BOOK | 'The King's Cage' by Victoria Aveyard
'The King's Cage' is the third book in the 'Red Queen' series by American young adult author, Victoria Aveyard. It continues on from its previous novel following Mare Barrow, who is now a prisoner, powerless without her lightning and haunted by her mistakes. She lives in the mercy of someone she once loved - someone who is only made of lies and betrayal, and who now finds himself to be king.
Photo: The Bucklist Book Blog
Maven, her former flame, continues to weave his late mother's devious web in attempt to maintain strict control over his country and his prisoner. As Mare attempts to bear the weight of the Silent Stone in the palace, her once ragtag band of new bloods and Reds continue organising, training, and expanding their grasp. They prepare for war and are no longer able to linger in the shadows. Cal, the exiled prince with his own claim on Mare's heart, will stop at nothing to bring her to justice. When blood turns on blood, ability on ability, there may be no-one left to put out the fire and leaving the country as Mare knows it to burn to ashes.
It seems that by the time the third book of the 'Red Queen' is released, there's been little to no improvement by Aveyard as a writer. Her most recent effort is a book that conflicts within itself, and doesn't know what it wants, especially in the characters that still failed to prove their worth in being relatable - something that the audience can connect to.
Mare is stupidly unstable, a spoiled brat, disappointing, and beyond frustrating. 'The King's Cage' isn't a waste of time if you know what you're getting into, especially considering the way 'The Glass Sword' was a disappointing experience. However, this book was much worse, as the reader couldn't be sure if it was actually a novel or screenplay at times.
It is sometimes like the description is on repeat with each scene - description of scene, then costume, then the progression of their story. It's just dull and repetitive and Aveyard doesn't seem to know how to pen a novel in the correct structure.
There is little in the description that draws you into the world, especially during the action sequences as they're scattered and lacking the complete actions needed for the readers to really understand what's happening. It's not like a movie or even a comic where the visuals can substitute for the writing; there is none of that here, and so the storyline suffers.
Aveyard continually does this throughout her novels, skipping actions and leaving readers to revisit various parts of the novel in order to understand some semblance of what is actually happening. The plot seems non-existent as a result.
Now, Mare. She is another reason why the series was a letdown. Not only was she insufferable, it was Averyard's scrambling to give Mare an ethnicity halfway through the series that created another stumbling block for the reader. Not only that, but it also forced Mare to read as a token character.
Mare's sister, Gisa, is caucasian, and when Aveyard is confronted about this, her response is lack-lustre. It too is always self-consciously talked about throughout 'The Glass Sword', and 'The King's Cage' like it was an afterthought - seemingly not something the author initially wanted when planning and writing the first novel. At least in the work of fellow young adult authors Cassandra Clare or Sabaa Tahir, their characters' identities and ethnicities are made absolutely clear from the beginning.
Aveyard is not the greatest of writers, and unfortunately, we recommend giving this book a miss.
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