Right off the
bat, I have to say that King’s Cage is definitely my favorite book in
the Red Queen series so far for many, many, many reasons. That being
said, I have to admit that going into reading King’s Cage, I was definitely
feeling rather skeptical about how much I was going to enjoy this book.
Thankfully, I’m thrilled to say that all of the skepticism that I had been
feeling going into reading this book ultimately proved to be unfounded.
Victoria Aveyard truly blew me away with the direction that she took the series
in in this book. That being said, here are my thoughts on King’s Cage.
Prior to reading
King’s Cage, one of the biggest concerns that I had about this book, was
how much I would ultimately enjoy it if Mare was going to be Maven’s prisoner
in this book. I have to admit that I was half-expecting the pacing of the book’s
plot to feel painfully slow, and a big part of me was thinking that I would get
really bored reading the book if Mare was Maven’s prisoner for a large portion
of the book. In the end, the portion of book where Mare is Maven’s prisoner
actually ended up being one of the best and most interesting aspects of this
book, as far as I’m concerned. Plus, not only was I very surprised by the fact
that Mare was freed from being Maven’s prisoner much earlier in the book than I
had been expecting her to be, I was also incredibly surprised by the fact that
Evangeline was the one who helped free Mare from Maven’s captivity. I had pretty
much been assuming that Cal and the other members of the Scarlet Guard would be
the ones who would help free Mare from Maven’s captivity.
Given all of
the horrible things that Maven did “off screen” in Glass Sword, I
was really left thinking that Maven had lost a lot of depth in that book, since
the reader wasn’t privy to any of his thought process, and the reader isn’t
given any in depth insight into his emotional state throughout the course of events
that take place in that book. If Maven had had more of a presence in Glass
Sword, I think it would have let the readers know whether or not Maven
still has any sense of humanity, or any redeeming qualities at this point.
Ultimately, after reading King’s Cage, I think the reason why Maven didn’t
have more of a presence in Glass Sword was because Aveyard wanted to
wait until this book to really give the reader some insight into why Maven is
the way he is. I’m not sure I completely agree with Aveyard’s decision to save
the “understanding Maven” element of the Red Queen series for this book
since it’s the third book in the series; but I ultimately loved the writing for
Maven in this book. Aveyard’s writing for Maven, and the backstory we’re given
for him in this book is definitely one of the things that I loved the most
about King’s Cage.
While I would
ultimately say that King’s Cage is definitely my favorite book out of
the first three books in the Red Queen series, the chapters that were
written from Cameron’s point of view really had me second-guessing whether or
not I truly felt that way about this book as I was reading it. That being said,
I have to admit that when I was reading Cameron’s first P.O.V. chapter (Chapter
Four), I didn’t have any memory of her being featured in Glass Sword,
and a part of me thought that she was actually being introduced for the first
time in this book. That being said, I honestly didn’t like Cameron very much at
all. I thought that she was a very frustrating and unlikable character throughout
the entire book. I know that her life, as well as the lives of pretty much all
of the other characters in the Red Queen series, isn’t all rainbows,
unicorns, and Skittles; but she really came across as quite possibly being the
most bitter and most unpleasant character in the series so far. After all, even
Mare was capable of finding things to be happy about and feel thankful for during
the period of time that she was being held prisoner by Maven in this book; such
as Maven giving her a piece of fabric that her sister, Gisa, had been working
on sowing before her hand was broken in Red Queen for a birthday
present.
While I do
think that the Scarlet Guard kidnapping Cameron and not really giving her a
choice of whether or not she actually wanted to join them was a pretty messed
up thing for them to do; it still frustrated me that Cameron repeatedly
expressed anger towards Mare for having her join the Scarlet Guard. After all,
Maven had been finding and killing newbloods as a way to torment Mare in Glass
Sword, so she’s probably safer with the Scarlet Guard than she would be if
she didn’t join the Scarlet Guard; regardless of whether or not she actually
joined them by choice. Honestly, I was really glad that Farley eventually called
Cameron out on her behavior, and told her that she couldn’t keep lashing out at
people, simply because she’s mad that the Scarlet Guard had her come with them.
