Compared to its predecessor, King’s Cage was a giant upgrade. Glass Sword had a generic plot, a nonexistent villain, and a suffocating protagonist. With this recent installment, the characters, the world, and the mythos felt polished to the bone. The titular perspective was still Mare but given her circumstance as Maven’s prisoner, we got to see other points-of-view as well. This provided a more wholly look on the Scarlet Guard and the Kingdom of Norta and just proved how Mare isn’t the “great, chosen center of it all”, which was refreshing, to say the least.
As readers, we were given only snippets of the big picture. We couldn’t always see what pieces are being moved in the grand chess board of it all and that brought about a sense of welcomed unpredictability (this was where my theories were gleefully pushed aside). Every turning point was read at the edge of my seat. At the same time, there were also instances where we purposefully knew more than the characters do and the impending moments were built-up with anticipation, generating a heavier impact when the hammer finally fell.
"Those who know what it's like in the dark will do anything to stay in the light."
Mare in Glass Sword was condescending, shameless, and self-centered. And although I see how circumstance had brought her to that state, it was still quite unnerving to read. Fortunately, circumstance once again intervened and I actually do have Maven to thank for that. Mare learns to appreciate the little things in life, be a team player, and not adjust the spotlight to herself. She’s definitely way more fun to read. And that folks, is called character development.
Ever since Mare first knelt to Maven, it’s become obvious how the third book will cater more to my beloved boy-king. (Yes, I don’t hate him.) As I stated in my Glass Sword review, Maven was mostly limited to desperate love letters, trails of violence, and propaganda banners. He was represented as a ghost – the unseen boogey man – and that catered to Mare’s and by extension, the readers’ perception of him as the powerful yet psychopathic, inhumane momma’s boy. In King’s Cage, we finally get to see his side of the story. The best part was that in her incarceration, Mare has a preexisting relationship – a stick – her only weapon amidst all the silence. She knows him well enough to confidently poke the monster. With the great lack of MareCal, their interactions were highly anticipated, only to just peek through the crumbling bricks around Maven, especially now without Elara’s guiding hand. I’ve always had a soft spot for well-rounded antagonists and the current Nortan King fits the bill. His vulnerabilities and honesty around Mare were my drug.
"...monsters are most dangerous when they are afraid."
What I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed with King’s Cage was how the whole plot revolved around its characters and their motives. Victoria Aveyard introduced a lot of new players in this book but they didn’t feel out-of-place or awkward. In The Amazing Spiderman 2, the variety of villains felt crowded and aimless. While with Aveyard, each individual, may it be a protagonist or an antagonist, had a role to play. The plot served the characters and the characters served the plot. Meaningfully. She brought out this balance through weaving emotional and driven interactions and there is the whole of Act Three that can attest to that. She was able to create solid arcs from distinct personalities, as I saw through Maven, Mare, and Cal, and even present in the side characters.
(And because this is a non-spoiler review, all I can say is, Act Three – around 75% in – was the epitome of my existence. And then the ending just crushed that very existence.)
Victoria Aveyard toyed with my emotions like never before. She gave me something in King’s Cage I didn’t even know I wanted so very bad until I was smiling and laughing all giddy by reading about it until I wasn’t. The ending was the inevitable answer to the underlying question of MareCal’s relationship from the beginning. I was expecting it. I know, no matter how much denial, that it was bound to happen and yet, the touchdown was still heartbreaking. A painful experience that warrants an applause. Victoria literally left me hyperventilating (I have snaps to prove it!) and dying for the continuation.
"To stand in front of a person who is your whole world and be told you are not enough. You are not the choice. You are a shadow to the person who is your sun.”
I cannot deny the amount of fun I had reading King’s Cage after a year of waiting. But, of course, there’s just a minor kink that was Cameron. She was one of the perspectives side-by-side Mare and because they had around a 5:1 ratio in chapters, I always end up looking forward to Cameron’s POV for more Scarlet Guard (yes, Farley) and more (more) Cal. However, oftentimes, she was downgraded to a mere third-person narrator, only there to explain whatever’s happening with the Scarlet Guard. I enjoyed her bluntness regarding Mare’s high-and-mighty attitude and Cal’s dilemmas but they quickly grew over worn. Her motive was clear from the beginning: to save her twin brother from the Red army and even that seemed like an excuse for Cameron to be a three-dimensional character. A good portion of her arc was messy and rushed compared to the rest of the book. Worst of all, there were way too many conveniences along the way. Cameron left me a good impression in Glass Sword for shamelessly pointing out Mare’s flaws. It disappointed me how she was the least handled of all in King’s Cage, despite earning some first-person chapters.
Even then, King’s Cage is definitely my favorite among the three released with Red Queen as a close second. It was well-paced and thoroughly built from its politics to its morals to its characters. I enjoyed every little scene that built up all the arcs. experiencing from different perspectives was even better. The overall plot was literally bloody and also clean in a sense that it felt as if it had gone through as much revisions as it could. It definitely served the book well. By the end, King’s Cage was a plethora of emotions. It got me contented and devastated at the same time. And now, desperate to know the fates of my beloved characters.
And because Julienne had mentioned its usefulness, I rate King's Cage:
5 out of 5 stars
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