Introduction
King’s Cage was written by Victoria Aveyard and published on May 15th, 2018, by Harper Teen publishing company as the third book in the Red Queen series. In my opinion, these books continue to get better as they progress, and I remain baffled that the friend who recommended it to me never finished it herself. For those like her who haven’t read this book or this series, the Spoiler-Free Thoughts section is a solid place to start, but I will warn those who haven’t read the first two installments that there will be references to those books even in this section. For those who have read the series and want more of my opinions, the Thoughts section is open for discussion. Those with ideas and opinions of their own can share them in the comments of any social media or blog post, I love hearing from others.
If you want to explore more of Victoria Aveyard’s work, check out her website https://victoriaaveyard.com/ and follow her on social media @victoriaaveyard.
Plot
With Mare as Maven’s captive, she has little more to do than collect information for a scrambling Scarlet Guard. Cal, Kilorn, and the Barrows are ghosts while the Farley’s figure out their next steps against a kingdom in shambles.
Spoiler-Free Thoughts
I was really hoping there would be multiple points of view, but I wasn’t expecting there to be three in this one, nor was I expecting whose perspectives we would be getting. Mare, of course, was representing what was going on as a prisoner in Maven’s castle. I was expecting Cal to be the voice of the Scarlet Guard’s side of things, but I suppose that with his emotional distress, that wouldn’t be logical. Instead, they diverted to Cameron, which would not have been my second choice, but I was pleasantly surprised. The most shocking one was the third. Evangeline of all people was the one to show us what was happening within the castle from the perspective of a “free” woman - though her circumstances were less than ideal - and I was not at all expecting where her story would take them.
Cameron’s distaste for Mare and the rest of the crew - aside from one person - told through her bluntly sarcastic inner monologue made sense and gave a first-person perspective from someone not sold on the Scarlet Guard’s tactics. Sarcasm aside though, Cam’s rough edges were definitely smoothed out by her brother’s return, even though Mare’s absence put everyone on edge for different reasons. Farley also seemed to open up to her more than she did with Mare, which makes sense because Cam is a bit more similar to Farley than Mare is, and Cam respects her more. When I read books with multiple points of view, I tend to gravitate more towards one than the rest, and I did prefer Mare’s perspective, but I felt that the switches between them were well timed. When Mare’s got stale - captivity can only keep me invested for so long - or we needed more information, it would switch to Cam’s, and when I got bored of Cal moping and war tactics, it switched again.
Usually it swapped over to Mare, of course. I love that each new book picks up exactly where the previous one left off. Maven’s intentions, despite Mare’s proximity to him in this book, remain unclear. At times, he seems ready to throw her to the wolves, and the conditions of her captivity at the very least suggest that he doesn’t care for her well-being. Other times, he seems to want to protect her. Either way, Mare’s continued imprisonment was kept interesting through her various interactions with other characters, sleuthing, and - of course - escape attempts. Maven is one of the more complex villains I’ve read, and his story is a tragedy both of circumstance and his own creation. The complexity surrounding his character and what I think of him makes me feel more connected to Mare because I also want to hate him, but I can’t help but pity him.
I was not ready for a third point of view, and I especially wasn’t expecting it to be Evangeline’s. I was immediately hooked and completely torn. On one hand, Evangeline and Ptolemous are humanized in these chapters, but that doesn’t make me forget the terrible things they’ve done. Without spoiling too much, Evangeline’s actions become more clear as her motives are revealed, and I really hope that we see more of her in the last book. I understand the appeal of royalty and the apparent freedom that accompanies it. She’s horrible, but somehow I still feel for her. She’s complex in a very similar way to Maven.
With all of this in mind, I give this book a 9/10, the best so far in the series.
Thoughts
As I mentioned above, I was not expecting Cameron to be the Scarlet Guard based perspective. My initial assumption would have been Cal or Kilorn, but looking back on it, Cameron was a good choice. Of course Kilorn and the Barrow family would feel and act like ghosts after Mare gave herself up to Maven, and it’s not a surprise that Cal is somewhat out of his mind with worry. He of all people would understand the danger Mare is in. Aside from Cameron’s general removal from the entire situation, it is no secret that she has never liked Mare, which allows her to look at this from a different, more strategic angle. It also sheds a different light on the Scarlet Guard, as Cameron never cared for them either, though she may sympathize with their cause. She had a lot of character growth in this book, and at the end of it all, I felt like she and Mare were in a much better place. It doesn’t seem that Cam will have a huge role in the final installment, but I do think that her choosing to confide in and take advice from Mare when she returns shows that their relationship is shaky but much more positive than it used to be.
Mare’s perspective was kept interesting by her repeated escape attempts and reconnaissance within the castle. Her first try didn’t work - it would have been incredibly unrealistic if it did, and she needed to stay longer for the sake of gathering information - but her use of electricity to do it when that very gift had been stolen from her was satisfying. As for Maven, I don’t want to feel bad for or sympathetic to him, but there were moments where it was hard not to. His mother made him into a monster, and he knew it. I’m finally starting to accept that Maven won’t be getting his redemption arc, and I feel like this series will likely end with his death, which I have mixed feelings about. Another gripping aspect was that of the civil war between the houses, which was delightful to read. The ending was awesome, and it makes me excited to see where the final book takes us. I do think that Mare and Cal will ultimately end up together, but the rift between them is huge, and they both need to communicate better in order to make it work.
Evangeline’s chapters were interesting, and I enjoyed them despite myself. I don’t want to sympathize with her or find Ptolemous funny, especially after Shade’s death, but there were times where it was hard not to. Her motives seemed confusing at first - it seemed that she would have done anything to be with Cal, but then when she was presented a similar opportunity to rule at Maven’s side, she did all that she reasonably could to sabotage it. Of course, it was later revealed to be because she was in love with Elane, and her best bet at being with her was with Cal. I was intrigued that it seems even if Maven can’t have his redemption arc, then Evangeline can have hers. The ending, and the introduction of an entire new kingdom on the chess board opens up so many new avenues that I can’t wait to see explored in the final installment.
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