I wasn’t always sold on Mare living the Silver-lifestyle or the romance (there may’ve been reasons for that, but it wasn’t bad), but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Many well-placed twists and turns kept my interest. The war, the Scarlet Guard, and the drama were some of the best parts. I like how everything isn’t black and white because even evil personified has someone to love. The way Mare describes some things in her narrative is fun as well.

3.5

also, kudos for the main character having lightning powers. That's original for these types of stories.

please mare, stop trying to save kilorn! he's almost grown! he can take care of his doggone-self.

I’m a bit disappointed that most of the Scarlet Guard were still alive. When I thought Farley, Kilorn, Shade, and the others were dead, the consequences had more weight. Still, I might have to read the sequel just to see where this is heading. So... is the new love triangle going to be between Cal and Kilorn? Too soon? Okay. Or, is Mare really not going to pursue a romantic subplot with either? ( )

Trigger warnings: War themes

7/10, a friend I know in real life recommended this book so I picked it up and read it after some consideration and I'm glad I did since I've never seen a concept this original before but now I see some flaws here and there with the worldbuilding and unfortunately it all went downhill from there when I read the sequel, Glass Sword and I won't be continuing the series anymore so where do I even begin? It starts with the main character Mare Barrow or Mare for short and she lives in the slums also called the Stilts and in this world, there are two types of people, Red and Silver. Red people are like the commoners and don't have any powers whereas Silver people are the nobility and have superpowers and there's the first problem, it's just a rich vs. poor dystopia with no world-building whatsoever even though it's so critical to the book. Of course, Mare is the special character since she is of Red blood and also has superpowers usually reserved for Silver blood which now looking at it isn't even that original anymore. Anyway Mare is a servant in a Silver blood palace and once someone discovered her powers she was shoved into a military program with other characters or something like that, I don't know. The suspense in the book finally reaches its climax when a big battle occurs ending this on a cliffhanger and a high note. That map was a nice touch. ( )

Great dystopian novel despite the fact that Aveyard sometimes falls back on tiresome "young girl is hero and filled with self-doubt and cannot see the forest for the trees" tropes. ( )

I did not get to read the full book but so far, it is quite good given the characters and the course of action the book contains, including how it reveals important details along with the progress of the events which bring its end on an unexpected yet a little bit predictable turn of incidents that change the balance of power. Mare is the one who stands out most from the other characters. Not just because she is the protagonist, but because she is strong. She may not be very powerful at first in this book but it's a start to developing herself more in the books to come.
Overall, the setting, the world and story of this book is interesting and has an easy to follow plotline. And, the cover, it is elegant. ( )

Really good story, so many twists and turns, but the story dragged at times. ( )