Fiction for Teens

Warning: spoilers if you haven’t read the first two books in the series!

In Aveyard’s penultimate instalment of the Red Queen series, we once again join Mare, Cal and the Red Guard on her fight against the oppressive system in the Kingdom of Norta. After the events of Glass Sword, Mare is confined to Maven’s palace as a puppet, her once strong, fear-inducing powers now reduced to nothing. As the rebellion continues without her, Mare must watch from the sidelines. Cal, on the other hand, the exiled prince, will stop at little to get her back…

In King’s Cage, Aveyard introduces extra points-of-view, alternating between different characters each chapter. This makes a lot of sense, as due to Mare’s prisoner status, she misses out on much of the action. other characters narrate a couple of chapters here and there, but the narration is mainly shared between Mare and Cameron, a supporting character who first made an appearance in the previous book. initially, I couldn’t understand why she had been chosen to tell her side of the story, but it soon became clear that it was because she represented the voice of reason and honesty in the novel. I really enjoyed learning more about Maven in this novel and his feelings towards Mare – he is such a complex character, which as a reader requires you to dig through his language and outward displays of emotion to uncover his true nature.

I feel like this book was somewhat of a filler book to the fourth book, and I was left wanting a little more – more exploration of Maven’s character, and more exploration of some of the supporting characters, whom I personally found more interesting than Mare. The first three books have set a foundation for a great fourth book; I can see potential for the story to be full of twists and turns and for alliances to be tested. I really hope that I will not be let down, and that it brings the series to a close neatly.

Have you read this series? let me know what you think in the comments!