The kingdom of Norta is divided by blood. Those with silver and those with red. Mare Borrow has a genetic mutation in her blood, her blood is a mix of both silver and red. This allows Mare special powers of lightning. Mare can control electricity and make lightning come out of her hands. After being betrayed by her ex-fiance and the new king of  Norta Maven, Mare and Cal, Maven’s brother who was supposed to take the throne, are at war with Maven and will have to search all over Norta to find “new bloods” with the same mutation as Mare to fight back at Maven and win the war.

Throughout the book, we see glimpses of how Mare is breaking emotionally due to all that is going on in her life. When Mare says “If I am a sword, I am a sword made of glass and I feel myself beginning to shatter.” (Aveyard 250) we can see just how broken she feels. Mare throughout the book puts on a strong facade. She wants to beat Maven and in order to do that she must have full command of her “new blood” army. To do that she must be strong and show no signs of uncertainty. To get a glimpse of how Mare really feels builds to the relationship between the character and the reader.

Aveyard did great when it came to the development of Mare and Cal’s relationship. “A hand at the back of my head takes a bit of the edge off, pushing warmth into my skin to meet the cold. The thumb draws slow, even circles, finding a pressure point I didn’t know existed. It helps a little.” (Aveyard 131). These sentences are perfect representations of how Mare relies on Cal. Mare sees Cal as a distraction. Mare wants to focus on finding all the “new blood” she can, so she will not allow herself to find any interest in Cal like before. Mare goes against herself not even realizing. All throughout the book, Mare has moments with Cal that show just how much they really care for each other.

Glass Sword is a wonderfully written book. I would recommend this book to teens from the age of 13-18, who are looking for adventure and a journey to a new beginning.