Saturday 22 April 2017

King's Cage - Book Review


King’s Cage - Book Review
Victoria Aveyard
YA Fantasy
Red Queen Book # 3
UK Publisher: Orion

Other Books in the series:
Glass Sword

Synopsis:

Mare Barrow is a prisoner, powerless without her lightening, 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 the Silent Stone in the palace, her once-ragtag band of newbloods and Reds continue organising, 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.

Review:

I have really enjoyed this series so far, but I must admit that this third book didn’t exactly start with a bang. Having said that, I did enjoy the in-depth look we received into all the characters, even if I did feel the first half was really drawn out.

This third book picks up straight from where the previous book ended. Mare is now Mavens prisoner, and with her will broken and lightning powers leashed she soon finds herself the new king’s puppet. Thankfully Cal - the exiled Prince turned rebel - will do anything to see Mare set free, no matter the lives cost.

Now with brother fighting brother, and the powerful new-bloods battling the God-like silvers, Mare’s country is being destroyed from all sides…

I’m still pumped on all the action and thrilling revelations that came with this book’s ending. Enough so that I’ve almost, almost forgotten how little I actually liked the beginning. For me the problem was that Mare is super withdrawn and depressed (although considering she spends months locked in a room unable to use her powers it’s understandable) but not exactly fun to read. 

However what did redeem it for me was the in-depth look we got at Maven’s backstory. Although still the villain, he is easy to pity for his childhood and we get a glimpse at the boy he could have been had his mother not turned him into a monster. Mare’s pity and soft spot for Maven is finally relatable. However I the first half of the book was so long winded that I was going a little crazy waiting for something to happen.

The action, when it came though, was definitely worth waiting for. The latter half of the book unleashed all the intrigue, explosion and first-book-goodness that I was waiting for. I actually thought it all became very Game of Thrones like, what with the backstabbing, new alliances and additional characters, not to mention a couple of new POVs woven into the flow. 

As for the romance, for the most part I liked it. Mare and Cal’s relationship has always been deep and meaningful, yet they both remain quite selfish people. This in particular came across really well in this book, and I’m super curious to see what will be in store for them next. 

All in all, this is a good read but I thought it was a little filler like. I probably would have liked it more if the beginning had been at least one hundred pages shorter - however I’m still excited to read the final book in the series which will release next year. Overall, I would give King’s Cage 3 stars!

Talk to Me

What are you thoughts on this series? Are you enjoying it so far?

6 comments:

  1. Gee, it's too bad that this book was a bit disappointing for you.... :( I've heard great things about this series, and would like to start reading it. But sometimes a series will start off with a bang, and then one or more of the sequels don't quite live up to the promise of the first novel. I can relate.... This happened to me with the Charlotte Holmes novels by Britanny Cavallaro. The first one, "A Study In Charlotte", was AWESOME!! But the second one, "The Last of August", just dragged and dragged....

    i like your take on the characters in this novel. You see both their good and bad sides, and point this out to your readers. EXCELLENT review!!

    Hope you're having a WONDERFUL Saturday!! <3 :)

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  2. Thanks for stopping by Maria. And yeah - the series started out so great but I feel the pacing in this third book really slowed to a dawdle - still I have high hopes for the final book which will release next year. Fingers crossed it will be an epic ending :)

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  3. I actually enjoyed this book more than book two, which I found a bit predictable. I think it was really interesting finding out more about Maven's backstory. I'm also with you on Mare and Cal - I'm really curious to find out what happens between them now because I don't imagine it's going to be all sunshine and rainbows!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Liz :) And I agree, Maven's backstory was definitely worth reading - he's so much more relatable now, even if he is the villain. But I am very excited for the next book - I just cant predict whats going to happen!

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  4. Great review and I definitely completely agree! I enjoyed the book overall, but the beginning was very slow. Luckily the insight in Maven and the action-filled ending redeemed it a bit :) Still super excited for the the final book!

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    1. It was such a shame about the slow beginning - but I guess I can understand why the author did it. Still that ending was explosive and Its definitely left me thirsting for more :)

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