King's Cage: A Riveting YA Fantasy Romance of Power, Rebellion, and Impossible Choices (Red Queen, 3)

King's Cage is a tumultuous journey for our heroine Mare, due to the fact that it begins with her imprisonment. King Maven proves himself to be a very sadistic ruler, a man who Mare once deeply loved. For the first third of the book, Mare has to endure torment after torment. The amount of pages her captivity takes up became daunting and tiresome. While this could be looked as a major flaw, I valued it. In a way, that same fatigue Mare felt became reflected in the amount of pages which caused us as the reader to feel the same. Art imitating life and vice versa. What I loved most was Maven's huge role within King's Cage. Many fans like myself grew to favor his Dark and sadistic ways, and we didn't get to see him like that in the previous book. However, when Mare and Maven share a kiss, I felt awoken from a trance. No longer did I look upon Maven with kind eyes and a worthy suitor for Mare. She deserved better than that. She deserves Cal, his brother. Their kiss is described to be a "violation" of sorts. It made me cringe to see a character who I once rooted for, be described so villainously. In my eyes what they have is tarnished. The only sliver of hope he has with a fan like myself is knowing the brutal upbringing he had under his mother. She took his humanity away with her ability to ascertain extent. She molded him into the monster he has become. His morals are so blurred to the point he doesn't know where he himself begins, and where his mother's mind control ends. He just might be lost forever. As broken as Mare is too, two broken pieces do not in fact, make a whole. I could discuss key details and such, but I believe an overall impression needs to be fleshed out. This book is about mourning. We need to mourn the Mare that is forever changed because of her imprisonement. She has seen and done things that will forever leave her tainted. We need to mourn Maven for the same reason, as well as Maven's and Mare's possible relationship. It will never happen. It just wouldn't be healthy for them to wind up together. As bleak as this book felt for most of it's content, I can happily say we now have a Mare similar to the one from Red Queen. She's once again fierce, cunning, and motivated by her goals. It will be such a delight to see this Mare in action in book 4 to which I eagerly await. King's Cage was a dark foreboding journey that brings it's characters to the brink. Darkness looms in many characters in the book, and each must force themselves to face it. Some handle it better than others, but ultimately it's their convictions that guide them through that darkness.

The writing itself is a 5, the story sans the tedious filler a 4 or 5. However, I was tempted to rate King's Cage a 3 bc it drags out so much--too many unnecessary details, and the MC and her love interest still fail to captivate me. I had to skim through much of it--lengthy descriptions, redundant reflections, unnecessary POVs. Worse, I still don't have a good reason to like MC and her love interest, although I'm trying to root for them. Despite the things that bother me, the quality of the writing and the work that went into the story--unique POV's, eclectic magic system, and epic world building--command no less than a 4. This author is talented:)

This book was probably my favorite book in the whole series. I loved the way it tied in characters emotions with the environment/ their abilities. In this book you really get a deeper view into one of the main characters, Maven's, mind. By the author letting you into the main villains mind you really get a better look at the whole plot and get a better understanding of how everything came to be in the whole series. Victoria does a really good job at describing the changing feelings and almost making you feel as conflicted as the character. She also knows how to set up the scene so you can picture it perfectly. Through all the dramatic parts she makes it possible for you to follow along with the main fight while also picturing how hectic it would be on the outside. While reading this book I almost feel like I'm watching a movie. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes good a good description so you have a good image in your head. I would also recommend this book to anyone who likes to be kept on their toes and never knowing what's going to happen next. Overall this book encompasses great descriptions that keep you enterested in every part.