Personally, I think it’s pretty much never a good thing when a reader is
rooting against a protagonist or a P.O.V. character in a book; and ultimately,
I was constantly finding myself being annoyed by Cameron throughout the course
of the entire book.
If Aveyard
really wanted to have a member of the Scarlet Guard be one of the P.O.V.
characters in this book, I think that she should have had either Farley or Cal
be a P.O.V. character in King’s Cage. Considering the fact that Farley
was pregnant with Shade’s baby, and later gives birth to a baby girl that she
names Clara, and Shade was Mare’s brother; I think it would have been very
interesting and fitting for Farley to be a P.OV. character in this book. Ultimately,
I decided to not let my dislike of Cameron as a character in this book have a
negative affect on my score for King’s Cage; because even though I’m a huge
fan of ensemble stories, it’s very rare for me to like every character and every
storyline in an ensemble story. Plus, even though I don’t like Cameron, I still
thought that she did bring something interesting to the table in this book by
being the reader’s point of access into the lives of the Scarlet Guard’s
members.
I really
enjoyed seeing Cal continue to work with the Scarlet Guard in this book, and I honestly
wish that Aveyard had done a little bit more with that aspect of the book; mostly
because of how much I enjoyed it. After reading the end of Cameron’s first
P.O.V. chapter where she secretly follows Cal, and sees him going into a secret
compartment that he apparently had in the Scarlet Guard’s base, a big part of
me had been expecting Aveyard to do more with that particular moment in the
book; and I was definitely waiting for there to be some kind of reveal regarding
what specifically Cal had been sneaking off to do. Honestly, I was a little
disappointed that there wasn’t really any kind of pay off in the plot to Cameron
secretly following Cal at the beginning of the book. That being said, perhaps
the reason Aveyard didn’t do more with that particular moment in the book is
because she thought that it could possibly diminish the emotional impact that
Cal’s betrayal at the end of the book would have on the reader. Regardless of
why Aveyard chose to not have more build up to Cal betraying the others, I
still think that she should have done a little bit more plot-wise to build up
to Cal’s betrayal at the end of the book.
Having
Evangeline be one of the P.O.V. characters in this book, or the Red Queen
series in general, definitely proved to be something that I didn’t know I
wanted or needed in my life until I read King’s Cage. Honestly, I’ve
been so busy focusing on my desire to have Aveyard write material for the Red
Queen series from Maven’s point of view that I hadn’t even considered the
idea of Evangeline being a P.O.V. character at some point in the series. I’ve
always thought that Evangeline served as a really interesting and well-written rival
for Mare, but I honestly didn’t realize what a great character she truly is prior
to reading this book. In addition to adding even more depth and complexity to
Maven as a character, I thought that Aveyard added a great deal of complexity
to Evangeline that I absolutely loved in this book as well.
One of the
reasons why I loved King’s Cage more than I enjoyed Glass Sword,
is because compared to Glass Sword, I thought that Aveyard did a much
better job of balancing all of the action that takes place throughout the
course of this book with some truly fantastic character interaction and
character development for pretty much all of the characters in the series;
especially when it comes to Maven and Evangeline. Plus, I thought that King’s
Cage featured some really good world building, and I really enjoyed the
fact that the plot of the book involved some really interesting political
elements, with Maven marrying a woman named Iris; which was part of a treaty that
he negotiated with the king of the Lakelands. Even though Iris wasn’t featured
in King’s Cage very much, I really liked what we saw of her in this
book, and I personally was very intrigued by her, so I’m really hoping that
Iris will have a larger presence in War Storm.
