A review by caroline_mclaughlin
King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

This book is like 3 times longer than it should be and even though there is quite a bit of action, it’s so boring. There are three perspectives, but if you didn’t title them, there would be almost no way of knowing they’re different people. Not a single one of them has a unique voice and literally all 3 of them spend a good majority talking about maven/cal or their brother, because they all have one that is often their primary motivation. The only difference is Evangeline barely had her pov introduced and it was already more interesting than the entire previous book. Even despite this, all three spend far too much time reiterating the same things and even repeating info from the previous books which further adds to their lack of distinction. They each have to describe every motion and feeling that crosses their mind, and though I also feel that need in my day to day life, it creates the dullest reading experience. I don’t need to know that you can feel the lighting under your skin for the 50th time or that you miss your brother, I could pick that up from behavior if the author actually trusted the reader to draw the occasional conclusion.

Beyond this, the world building is terrible. I never know where we are or who is fighting who or why or what the locations mean. Not a single aspect of this book has personality or individualism and that really makes it all blend together. Not only was the plot meandering yet again, but I still don’t find most of the characters compelling at this point, and the story is almost finished. As someone who genuinely feels like they have to read every series they start, including little one off books or short stories, this book is making me seriously reconsider.

It’s really just an unfortunate mix of every other book in the genre that is much better than it (shadow and bone, cinder, and even winters promise or cruel prince), and even the worst of any of these has been better and even just shorter than the best of this series. I’ve never struggled so much to remember which things were from this book as opposed to the others while I was reading. I would recommend any of those series over this one, and I can’t imagine that the last book is going to change my mind at all.