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A review by frenchtoast_n_books
King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
3 stars may be generous. Maybe 2.5 stars is more fitting. I'll keep thinking about it, or treat it like an episode of "Who's Line Is It Anyway" where the points are made up and the points don't matter...but in this case it's stars instead of points. The world may never know, much like where Carmen Sandiego is. Now, enough blabbering about things. Let's get on with the review.
Glass Sword was a whirlwind that gave me whiplash.
King's Cage bored me to tears.
I was so bored by the middle point of this book that I honestly didn't care what happened to any of the characters, except maybe for Cameron, and even that was lack luster. I even broke one rule I've never broken before. I read the epilogue without reading the second half and I STILL DIDN'T CARE. Then I left the book alone for weeks until I was ready to pick it up again.
When I was ready to pick it up again I switched media from physical book to ebook so if I was bored I could fall asleep and not lose my place while reading. It took a while but I did finally finish every page of this chunky book.
Did I cry at the end? Yes. Its hard not to when the pacing of the book goes from snail to cheetah in the span of a chapter or 2 and you start caring again. Caring may be too strong of a word, but I must still care for Mare's story because I cried.
Now, as I stated the first half to 2/3 of this book are snail paced and dull. The book rotates between Mare and Cameron's POVs where you get the inside scoop of the Red Guard trying to save Mare and dismantle Maven's reign of terror and Mare's pity party. The second half to last third kicks Cameron to the curb to introduce Evangeline's POV to try and humanize her while Mare is still throwing a pity party. To be fair, Mare is deserving of her pity party. Shit happens to her, but I'm drowning in it for far too long. Plus Cal is insufferable and makes my tenuous ship sink because I can't seem to care any longer for his shit. Naturally, this means all character development from the previous books seem moot and makes me wave the "idgaf" banner.
Now, obviously characterization of this story and the plot execution were big struggles for me. However, I did enjoy a slice of what I got from the other countries surrounding Norta (Piedmont, Montfort, and Lakelands) because we do get to see the inner workings of these nations in the story. Also, though I was nagging starting Evangeline's POV before even getting to it, her POV was interesting to an extent and I loved the lesbian rep. Lastly, in my positivity train, I did enjoy the overall plot of the story and can appreciate that each POV was distinct and felt authentic to each character.
As I still cried by the end of the book, and my friend said many times that Mare gets her "just desserts" in the 4th and final book, I weirdly still want to continue the series. Am I a glutton for punishment or will I enjoy it? I'll find out as i prepare to "watch them all burn."
Glass Sword was a whirlwind that gave me whiplash.
King's Cage bored me to tears.
I was so bored by the middle point of this book that I honestly didn't care what happened to any of the characters, except maybe for Cameron, and even that was lack luster. I even broke one rule I've never broken before. I read the epilogue without reading the second half and I STILL DIDN'T CARE. Then I left the book alone for weeks until I was ready to pick it up again.
When I was ready to pick it up again I switched media from physical book to ebook so if I was bored I could fall asleep and not lose my place while reading. It took a while but I did finally finish every page of this chunky book.
Did I cry at the end? Yes. Its hard not to when the pacing of the book goes from snail to cheetah in the span of a chapter or 2 and you start caring again. Caring may be too strong of a word, but I must still care for Mare's story because I cried.
Now, as I stated the first half to 2/3 of this book are snail paced and dull. The book rotates between Mare and Cameron's POVs where you get the inside scoop of the Red Guard trying to save Mare and dismantle Maven's reign of terror and Mare's pity party. The second half to last third kicks Cameron to the curb to introduce Evangeline's POV to try and humanize her while Mare is still throwing a pity party. To be fair, Mare is deserving of her pity party. Shit happens to her, but I'm drowning in it for far too long. Plus Cal is insufferable and makes my tenuous ship sink because I can't seem to care any longer for his shit. Naturally, this means all character development from the previous books seem moot and makes me wave the "idgaf" banner.
Now, obviously characterization of this story and the plot execution were big struggles for me. However, I did enjoy a slice of what I got from the other countries surrounding Norta (Piedmont, Montfort, and Lakelands) because we do get to see the inner workings of these nations in the story. Also, though I was nagging starting Evangeline's POV before even getting to it, her POV was interesting to an extent and I loved the lesbian rep. Lastly, in my positivity train, I did enjoy the overall plot of the story and can appreciate that each POV was distinct and felt authentic to each character.
As I still cried by the end of the book, and my friend said many times that Mare gets her "just desserts" in the 4th and final book, I weirdly still want to continue the series. Am I a glutton for punishment or will I enjoy it? I'll find out as i prepare to "watch them all burn."