Being bisexual
myself, I have to say that I really love and appreciate the fact that Aveyard
incorporated several LGBTQ characters into the Red Queen series by establishing
in this book that Maven is bisexual, and Evangeline is gay. Personally, I felt
like Aveyard did a really good job of having Maven being bisexual and Evangeline
being gay actually add something to the plot of the book; in the case of both
Maven and Evangeline, and not having that be something that she did simply for
the sake of doing it. While I’ve always had VERY mixed feelings about romance
within the YA genre, I really loved the whole backstory behind the relationship
between Maven and Thomas that was given in this book. I also loved the romance
between Evangeline and Elane, and the interactions between the two of them throughout
the course of the book. That being said, I do think it would have been great if
Aveyard had been able to find way to incorporate some flashbacks of Maven and
Thomas’ relationship into King’s Cage; perhaps she could have done that if
she had had Maven be one of the P.O.V. characters for the book. However, given
everything we learned about Maven’s mother, Elara, using her powers to
manipulate his mind throughout the course of his lifetime, I’m not sure having
flashbacks of Maven and Thomas’ relationship in this book would have really
made sense to the reader, or would have felt organic from a storytelling
standpoint.
When it comes
to my thoughts on the ending of the book, Aveyard once again definitely did an excellent
job of leaving me wanting more, but thankfully, she left me wanting more in a
good way. I was genuinely surprised by the reveal that Cal had been secretly working
with his grandmother, and that she had made a deal on his behalf to rescue
Mare. I’m really excited to see what happens next in War Storm after the
whole thing involving Cal accepting his throne; prompting Mare and the rest of
the Scarlet Guard to walk away from him, and basically let the Silvers destroy
each other as they all battle for power.
All things considered;
King’s Cage definitely proved to be a huge surprise for me in terms of
how much I loved it. I really did go into reading this book feeling very
skeptical about how much I was going to enjoy it, especially when it came to
Mare being Maven’s prisoner. Honestly, I’m really surprised by how much I loved
the portion of the book where Mare was Maven’s prisoner. Ultimately, I really
love what Aveyard did with that aspect of the book’s plot, and it was
definitely one of the things that I loved the most about King’s Cage.
This book also featured some phenomenal character development for Maven, and it
definitely gave him a great deal of depth and complexity throughout the course
of the book; which is honestly something that I wasn’t very confident would
even be possible for Maven after all of the truly horrible things that he did “off
screen” in Glass Sword.
In addition to
featuring some phenomenal character development for Maven, King’s Cage also
really showcased some really great character development for Evangeline as
well. Having Evangeline be a P.O.V. character at any point in the Red Queen
series is definitely something that I didn’t know I wanted or needed in my life
until I read this book. Having Evangeline be the one who helped free Mare from
Maven’s captivity is something that I didn’t see coming at all, and I
absolutely love that particular twist in the book’s plot.
Once again, I
want to mention that I felt like Aveyard really did a great job of continuing
to expand upon the worldbuilding aspect of the Red Queen series in this book.
The part of the book that dealt with Maven marrying Iris as a part of an
alliance that he made with the Lakelands, which is something that he blackmailed
them into doing, was all very interesting me. Iris wasn’t featured in this book
all that much, but I’m already very intrigued by her; so, I really hope that
she’ll be featured in War Storm in a larger capacity.
Even though I do
feel like Cameron did contribute something to the plot of King’s Cage, and
the book as a whole by being the reader’s point of access into the lives of the
members of the Scarlet Guard, Cameron as a character and her P.O.V. chapters
are honestly the only genuine complaint that I have about this book. I just
found Cameron to be a really frustrating and annoying character to the point
that I actually considered taking points off of my score for the book, simply
because of how much I dislike her. However, I ultimately decided not to do that,
since while I’m a huge fan of ensemble stories, it’s very rare that I like
every character, and every storyline in an ensemble story. Putting my
complaints about Cameron aside, King’s Cage is definitely my favorite
book in the Red Queen series so far, and I’m definitely very excited to
read War Storm after reading this book.
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