Title: King’s Cage
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Series: Red Queen #3
Published: February 7, 2017
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 512
From: Barnes and Noble
Rating: 7/10
King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard is the third in the four-book series written about a young woman who discovers she has magical powers she thought she would never have. Her blood is red, and only those with silver blood have the power to do things no one else can, like move metal and explode objects. But the longer the war for equality rages on, the more Mare Barrow learns: she is not the only one with red blood and magical powers, she is the object of a young king’s obsession, she does not know how she will survive this war.
King’s Cage follows Mare’s story as a prisoner of King Maven. Maven, the younger brother of the heir to the throne and the one accused of killing their father in Red Queen, the first of the series. It also follows Cameron, another Red with magical abilities who is part of the resistance called the Scarlet Guard. The Scarlet Guard are pushing back against the inequality and oppression of so many people in the kingdom of Norta, but the more the story is laid bare, the more we realize the resistance is not just in Norta, but all over. It is in the other countries surrounding Norta. The politics span continnents, the intrigue is spread wide but also as close as two people can be.
This story is the most depressing of the series. Mare’s story as prisoner becomes a little monotonous, just like her life would be. It is depressing her lack of touch, her lack of communication with others. Until characters like Evangeline play their hands and force her out of her cell and into the hands of Maven. I love Evangeline’s character, what she wants, who she wants, why she wants it. She does everything with purpose, and even if she is not the person I would want to be friends with in real life, I love what she stands for. She is one of the many different ways a woman can be a woman, and it shows that it is okay to be that way.
Sometimes I feel like this story is the slowest. Action-wise, not much happens. Politics-wise, a lot does. Character development-wise, even more so. Aveyard is very good with character development and political intrigue. But she can be good with action, and this story needed just a little more of that.
But overall, I enjoyed this story. I enjoy all of Aveyard’s books, and I think I will always enjoy her stories.
