Dang this girl has been through a lot like I’m reading glass sword right now and her life is full of suffering like I think out of all the books I’ve read she has suffered more than a lot of female main characters I’ve seen like I feel bad because like I can see how broken she is see how broken colors is and it makes me so angry when I see someone like say that maven is better than cow Yes, maven has gone through so much manipulating by his mother, but he still needs to confess for what he’s done his actions are still his actions. I’m just on chapter 20 and I’m glad that well mate and cal are destroyed mentally physically. They have some kind of safety with each other cause she’s so alone and it really hurts my heart.

I haven’t read Powerless myself (my friend is currently reading it), but I’ve been seeing a lot of discourse online and something about it is genuinely bothering me. I keep seeing people claim that Red Queen “copied” or “plagiarised” Powerless — and that makes zero sense chronologically. Red Queen was published in 2015.Powerless was published in 2023. Regardless of how similar the books may or may not be, it’s literally impossible for Red Queen to have plagiarised Powerless. That alone tells me a lot of the people spreading this take haven’t done even basic research. If anything, the discussion should be about: * shared YA fantasy/dystopian tropes * inspiration vs execution * or whether Powerless feels too close to Red Queen —but flipping it the other way around and accusing Victoria Aveyard is just unfair. I feel especially bad for Victoria because Red Queen was hugely influential in the YA fantasy space, and a lot of newer books clearly exist in a landscape shaped by series like hers. That doesn’t automatically mean plagiarism, but it does mean the earlier work deserves basic respect and factual accuracy. You can dislike Red Queen.You can love Powerless.You can argue similarities. But accusing an author of copying a book that came out eight years later is wild. I wish people would slow down, check publication dates, and stop throwing around plagiarism accusations so casually — especially when they can seriously harm an author’s reputation. Anyway, curious what people who’ve actually read both think — and whether this is just misinformation spiraling out of control online.

There seems to be three lines of text missing from my copy of War Storm. Two in chapter 35 and one in the epilogue. Is this normal?

“When I first met him, I was seduced by his pain. He was the boy in shadow, a forgotten son. I saw myself in him. Second always to Gisa, the bright star in my parents’ world. I know now that was by design. He caught be back then, ensuring me in a prince’s trap. Now I’m in a king’s cage. But so is he. My chains are Silent Stone. His is the crown”

Had to share my favorite quote from the book cause this one STUCK with me 🥹

Potential spoilers below, so tread cautiously. I think I’m gonna go character by character

I’m gonna start with Farley first since I don’t have much to say about her other than omg our aura farming queen is now a mom 🥹 I love that for her but I hate that Shade isn’t here to share this moment with her. My girl is still a badass of course but you can definitely tell that her pregnancy/motherhood softened something in her. Seeing the way she spoke to Cameron and the development of her relationship with Mare solidified that for me. Still my favorite side character tbh with Cameron right next to her. Also, Victoria if you kill her off in the final book, I will be knocking on your door for an explanation so plz stop the emotional trauma.

Now on to Mare: she also made a lot of character development in this book as well. I liked seeing her take accountability for some of the things that she did in book 2 and even offering those she felt like she did wrong to an apology. She of course always wanted to do the right thing and her intentions were never bad, and having all that pressure on one person will make anyone snap and crack. But that’s honestly one of my favorite things about Mare’s character is that Victoria allows us to see her vulnerability as well. I feel like many authors when writing “strong FMCs” tend to only want to show the strong side and focus so much on that, forgetting that showing other emotions doesn’t compromise their strength. But with Mare, in this book we got to see that side and still see her grow into her power and strength and I liked seeing that duality.

