King’s Cage (Red Queen #3)

Where to start? I loved Red Queen, didn’t care for Glass Sword at all, and just as I began King’s Cage, which I thought was the final book, I found out there will be a book 4. And now I know why Glass Sword was so bad. Obviously she was asked to drag her 3 book series into 4 books. Kings Cage is much better than Glass Sword, but they would have been better as one great book, with all the filler taken out. So much of Glass Sword was filler and didnt advance the story or make it better. But I digress, this is a review of Kings Cage. After finishing the book, I am honestly sad. I am trying to think about how Book 4 is going to go and at this point, I have no idea. I am hoping for some kind of happy ending for Mare, but after this book, Im not sure thats in the cards for her, and again, that makes me sad. The really good thing about this book is I like Mare again. I didnt like her much after Glass Sword, but now I really care about her again. As far as our other leads, it’s hard to like Maven, yes, he can be charming, but he’s a psychopath, and even when we start to understand the reason, what was done to him, it doesnt matter, hes still evil. Cal can’t make up his mind to save his life. Its frustrating. How can you be in love with someone whos people are being persecuted and wronged, but still manage to sympathize with the persecutors? To me he’s almost worse than Maven, who at least is honest about the monster he is. With Cal, because hes a good person, you expect him to do the right thing, and he doesnt always do it. Evangeline…what can I say about her…she’s still a bitch, but I like her now, which is something I never thought I’d say. And then there’s Mare. My heart breaks for all the suffering she has to endure. Can we please give this girl a happy ending in Book 4? Shes so strong, even when they weaken her, she keeps mentally strong, and later she turns into a real fighter, and I am rooting for her all the way, she deserves a win. There are a few interesting new characters that will probably play a larger role in Book 4. I didnt like the authors choice to use Cameron as a point of view, I had to go back to Glass Sword to remember who she was. I would have preferred point of views from Cal, or Farley instead of her. The book was entertaining, if a little too long in some areas, it held my attention the entire way through, picking up and getting better as it went along. And that ending. The author took us to the top of the cliff, and left us there hanging. If a book ends on such a cliffhanger, we shouldnt have to wait longer than 6 months for the next one. Really. Can that be a rule? All, in all, this book redeemed the series for me. Mare is back, more like the Mare from Red Queen, but stronger, and thats a good thing.

*SPOILERS*

I really enjoyed Red Queen and couldn’t put it down. Glass Sword was great as well, despite being a lot slower during the second half. I really wanted to love King’s Cage, since I have already invested so much in the series and in the Mare-Cal relationship. Unfortunately, many parts of King’s Cage just completely fell flat and bogged the whole story down.

I felt no connection whatsoever to the chapters told from Cameron’s perspective. I didn’t care for her in Glass Sword, and liked her even less in this. I get that the author was giving us a peek into what the Red Guard was up to while Mare was being held prisoner, but I think Cal or Kilorn’s perspectives would have carried more weight or interest. Evangeline’s chapters were more interesting, but even they were not necessary and just felt like filler. With the exception of Mare’s one failed escape attempt, the first 300 pages were almost painfully slow. The story didn’t start to get exciting until Maven’s wedding and Mare’s rescue.

The last chapter and the epilogue seemed to erase all the character development that Cal made throughout the series. I have loved him since the moment he came into Mare’s life and called her a thief, and he progressively got even better throughout King’s Cage UNTIL that annoying ending painted him as a liar (since he had previously said he loved and wanted Mare more than ANYTHING). It doesn’t make sense to me. He has risked his life how many times to save her, and then doesn’t choose her when offered his crown/Evangeline vs Mare? I have a sinking feeling the 4th book is going to end with Mare either dead or alone, like so many book series seem to be doing these days. I especially feel this way because in Glass Sword, Jon mentioned that he foresaw Mare alone. I will be reading reviews on Amazon for spoilers after the 4th book is released next year because if she or Cal die, or don’t end up together, I will not bother buying the book or wasting any more of my time on this series.

So, me being the idiot that I am totally forgot that this series was a 4 book series, so picked up this book thinking that it was the last book in a trilogy and stayed up until 3am to finish it. Then at 3am finished the book and realised it was in fact a 4 book series and spent the next few hours wide awake because I needed to know what happened next!

I came a little late to this series which meant that I was able to read Red Queen and Glass Sword together, therefore no agonising wait between books for me. Until I finished Glass Sword which had possible the most amazing ending which has kept me desperate for the past year. This book was no different and yet again I have been left a desperate puddle in need of the forth and final book in this amazing series!

“Love makes you weak. And she’s right. I learned that before I even knew you.”

One big change in this book is the fact that we now have 3 POV’s. We still have Mare but now we also have Cameron and Evangeline Samos. I have to be honest I was a little disappointed because I would have LOVED to have seen everything from Cal’s POV especially whilst Mare was being held and he couldn’t get to her, I live for broken hearts and deep emotional moments. But by the end of the book I had to agree that Cameron and Evangeline were such great choices and gave us so much more of a rounded view of the war.

“To stand in front of a person who is your whole world and be told you are not enough. You are not the choice. You are a shadow to the person who is your sun.”

Ok, so Mare. We left her in the last book having bargained her own life for those of her friends and Cal and we find her in this one now in the hands of Maven. She goes through a hell of a lot in this book but is still such a strong character and manages to manipulate Maven, just as much as he does her, in order to gain valuable information for the Scarlett Guard. I loved that she never lost her humor and kick ass character personality but that we also got some very vulnerable and emotional moments from her too as she struggled with her new situation and also with the PTSD that follows.

“Those who know what it’s like in the dark will do anything to stay in the light.”

