ALA Booklist

For Mare Barrow, life, never easy, has hit a new low. Mare, born a low-caste Red, has been a thief, a princess, and a revolutionary; now, she's a prisoner, held captive in the Silver court by manipulative King Maven. While the Scarlet Guard re's family, friends, and love ght against the oppressive Silver rule, Mare is Maven's pawn, her own lightning powers suppressed. But many of the Silver nobles are suspicious of Maven's rise to power, and the Scarlet Guard continues to grow. This third installment (Red Queen, 2015; Glass Sword, 2016) in a projected four-book series is the first to include more than just Mare's perspective; though her first-person narration is the most prevalent, insight into the Scarlet Guard is given from the perspective of reluctant fighter Cameron, while daunting Lady Evangeline reveals more of the Silver nobles. If book two was bogged down by the details of a long war, the same cannot be said here; the plot moves quickly, and another devastating cliff-hanger ending will leave readers hungry for the final volume.

Horn Book

Following the events of Glass Sword, book three opens with Maven holding Mare prisoner. Political upheaval and one-upmanship force everyone to choose sides and decide how far they'll go to win the war between Reds and Silvers. Though the book is slow to start, the political plotting is as fascinating as it is disturbing. Mare's emotional growth is believable, but secondary characters are flat in comparison.

Kirkus Reviews

The "lightning girl" who once led a revolution now toils, powerless and imprisoned, in this continuation of the Red Queen series.After turning herself over in exchange for the lives of her friends, Mare Barrow becomes King Maven's puppet. She waits, locked in a room, her lightning drained by Arvens—Silvers who leach power. But Maven has grander plans for her. And if she wants to keep the newbloods safe, she must comply. Mare broadcasts a lie that she willingly surrendered herself to the king after the Scarlet Guard forced her into servitude. She paints the Scarlet Guard as murderers, paving the way for Maven to offer refuge to newbloods in hopes of amassing an army. Otherwise, he'll just keep hunting them. Political machinations rumble while both the king and the Scarlet Guard form new alliances. As Mare bides her time, she confronts uncomfortable feelings for Maven—she's his greatest weakness, but can she kill him? Complementing Mare's narration, Cameron, a newblood, relates the movements of the Scarlet Guard, and Evangeline, Maven's betrothed, offers insight into the deadly House Samos. Few bursts of action stir up this slow-burning installment, allowing the dizzyingly large fleet of characters room to gain new depth. Mare's romantic entanglements shift and sizzle, but the true intrigue lies in the ever expanding war for the crown as the players grow and change games. Aside from dark-skinned Cameron, the principal cast appears to be white, although the caste system based on the distinctions between Red and Silver blood holds more sway in this fantasy world than race. Simmering with internal conflict and well-devised courtly scheming—but readers new to the series had best start with Book 1. (Fantasy. 13-adult)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Leashed like an animal and trotted out as a trophy of war, Mare Barrow passes her 18th birthday imprisoned by King Maven and turned into a puppet of a propaganda machine bent on destroying the Scarlet Guard. In this third installment of the Red Queen series, Aveyard-s frenetic action sequences initially take a backseat to the patient study of Mare-s captivity. But there are still plenty of schemes amid royal fissures and ill-fated rescues, an assassination attempt, and raging battles on multiple fronts to help this story keep pace with the previous installments. A newblood struggling with her deadly abilities and a princess begrudgingly betrothed to Maven narrate a few chapters of their own, but the majority of the tale is again seen through the eyes of Aveyard-s -little lightning girl,- who remains a relatable and deeply flawed heroine. Concluding as hope dwindles that the Reds will ever be free of the Silver crown, Aveyard adeptly sets the scene for a fourth book to follow, amid a war not yet won. Ages 13-up. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary & Media. (Feb.)