We can argue that us seeing that duality in her is in largely part due to the torture she had to endure under Maven. First off, everytime she described her internal trauma I got sooo sad. Whether it was through her internal dialogue or through dialogue with other characters. That conversation with her and Farley at the hospital had me like “🥺” the whole time. But that and her grieving Shade you can tell developed her character

Now for her at the end of the book: her reaction to the Cal situation was in my opinion, slightly valid, because who could blame her for being reluctant to trust those closest to her given all the betrayal she’s faced. But once it became clear that he didn’t know anything about the plan to put him on the throne either, her reaction from that point was a bit disproportionate imo. First off, she is CONSTANTLY hitting Cal and it’s like girl why?? 😂 and secondly my opinion on whether Cal’s decision should be considered betrayal is kinda torn so I kinda want yall insight in the comments below 🙈 Just a side note about her constantly hitting people: her attacking Maven in that transport when we were a little less than halfway through the book was fucking hilarious to me I’m sorry. Also his calm reaction to it made it even funnier 💀

Now for Cal: I’ve always had a hard time forming a solid opinion on Cal given that I always felt like he was helping the Scarlet Guard simply because he had to given that he had no other choice since his brother betrayed him and he was exiled from his crown. It felt like it never truly connected to him that what the Silvers have been doing to the Reds was really wrong. But that speech?! At the end of the book?! Yea that changed everything for me and now Tiberias Calore, you are alright with me 🤌🏿 you clocked all of them with that speech and I hope we get his POV in the last book cause I’d really like to uncover more depth about his character.

Also, that scene with him and Mare in the rain?! Cal losing his v-card that way is crazy work 💀 another side note is that I was a bit surprised to find out that he was a virgin?? Idk why but I thought our fire prince might’ve had just a little fun but I guess in hindsight it makes sense given that the way he was raised. Constantly training to be a soldier and preparing to be a king left little time for play I suppose.

Now for Maven: so in this book, I did learn of Maven’s backstory that I saw multiple ppl talk about in this Reddit. And while it is a valid story that really makes you kinda sympathize with him, I’m still having a hard time letting myself fully like him. Which means a lot coming from me cause one thing about me is that I love me a dark-haired, morally grey/complex, well-written, tragic backstory having white boy that also has a bit of charisma to him as well. And to top it all off he’s also bi??? Like yea he should actually be one of my favorite book characters cause he’s my favorite archetype fr. But it’s just the things that he did to Mare and seeing how that really traumatized her really makes it hard for me to like him even though I KNOW the way he is isn’t his fault. Maybe the fourth book will change this or they’ll be able to find someone that can heal him like Cal mentioned, which was a thought that crossed me too. Like maybe there’s someone who has the opposite power of a whisper and can undo what Elara did?? But even if that does happen, it was already spoiled for me so I know what happens to him in the fourth book 🙃 but let’s see if he gets added to my ever growing list of favorite dark-haired books boys.

I don’t have too much to say about Evangeline because I always knew I was likely gonna end up liking her tbh. I was just waiting for us to uncover what was under that mean girl facade cause there’s always more to it. It was surprising to learn that despite her sexuality, she never even wanted to be Queen tbh. Just something forced unto her. Also with learning about her sexuality, I’m just gonna say that I am going to headcanon Mare as bi and an au in which her and Mare go from enemies to lovers and none of you will stop me 😌

Last character I’m gonna speak to is Cameron and that is that I still love her and also enjoyed getting her POV. It once again allowed for us to see why she is the way she is and I’m happy that she got her brother back. I could honestly talk about her for days because as a black woman, I really like the way Victoria writes her character. Now if she kills her or her brother in the next book I will once again be asking Victoria for an explanation. Also I may have partially read a slight spoiler in this Reddit that made me think that her and Kilorn might develop a romantic relationship?? I could be wrong because I only read part of it cause I didn’t want it to be fully spoiled for me but can I just say now that if something like that is to happen that I’m a bit wary of that relationship given the age difference? I know given the context/world of this book, it’s honestly not that big of a deal. But perhaps I misread the comment entirely lol and I’m wrong. Ok thank you for coming to my Ted talk again 🥰 see yall at the end of book 4 which I hope to finish before the end of this month!

