Vox pop: With the February 9th release of ‘Glass Sword’, the second book in Victoria Aveyard’s series ‘Red Queen’, #bookstagram floods over with pretty pictures of both books, and readers comment that they can’t get hold of ‘Glass Sword’ fast enough.
( Photo above: Karoline from Denmark. Reach her at Instagram/#bookstagram: @karolinebooks1009 )

In your opinion, are the hardcovers of ‘Red Queen’ and ‘Glass Sword’ primarily gorgeous cover buys and popular for spicing up shelves and Instagram pictures, or do you think there’s something remarkable and outstanding about the series that YA fantasy readers shouldn’t miss?

Paige, 16 — Australia

As an avid YA fantasy reader there comes a time when you find that many stories and worlds are fundamentally the same, however when I first read ‘Red Queen’ I was startled by how unique the world was.

The idea of red and silver blood and the differences between the two was something like I’d never seen before, and although it wasn’t thoroughly discussed in the first book I still loved the the concept, I couldn’t stop telling everyone about it, it had me so hooked.

Although the covers are undeniably gorgeous there is something much more complex and intriguing that lies within the pages.

The reason I love the ‘Red Queen’ series so much is the uniqueness of the world and law compared to other books in the genre, it intrigued me the first time I read it and I have been obsessed ever since.

Paige is a Book Blogger at Between Each Page

Reach Paige at Instagram @readbypaige

Sanne, 21 — The Netherlands

In my opinion, the first book Red Queen, is not the most original, well written or remarkable YA I have ever read. And yes, the cover is gorgeous. However, this was not just a cover buy for me.

I think what makes this series popular is the fact that it makes use of some very popular themes in YA, that have worked very well in the past, and work well here.

I don’t want to give away to much about the book, for anyone that hasn’t read it, but some themes are already clear from the outset. The “normal” girl that turns out to have special powers, a group of “commoners” vs a group of “elites” and a romance. You can find many books that have almost the exact same plot as this one. But you know what? That’s okay!

It’s a fun plot, it’s fast paced, you get a bit of swoon — you know what you’re likely to get when you pick up this book and you won’t be disappointed. Sometimes you just simply don’t need a book that completely re-defines everything you thought was true about writing — you just want to be entertained.

The fact that it has an amazing cover to photograph for instagram is only a huge bonus, that helps spread the word about the book quicker.

Reach Sanne at Instagram @thebookdutchess

Karoline, 16 — Denmark

The ‘Red Queen’ series hardcover books are absolutely beautiful. When I first laid eyes on this magnificent book, my first thought was, how great it would look on my bookshelf and Instagram.

Before I read it, I did not think the book was anything special, or particularly intriguing, but how wrong I was. I loved reading it. I enjoyed every second of the experience.

There was always something new or exciting going on in the book, but the ending was in my opinion the best part of the book.

This is a great YA fantasy novel, and one that I recommend every single person who loves this genre should read.

Reach Karoline at Instagram @karolinebooks1009