In comparison to the last book Cal seems a lot more sure of himself in this book which I think is down to the fact that he has a purpose: finding and rescuing Mare. He has finally picked a side and I liked seeing his relationships with people develop further as he finally starts to let people in (just a little bit!). He seems a lot more comfortable with being a part of the rebellion now and takes an active part in working with them and advising them against his brother. However he is often torn between knowing what is right and what he must do for his kingdom and when put in the position of having to make tough decisions sometimes really struggles. It makes for an interesting conundrum of whether he will eventually become King and if he is strong enough to make the tough decisions. Next to Maven, Cal is probably the character I am most interested to see develop further in the final book.

“The fallen prince is exhausting. I don’t know how Mare could stand him or his inability to choose a damned side-especially when there’s only one side he can possibly pick.”

For those of you who have been as desperate as me for more development in the romantic relationships in this series (aka. Cal and Mare!) I can happily tell you that you will be rewarded in this book. It’s definitely a case of absence makes the heart grow stronger and I’m not going to say much except we get some REALLY swoony scenes. As is the norm in any dystopian series it’s not the smoothest of romances, but I have big hopes for Cal & Mare in the final book.

“She was his hurricane, and every nudge pulled him deeper into the eye of the storm.”

Maven is such a complex character and although I hate him as a character I love his place in this book. We get to see a lot more of Maven in this book as he reveals parts of himself to Mare that no one else knows about or understands. We get a lot of answers in this book about how Maven ended up the person that he is and I like that Aveyard managed to get me to feel sympathy for this character who I hate so much. Maven’s cleverness really shines in this book and his ability to plan and scheme results in some big wins for Maven, whereas his last shred of humanity and his love for Mare threatens to bring him to his knees. I have some big hopes for how this series will end for Maven and he is possible the character I am most excited to see how his story ends.

“I’m not a fool, little lightning girl. If you’re going to play in my head, I’m going to play in yours. It’s what we’re good at.”

We get even more ‘newborns’ as they are named in this series and some more really cool powers/abilities that turned up. I was a little disappointed in their lack of time in the spotlight in the previous book and so was really happy that we got so much more of them in this book in both battles and some seriously cool training scenes.

The story flows well for the most part although a few off notes a long the way. Mare’s imprisonment, although psychologically terrifying was frustratingly slow at times and the lack of action nearly resulted in some skimming at times. Also, Cameron’s POV took me a little time to get into, I just wanted to see what was happening with Cal and so all her thoughts and worries about her brother was just getting in the way of that for me.

The ending of this book left my heart in shambles, mostly because (as I mentioned below) I thought it was a trilogy and I really wanted to know how things were going to end, but also because Aveyard is a genius at writing heartbreaking cliffhangery type book endings. This is the 3rd time she has done it this series and I only just survived the last one! I seriously fear for my mental stability after I have finished the final book!

“My heart breaks for him; my heart hardens against him.”

After surrenderring to cruel King Mavon to save Cal and her friends, Mare is a prisoner locked in Silver Stone manacles to contain her powers and subjected to torture. Maven is determined to destroy the Scarlet Guard and uses Mares capture to lure Newbloods to the monarch to use against the oncoming threat. Meanwhile, Cal, Cameron and Farley are training their recruits, determined to get Male back and overthrow Mavens reign.

Wow! So much happened in this I honestly dont know where to begin or what to focus on! We see so much more depth to our villain, Maven. With his mother Elena now dead, Maven is on his path alone but makes an admission to Mare. As a child, his mother would manipulate his mind with her powers, removing emotions or memories in order to keep him on the path she has chosen for him – for him to become King. Maven is left not knowing for certain which thoughts he has are his own or the remnants of his mothers manipulation. This discovery left me feeling some sympathy for him some, not much!

Camerons character develop is growing and its refreshing to see her come out of her shell and fight for the cause, reluctant as she was! Her budding friendship with Farley is heartwarming as they have both feel alone, and with Shades baby on the way, Farleys motherly instincts are coming into play!

Cal and Mares relationship takes a big step and we are filled with the hope of a romance blooming in the midst of a civil war, but with many courts aligning with the Scarlet Guard and determined to de-throne Maven and replace him with the rightful King Cal, we dont get this just yet!! The ending made me want to scream, with the urge to punch Cal right through the page one can only hope that things will go in our favour in War Storm. Now we just need to pray that our favourites make it through the final war and Rise, Red as the Dawn.

I finished it last night and the pain in my chest from the heartbreak as I realised just how much I need to read War Storm when I haven’t bought it yet was something I wasn’t expecting.

One of the main things I wasn’t expecting was for my feelings about Evangeline to change, especially as in Red Queen she was so horrible towards Mare when she interrupted her performance of her abilities by crashing through the lightning shield at the start of the Queenstrial. By the end of King’s Cage I actually felt sorry for her. From birth she was trained to be marry Cal and be queen of Norta, even when she loves Elane (something which shocked me and made me squeal). All through the first two thirds of the book where Mare was locked up in Whitefire Palace, it’s obvious how much Evangeline doesn’t want to marry Maven when she keeps forcing Mare and Maven together. She definitely isn’t one of my favourite characters but this book with chapters from her point of view made her character have a lot more depth and she didn’t just seem like a flat anti-herione who is a b***h.

Going back to the fact that the first two thirds of the book almost completely centre around Mare and her life inside the palace with a few other chapters from Cameron’s point of view, I was really happy with the pacing of the book. I was desperately hoping that Mare wouldn’t be locked up for five chapters before breaking out, meeting up with the Scarlet Guard and the rest of the book consisting of Mare, Cal and the rest of them fighting. However, Victoria did not disappoint and this huge section of the book didn’t feel like a chore to read.

I found Mare’s character development amazing and it would’ve been so easy for her to have given up but she never lost her fire and tried to escape even when the odds were never in her favour

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