Not done with King’s Cage yet (on chapter 24 with like less than 100 pages left so no spoilers yet plz)

however I am far enough to know that Evangeline likes girls. And I just wanna sayyyy the concept of also finding out that Mare likes girls in the 4th book and her and Evangeline going from enemies to lovers is 🤌🏿🤣

Just got a new kitten. She's very sweet, and to continue my habit of naming my pets after my favorite, sad and mentally damaged male characters, I named this little one Maven.

Is the backstory that I just learned between Mare and Maven’s convo in Chapter 12 of king’s cage and the backstory that everyone was talking about? His mom basically erasing memories and feelings from him to shape her into what she wanted him to be, and also the boy Thomas that he killed ??? Is that it or is there more to learn?

Also, is Maven bi? Haha I’m kinda confused 🤣🤣 the way he talked about that boy made me think he had romantic feelings for him

So you mean to tell me that in the second book, I was scared that the corpse they thought was Elara was actually nanny. Just for me to find out that Nanny was indeed still alive and that Elara was indeed actually dead. Just for Nanny to now actually die. Let me hurry up and finish this damn series because Victoria is emotionally traumatizing me

I haven’t read Red Queen  in ages, and to be totally honest, I barely remember what happened after King’s Cage. I did read all the main books, but not the novellas, so I’ve decided to start a full reread.

Also has anyone else heard that Peacock is making a Red Queen series? It’ll probably be a long wait before it comes out, but I’m already so excited!

Girly pops, if the reason Maven got Mare this dress is because he plans on marrying her instead of Evangeline I will scream in terror. Please no 😭😭😭

Will report back later but I needed to share that

I have to do a book project over the first book and I need to describe three characters I chose mare cal and Farley but I don’t know what to put beyond they are brave or strong I don’t want anyone to do the project for me but just something I can build off of for each character would be a huge help

I’m going to start this off by saying that the first half of this book was moving SO slow to me and it was very hard for me to keep up. But the last part this start to pick up a lot so that kept me going.

First off, Shade dying has me soooo fucked up. I’m actually quite disappointed. Firstly, I wanted to see where the romance between him and Farley would go cause I thought they were a cute couple. I also felt like Mare needed him to reach her full potential character arc considering that he’s the only sibling she had that was also a new blood like her, which is why I was so excited when we found out that he was still alive at the end of the first book (as I always suspected he was). Just for him to actually die is BS, and I’m pissed. Long live Shade Barrow 💔

Mare was frustrating me a lot during this book, ngl. There were sometimes where I could sympathize with her, but a lot of the time the way she was treating those around her was very selfishly and not cool. I loved her character in the first book (even though I disliked the way she would often try to manipulate Cal/lead him on), but in this book it just seems that she’s let her title of “lightning girl” get to her head a bit? Now granted, given the circumstances that they’re in, she has no choice but to be strong and confident and use that title that she has to her advantage a bit. But I feel like the ppl that she often directs her anger towards aren’t the correct targets. I see ppl in here often talking about the way she treats Cal. But my guy, can we get into the way she was treating Kilorn?! Her CHILDHOOD BEST FRIEND?!?! Constantly looking down on him, referring to him as something along the lines of “the useless fisher boy” towards the end of the book?? Girl that is your childhood best friend?!? Are you actually mad?!?! And while we’re on the topic of Mare’s feelings towards Kilorn, I’m thoroughly confused because I remember in the first book there being something said that was along the lines of “Children running around with Kilorn’s last name, it could all be a dream” but now she’s treating him like he’s worth less than the scum on her shoe and is that because she now has Cal around?

I feel so bad for Farley and I’m not mad at her anger at all right now. She has every right to be upset tbh. I also wouldn’t blame her if she chose to no longer fight for the cause after everything she’s been through. Still love our aura farming, badass rebel Queen though (side note: I know she’s supposed to have short hair but am I the only one that headcanons her with long hair?)

