King's Cage

King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard is the latest book in the Red Queen series.

Mare Barrow is a prisoner, powerless without her lightning, tormented by her lethal mistakes. She lives at the mercy of a boy she once loved, a boy made of lies and betrayal. Now a king, Maven Calore continues weaving his dead mother's web in an attempt to maintain control over his country—and his prisoner.

As Mare bears the weight of Silent Stone in the palace, her once-ragtag band of newbloods and Reds continue organizing, training, and expanding. They prepare for war, no longer able to linger in the shadows. And Cal, the exiled prince with his own claim on Mare's heart, will stop at nothing to bring her back.

When blood turns on blood, and ability on ability, there may be no one left to put out the fire—leaving Norta as Mare knows it to burn all the way down.

The Breakdown:
1. I just want to start by saying this has not been my favorite book of the series.  The book was very slow moving, with most of the book spent with Mare as Maven's captive.   I did like that Aveyard added in other perspectives from Mare, which made the story more dynamic.

2. Despite the slowing moving story line, I enjoyed Mare more in this book that I did in Glass Sword.  She is slowly growing as a character.  In the previous book, she was almost to angsty to be likable, and this book, even in her terrible situation, she a little more likable.  She seems to be growing as a character, and learning to deal with her emotions and situations better.

3. By far the best character development goes to Evangeline.  In the first two books, I really hated her and thought she was just a power hungry Silver.  In this book, not only does she do the unexpected, but Aveyard gives her several chapters from her perspective.  In a way, she is just as trapped in her position as Mare is at times. I am interested to see how this progresses in the next book.

4.  I am so disappointed in Cal's character.  He appears to be unable to decided were he really stands on the Reds vs. Silvers issue.  And good gods, that man does not seem capable of making a decision for himself.  As much as I hate Maven, he does have a valid point when he says that Cal is a soldier used to taking orders, not a King to make them. Just once I want him to take a strong stance on an issue.

5. Speaking of Maven, he is one messed up dude.  After learning what his own mother did him, it is no wonder he has so many issues.  At times I don't know whether to truly hate him for what he is doing or pity him from what has been done to him.

6. While the book is a little slow moving for my taste, it does bring some important things to light.  I feel like this book is more of a stepping stone to set up for the next book.  With the ending, I am interested to see where Aveyard takes the next book and the characters' journeys.

To Read or Not to Read:
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