stuart, Duchess of Halifax, princess of the Pan Polar Confederacy (basically, Canada) and has spent most of her life in one of Talis' preceptures, constantly watched over by AIs of all sorts. They look after goats and chickens, grow all their own food and live sparse, utilitarian lives being constantly prepared for ruling after their parents. Greta is strong, poised and quiet, though her mind is always working. Borders change in what used to be the United States and a new hostage, Elián, is brought to the precepture. Unlike the other Prisoners of Peace, Elián fights constantly, unwilling to accept their strict lives as lambs to slaughter and he is punished physically and mentally by the AIs for it.

GLASS SWORD BY VICTORIA AVEYARD {review}

Hardcover,  444 pages

Published February 9th 2016 by HarperTeen
Rating: ★★★★

Glass Sword picks up only moments after the end of the previous book, meaning that there is no skipping over any fallout of the previous book's explosive climax. While a lot of Red Queen was about the rise of Mare Barrow, the lightning girl, the girl with red blood and silver powers, Glass Sword was about her slow destruction, in every way. In a lot of ways, that sets this book and its protagonist apart and elevates the book in an ocean of similar YA dystopian fantasy.

The main plot of Glass Sword involves Mare Barrow and a small team of followers racing against newly crowned Silver King Maven and the mind controlling queen mother to either capture or recruit 'newbloods' - people like Mare and her brother, Shade - on a commandeered military plane. Because of that it's heavily reminiscent of Mockingjay and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; though I feel that Aveyard manages to dig deeper into Mare, so that you don't realize you've been reading the deconstruction of her until she does.

I surprisingly enjoyed the continuation of the relationships between Mare and what I assume are her 'love interests' exiled prince Cal, childhood friend Kilorn, and even her cruel, turncoat ex-fiance Maven. Each relationship went in interesting directions, with Aveyard managing to sidestep obnoxious love triangles (the true villain of YA fantasy) and a whole trope of cliches. I actually quite loved the way Maven cast a shadow over the entire book despite appearing only rarely, it added atmosphere. His petulant, clever brutality makes Maven a dangerous villain, while his age and desire to control Mare add a subtly menacing sexual vibe to his evil. I also loved the relationship between Mare and her brother Shade, though I'm disappointed in the lack of Farley, who is a very interesting character.

RED QUEEN BY VICTORIA AVEYARD {review}

Hardcover,  383 pages

Published February 10th 2015 by HarperTeen
Rating: ★★★

Red Queen is a fun, if bog-standard, young adult dystopian novel.

The world is divided into Reds and Silvers. Silvers are silver-blooded and hereditarily superpowered; their powers ranging from the ability to control fire or metal, or burrow into someone's mind and control them, or any other number of powers. Reds have red blood and no powers. They're oppressed, kept poverty-stricken and used as cannon fodder in useless Silver wars.

The world is divided into Reds and Silvers. Silvers are silver-blooded and hereditarily superpowered; their powers ranging from the ability to control fire or metal, or burrow into someone's mind and control them, or any other number of powers. Reds have red blood and no powers. They're oppressed, kept poverty-stricken and used as cannon fodder in useless Silver wars.

Our main character, Mare Barrow, is a Red on the cusp of adulthood, as is her best friend, Kilorn. Kilorn is nearly eighteen when the fisherman he is apprenticed to dies suddenly, leaving Kilorn no choice but to join the military. Thus starts our adventure with Mare, as she will do anything to keep her friend safe. A series of hijinks and situations later and Mare is working as a servant at the royal palace.