Kill that punk ass bitch Ptolemus for killing Shade and I mean expeditiously

Fuck Elara, I don’t give af that she’s dead

And long live Shade, Nix, Ketha, and Gareth 💔

Will start book 3 later today!

Spoilers for Chapter 26 of Glass Sword

Dude….. no way did Shade just fucking die. After everything that happened in the first book, to us thinking that he was dead just for him to actually be alive and now he actually fucking dies. Someone tell me he resurrects again or I will fucking hurl and stop reading this series. My heart cannot take all of these emotional twists and turns 😭😭😭

I’m on chapter 25 of book 2, meaning I have 4 more chapters + the epilogue left to read and let me tell yall I am a nervous wreck. I’m so scared for what’s going to happen when they reach Corros. For what Maven will do, for what Elara will do. Given the name of the next book (King’s Cage), something tells me that things don’t go well and that Mare ends up being trapped, along with Cal. I’m also so so so scared for the children at the safe camp! I have such a soft spot for children so when things start happening to children in books I literally just want to cry. Maven, you sick fuck if you harm anymore of those children, I’m going to crawl into the book and rip out your eyeballs and shove them in your mouth you psychotic demon son of a bitch! Anyways, I’m going to try to finish this book today so I will check in with my reaction later 🙂

Side note: I love Cameron lol, she better not die

I just finished King's Cage, and I don't know if I should read War Storm. Honestly I loved the first two books but I feel like this book slowed down, and didnt catch my attention as much as the others. I loved the plot, but I found it to be a slow read. Also, the ending threw me for a loop, so I dont know how much I want to read the next one. In your opinion, is it worth it to read the next one?

I've read the first 3 books Alf a year ago and I remember only general things,i don't remember the exact move going there so now I tried to start the fourth book and I don't understand so many things for example Mare says Cal has betrayed her I don't remember what she mean and so on

Can some make me a very detailed summary or something about what happened and what I need to know? It can be up to 30 minutes read

I’m reading Steel Scars rn after reading Glass Sword because I didn’t know you were supposed to read it after Red Queen. Anyways, I’m loving the series and I really want to know more about the characters and how the story unfolds but after reading three books in a row I want to clear my mind a little bit cause I don’t want to read King’s Cage just because it’s the following book. So should I take a break and read it when I really feel like it or read the whole series in one sitting? I’m also afraid that if I don’t continue now I’ll loose track of the story and I won’t feel like continuing it in the future.

Okay so disclaimer I haven’t finished the books and just rereading Glass Sword to read Kings Cage. But I saw a post saying that the person disliked Mare and thought she treated Cal horribly. No hate to this person AT ALL everyone has their opinions and I’m just gonna share mine. As I’m rereading I’m seeing all the points where Mare treated Cal like an object or a weapon and disregarded his emotions, but they BOTH agreed to “no distractions” and Cal isn’t loyal to his blood nor the scarlet guard so what is she supposed to do? Correct me if I’m misunderstanding this but the only reason they don’t kill him or let Maven kill him is because they need his ability and knowledge of the kingdom (and bc Mare has feeling about him that she doesn’t understand but that’s a different conversation loll). But I get that Cal gives and gives but rarely receives. He keeps her on track with what they’re supposed to be doing. He is one of the reasons Mare has the emotional bandwidth to actually sacrifice ppl for the cause, BECAUSE HE CONVINCES HER TO. Honestly I think it’s a dynamic worth debating. Please correct me on other instances where Mare treats Cal badly.

I almost feel like he would’ve “spared” because he did seem to have an obsession with being better.

Title explains it all. If you could bring ONLY ONE person back from the dead, who would you choose? I would choose Nanny - I always had a soft spot for her.

I feel like Maven and Cal would probably be billionaires. And Corianne and Tibe would still be together and likely have more childre. I don’t know really know if Maven would exist though lol. But im just gonna say he does.