Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Genre:  YA Fantasy

Red Queen Series, Book 2

Victoria Aveyard's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Note:  This is the second book in a series.  I believe that's enough warning...

Description (taken from Victoria Aveyard's website):

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?

This book picks up right where the first one ended: with Mare and Cal running from the treacherous King Maven.  Cal has lost his crown and Mare has escaped a death sentence.  But when they seek sanctuary with the Scarlet Guard, they find a lot more than they bargained for.

Mare is determined to save as many Reds with Silver abilities as possible before Maven has a chance to get to them.  She always gives them a choice to join her cause or run.  But even when she's hidden behind this choice, is it really a choice?  Or is she so blinded by blood that she will do anything to save people like her and destroy Maven?  And then we have Cal.  Once blinded by blood, but now there's no where for him to stand.  So why stay and fight for the other side?

I am so frustrated with this book.  And I'm frustrated with the fact that I can't tell you why I'm frustrated.  About fifty pages into this book, I determined it was going to be *yawn* a cliché second book.  And it did not prove me wrong.  There were many places within the book that had me hooked and heart-racing.  But it was like a countdown of the expected events.  However I did kind of really enjoy the last ten pages (I give full permission for judgement).

Frustrated camper here.  But I'm going to continue the series.

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

Genre:  YA Historical Comedy

Cynthia Hand's website

Brodi Ashton's website

Jodi Meadows' website

Expected publication date:  June 7, 2016

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Cynthia Hand's website):

For fans of The Princess Bride comes the comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey, written by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows.

Lady Jane Grey, sixteen, is about to be married to a total stranger—and caught up in an insidious plot to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But that’s the least of Jane’s problems. She’s about to become Queen of England. Like that could go wrong.

A lot of historical English buffs are fascinated with the era of King Henry VIII.  But does anyone know what happened after his death?  This story is a re-imagining of what happens after King  Henry and King Edward's death.  But I'll give you a little spoiler.  It absolutely does not follow our history books at all.  This story's a little more comedic and fun-loving than the real history.

In Edward, Jane, and Gifford's world, there's a struggle between plain old humans and those who can shape-shift into an animal.  When King Henry accidentally outed himself as a shape-shifter in a very public setting, he began to support shape-shifting rights.  But after his death and with Edward's reign, things become a little wishy-washy.  Who does the royal family support?  And as the mysterious Jane steps up to the throne, what else could go wrong?  In this world?  A lot.

This story is very much a romantic comedy.  It makes light of a pretty depressing past that England has.  And the retelling is definitely funner to follow.  And while I really enjoyed the story, I have mixed feelings because I have read the history books.  I do know what happened.  And every time this book made me giggle and laugh, I wondered if I should be feeling guilty since that definitely wasn't what happened in the history books.  Eventually, you just can't compare the two and have to accept this is a work of fiction.

I picked this one up because of the trio of authors.  And I think anyone who enjoys these authors is not going to be disappointed...

Thanks goes to Around the World ARC Tours for providing me a review copy.