I was ready to hate this book. I loved Red Queen so much but Glass Sword was not for me what so ever, because of this I was unsure how this one would turn out. Well it is safe to say that I LOVED IT!! I was glued from start to finish I ended up reading this in a day because I just could not put it down. This installment picks up where we left off in the second. Mare is now Mavens prisoner. She is trying to stay defiant and hopeful. It is no easy feat as the time continues to go by without the ability to use her power she is beginning to slowly deteriorate. There is also a lot of inner struggle with her trying to understand her former feelings for Maven. Which brings me to characters… MARE BARROW, little lightning girl, MOST ANNOYING CHARACTER OF GLASS SWORD, was freaking amazing! She was such a relatable character, I really loved everything about her this time around. We got to see so much of her and her strength but also her weakness. We truly see her falling to pieces mentally and physically. She is suffering from depression, PTSD, but also I feel like we see a small bit of Stockholm syndrome. As we well know Maven was at first a love interest in Red Queen (they were me OTP, moment of silence while my ship sinks to the bottom of this deep deep ocean.) She does not know what parts of the Maven she loved actually exist or if any of it was ever real for that matter. This relationship was raw and real even while taking place in a fantasy world. It is the epitome of an emotionally abusive relationship. Example A. He is blaming her for where she is at. He does not care that he betrayed her or that he has taken her prisoner. The way Mavens twisted mind works it is okay because he “loves her” to use her. It is all a fault to her for not being obedient towards him see quote below .. “You think I enjoy seeing you like this?” he murmurs. “You think I want to keep you prisoner?” Something hitches in his breath. “it’s the only way you’ll stay with me” This brings me to Mavens character development. He is our bad guy by no way is that not established however we are also learning that Maven could and should have been a completely different person. Queen Elara messed so much in his mind that he is just a creation, a molding of what the Queen needed him to be. It does not mean that we should excuse his actions by any means but it does make him a rather interesting character. I loved Evangeline and this quote “The title is so delicious I want to lick the words right out of her mouth.” OMG that is all I will say about that!!! I was not a Cal shipper in the first book and I still am not now. However that being said he became a better character for me this time around. I started to see the appeal of him for Mare. There were moments when he warmed my heart or made me laugh. I do not think he should be the OTP though. I don’t really think anyone should be. I almost think Mare needs to just be alone without any of the male characters we have met. I also am a tad worried she may end up dying in the end of the series. I liked the split perspective because it kept us informed throughout of both sides of the story. Cameron also helped me to understand Mares actions in the second book a little bit better. She has a line “No wonder she has personality issues. No one tells the girl the truth about anything” That really opened my eyes to the fact that from the start someone from both sides had been using her as a means to the end. I was blown away by this book it was amazing and the end MY GOD THE END. It is going to be a terrible wait for the next. FIVE DAMN STARS! ★★★★★ Favorite quotes “The same? No.” He shakes his head. “But perhaps… we’re even?” “Not a god’s chosen, but a god’s cursed.” “It would be easy to stay in the dark, to drown. Slowly, I lower my hands and force myself to look at the sunlight.

At over 500 pages long, King’s Cage is every bit “the middle book” of this series; it does a lot of build-up and it adds to the plot, thickening existing lines and introducing new ones, connecting together details and events to make the story feel well planned and executed. It’s very well written and it is clear Ms. Aveyard is a pretty masterful storyteller who can weave together a tale with multiple threads. But, since it does have “middle book” syndrome it always feels a little tedious to read; there’s so much information added or expanded upon but not a lot of goals accomplished. I’d even go so far as to say this was the “draw it out” book wherein the author purposely reconstructed the story so that she could get another book in (since I’m pretty sure when Red Queen was first released I saw that the author had a trilogy planned, not a tetralogy). I’m both a little miffed and glad this happened; miffed because this book was wearisome to read and not very exciting—it was often lots of planning, build up, and minor events in succession that seemed to be working towards too many goals while achieving nothing super substantial outside of Mare’s rescue from Maven—but glad because the extra length of the series and the time devoted to all this planning means we get to see the story come to fruition and play out fully without rushing or skimming over important details/events or utilizing “time saving” devices to project the story quickly from place to place. I think that’s perhaps the book’s flaw: it’s a middle book that’s trying hardest to expand and thicken the plot, and the arc of the story it covers isn’t especially action filled or anything, just all the subtle workings of politics and war, with a few climatic moments thrown in. Because the story from just Mare’s perspective would have been lacking (what with her breaking china in a room for months) this installment gives us perspectives from Cameron and Evangeline as well, which gives their characters much more depth than before while also allowing readers to first hand explore two different facets of the story’s plotlines. I was glad to see Evangeline get used; her POVs made it easier to understand her and like her. It’s revealed she’s a lesbian, in love and in a relationship with Elane from Red Queen, and that she isn’t just a one-dimensional “wants a hot husband and to be queen for no real reason other than bragging rights” but has personal reasons for wanting the crown, wanting to protect her position, and the personal struggles she endures from her power-hungry family and their expectations of her. It doesn’t make everything she’s done forgivable, but it makes her much more human. While from Cameron’s end, we get to see the perspective of someone who thinks and feels differently from Mare, who isn’t in the spotlight, which better expands our understanding of the different views the people in this world take: they all aren’t just pro-red/pro-silver. The book’s biggest quality is in all its details and connections; things are woven together very well, so this feels like a very well-planned, well-thought-out story that doesn’t read awkwardly or anything like that. Though as with the last two books, the romance is just touched upon, but in this book especially it feels especially heart wrenching. The story never forgets that it’s first and foremost a social and political story about changing the way society is and altering the way its governing body operates, but when there are those moments between Cal and Mare, it’s a pinprick of something intimately emotional. And god, that ending! What a punch to the heart. It feels horrible and good at once; Ms. Aveyard, as I said, isn’t afraid to get messy or write stories that lack solutions and happy endings. She writes the messy, the bittersweet, the heartbreaking, the uplifting, the resolute. I’m excited for book #4 but also terrified because we could either see a great overcoming of problems for the happy ending we all want to see, or we could end up with a stark reality that sometimes the end isn’t joyful or complete or good; sometimes it is bad, sometimes it just gray and complex. Also, for anyone wondering about Maven… (spoiler) [He doesn’t get killed in this book as far as we know; it’s pretty much assured he escaped the attack that freed Mare. We also get a section where we see that Cal holds out hope for his brother; hope that a newblood will come along with the power to fix his mind, undo all the damage that Elara did to him so that he can be redeemed, even though Mare is pretty bent on killing him and probably would never accept a redemption. There is no gurentees on whether he’ll be redeemed or die or live or anything, but there’s stilla chance in good #4, so it’s not time to throw in the towel if you’re a Maven supporter. I was happy to see that despite him holding Mare prisoner he never like forced himself on her or anything; he still authorized her torture and made her suffer through physical, emotional, and mental pain of all calibers, so :/ ] (end spoiler) I give this a pretty solid 3.5 stars. Maybe 4 if I’m being lax. Here’s to waiting for book #4; I swear to god if the ending is horrible and we don’t see a nice satisfying wrap up I’ll scream and demand like 20 hours of my life back. This was also a book that I had to read in parts. I wasn't able to power through it like I can with most books, so it is a weary, tedious read. And it's not the kind of book I'd ever want to really reread, at least not for a few years. I'll probably read it again when book #4 comes out and then shelf it for a long while.

