King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard
Genre: Dystopian
Publisher: Orion
Pages: 528
Format: e-book
Rating: ★★.5
Series: Red Queen
Note: We received this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review!

So, I loved Red Queen but found Glass Sword to be a bit out there, and I have to admit that King’s Cage dragged. I feel like this is the one instance where it would’ve worked better as a trilogy! Seriously, this book is over 500 pages and it moves sooo slowly, and not in a good way. But I’m invested in the series, and considering there’s only one more to go, I’m going to soldier on and read it when it comes out next year.

On the plus side, if you liked Mockingjay then you’ll like the trajectory of the Red Queen series. Mare is for sure struggling with some kind of PTSD and the deaths of those around her really affect how she behaves and they way she expresses her feelings. It’s got that gritty realistic dystopian vibe, that I think a lot of people will appreciate.

I think my main problem was that I just got lost in the names and the places. It’s been a year since I read Glass Sword and I struggled to remember who was on which side and who the new character’s were. One of my favourite things about A Traitor to the Throne by Alywn Hamilton, was that she included a cast of characters in the beginning so it was easier to situate ourselves in the sequel. King’s Cage could definitely have done with that. I might just have to go on Recaptains next time to make are I know what’s going on before I get started on he finale.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t remember there being different POVs in the other two books. I guess there just wasn’t enough happening to Mare that we needed to occupy someone else’s mind across the country to get a better sense of what was going on. Evangeline also got chapters towards the end and that was fun, and something I hope keep up in the final book, because she’s one of the more complex characters. I guess I just found Mare’s POV to be a bit dry in general, I don’t know.

This is also the WAR book with a huge focus on the rebellion and who’s occupying which area and who’s going to come out on top with powers. Then we get a training montage section towards the end of the book, and honestly, things felt jumbled. I don’t think there was a big of an emotional connection to the characters as with the other books, and where Glass Sword really explored the New Bloods, I felt like that thread was abandoned here.

So, without spoiling anything, King’s Cage was drawn out way too much, but I think it was just trying to focus on the political and injustice elements of the world and you definitely get a sense of this if you read the acknowledgment which shows Aveyard to be very politically engaged herself!