King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard is the third installment in the Red Queen series. Mare is a prisoner in Maven’s court; a pet and  a tool to be used in a propaganda war against the Scarlet Guard. With her power gone, Mare is but a shadow of herself and all she can do is watch as the world tears itself apart.
With his mother dead, Maven is free from her whispers but what is left of him is twisted and paranoid. He is a king forged of betrayal and deceit and his court is a nest of vipers. Maven has many obsessions but none more dark and powerful then his obsession with Mare.
On the other side of the world revolution rages as the Scarlet Guard, Cal and the New Bloods work to put an end to Maven’s rule and free Mare from her cage.
Will the lightning girl survive her captivity? Will she find a way to escape? Will she be able to retain her life as well as her sanity? And what will she do when the world begins to burn?
I’m one of those readers who finds it hard to give up a series even if I’m not really into it. And that seems to be the case with this one. I enjoyed the Red Queen but Aveyard sort of lost me after the second book and now, the third book, hasn’t pulled me back in.
This one just dragged. There were pockets of awesomeness in the battles but overall, the story crawled along and felt very woe is me. There was too much focus on this broken, obsessive relationship between Mare and Maven. It was fine when they were actually interacting with each other, that was interesting but the commentary on this obsession went on and on.
The characters aren’t very believable in my opinion. I really don’t like broken Mare. She is so pathetic, too pathetic and everyone comments about her snark and bite but I don’t see it. She’s too docile in her position as Maven’s pet. I understand she’s conflicted and broken but the way she was originally written just doesn’t add to this–in my opinion.  Mare’s imprisonment is also so unrealistic. She’s killed so many and Maven is just a boy king and yet no one really begrudges her existence or tries harder to kill her.
One thing I did enjoy about this book is the battles. I did think they were well done. There was a good balance of action and story and there was enough tension and violence to make it believable. I liked getting a glimpse at these powers in action, being pitted against one another.
This just isn’t a series I am excited about. I’ll probably tough it out and make it to the end but I am not connecting to the characters at all. This one gets two stars from me.
That’s all for now!
-M-