I like that the story is told from seperate angles and in the voice of mutiple characters

I'll just say that after book 2 (Glass Sword), I very much enjoyed this book. Now maybe that's not the most glowing review I could give considering how terrible Glass Sword was but I finished Kings Cage feeling satisfied with what I had just read. To start, I FINALLY felt like author took some time to show some fantastic character development when it comes to the main character, Mare. I basically hated her in book 2... maybe that was the author's point but she went about it the wrong way (I don't think I could have read one more sentence of her inner dialogue, "poor me, I'm the lightening girl, I'm the only savior, blah, blah, blah!"). It was torture and cringe-worthy. Well in this book, you can finally like Mare again! Hell, she's been through a lot so it was to be expected to see some major development in her character. It even shines through in her developed relationships with other characters. Very well done. Aveyard also did an excellent job with the character Maven AND detailing his relationship with Mare. This was probably one of the best parts about this book. You finally learn how/why Maven became the monster that he is but I also found myself sympathizing with him. And as for his relationship with Mare... I found myself actually, at times, hoping she would give in and reciprocate some sort of love towards him. I know it's crazy but that's what makes the writing so well done on this story line! (The bathroom scene... I don't know why but I was hoping for some moment of passion between the characters! I know that's nuts but you could feel the tension and the underlying conflict of emotions that Mare has for Maven!) However, I was disappointed by the lack of character development with Cal. While it's easy to believe that he truly loves Mare, it's hard to believe the choice he makes at the end. Yet, I will say that his response to her regarding her decision (about choosing him) was kind of interesting and I couldn't help but agree with him on some level. I also find it kind of intriguing that he still wants to find a way to save Maven. Regardless, I hope book 4 shows more development from this character. Overall, I enjoyed this book very much. Unlike some reviewers, I didn't think it seemed to drawn out or over detailed at parts. It didn't bother me this time because the storyline was interesting. I'm not sure how I feel about Cameron's POV chapters. I still find her character extremely annoying and childish. But I very much enjoyed Evangeline's POV! That was well done and just enough (too much of her might have been bad). Well done. I would have given this book a full 5 stars but there were definitely some weak points. Lots of new characters were introduced and I'm just not sure where this war is going to take us. Now I just hate waiting so long for the next book!

Oh my gosh was so good! I was a little worried after the second book in this series, because I found Mare is be a bit annoying. Victoria completely changed my mind in this book! I absolutely loved it! I could not put the book down once I started to read it. I will not post too much because I don't want to post any spoilers or ruin the experience for others. I will say it was a bit slow at the beginning but I completely understand why and wouldn't have changed anything. I loved the introduction of some new characters and getting to see more sides of old ones as well. I was under the impression this was the last book in the series so I kept thinking as I got closer to the end how was this going to end? I was very surprised by the cliff hanger ending, but I cannot wait for the next book now! Awesome job to Victoria for making me fall back in love with Mare! I am completely in love with Cal and Mare and I have no idea how their story is going to end, but I am rooting for them! I highly recommend this book.

Nice

I fell in love with this saga from the very start, and this book made me fall in love even more! Maybe a little slow at the beginning, but definitely recomend it!

Aún no he leído el último pero de los 3 que llevo, este es definitivamente mi favorito. A pesar de que no empieza con tanta acción como los demás, comienzas a conocer más a profundidad mucho de los personajes. Te causa tantas emociones encontradas que no vas a saber si odias o amas al libro. En cuanto a las condiciones en que llegó también estoy súper satisfecha, llegó mucho antes del tiempo esperado y de los 3 que he encargado este es el que llegó en mejores condiciones, impecable desde la portada.

What an amazing story!! Definitely a good book and I can’t wait to read the next !

I fell in love with this series by halfway the first book. I'm half way through the last book atm (War Storm), and Kings Cage has been my favourite of the series so far. The storylines within the book are just phenomenal. I don't want the series to end!