Book: King’s Cage
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Series: Book #3 of Red Queen series
First published February 7, 2017
King’s Cage
In this breathless third installment to Victoria Aveyard’s bestselling Red Queen series, allegiances are tested on every side. And when the Lightning Girl’s spark is gone, who will light the way for the rebellion?
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.
King’s Cage for Mare
The end of the second book was totally unexpected. Mare is tied up. Maven has found a perverse way to control her. Mare is under constant surveillance and her powers are suppressed by the mute stone. Once again she is made a puppet on strings. She is presented to the public as a Red Guard fugitive who has discovered the truth about rebel brutality. But after each public appearance, she is locked back into her chambers, her prison.
Without her lightning, escape is impossible…
The rebels continue their war. It turns out that the Guard’s action is much larger than the Silvers thought. The rebels have gained powerful allies and are determined to topple the Silvers from power.
Many of the Reds are bitter about the propaganda role the Mare plays for Maven. But the Newbloods are also loyal and know she has no choice. Together with Cal, they will try to rescue the Lightning Girl from Maven’s clutches, but the task seems impossible. Their only chance is to infiltrate Maven’s palace, the Silvers’ center of power.
War between the Silvers and the Reds is inevitable.
Again, there were some twists and surprises in this part of the series. Mare found some unexpected allies during his time in the palace. Under the protection of the Emperor, she used her time there to get to know Maven better. Behind the cruel mask he still wears for her is the frightened boy she thought he was. To her, Maven is different, honest. He loves her. He is willing to hold her captive for the rest of her life, and if he can keep her by his side in this way. Maven is a rather contradictory character. On one hand you want to hate him, on the other hand the truths that are revealed about him evoke only pity and sympathy.
On the other side is Cal. With his strange kindness, he is very sympathetic to me. It makes you wonder how he survived in this wasps’ nest. The only thing he shows a strong character for is Mare. I so wish that things would work out between them and that this love would blossom, but as you probably already know if you have read the previous books, there’s a big gap between them. He is Silver and she is Red. Mare is the face of the rebel movement and he is the coveted emperor.
The end of the book was, of course, brutal, with a capital B. Absolutely and uncompromisingly, Victoria Ivyard blew me away like a raging tornado.
Yes, I have really enjoyed this series so far. Yes, this will not be my last work by the author. And YES I recommend it.
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