King's Cage is a tumultuous journey for our heroine Mare, due to the fact that it begins with her imprisonment. King Maven proves himself to be a very sadistic ruler, a man who Mare once deeply loved. For the first third of the book, Mare has to endure torment after torment. The amount of pages her captivity takes up became daunting and tiresome. While this could be looked as a major flaw, I valued it. In a way, that same fatigue Mare felt became reflected in the amount of pages which caused us as the reader to feel the same. Art imitating life and vice versa.What I loved most was Maven's huge role within King's Cage. Many fans like myself grew to favor his Dark and sadistic ways, and we didn't get to see him like that in the previous book. However, when Mare and Maven share a kiss, I felt awoken from a trance. No longer did I look upon Maven with kind eyes and a worthy suitor for Mare. She deserved better than that. She deserves Cal, his brother. Their kiss is described to be a "violation" of sorts. It made me cringe to see a character who I once rooted for, be described so villainously. In my eyes what they have is tarnished. The only sliver of hope he has with a fan like myself is knowing the brutal upbringing he had under his mother. She took his humanity away with her ability to ascertain extent. She molded him into the monster he has become. His morals are so blurred to the point he doesn't know where he himself begins, and where his mother's mind control ends. He just might be lost forever. As broken as Mare is too, two broken pieces do not in fact, make a whole.I could discuss key details and such, but I believe an overall impression needs to be fleshed out. This book is about mourning. We need to mourn the Mare that is forever changed because of her imprisonement. She has seen and done things that will forever leave her tainted. We need to mourn Maven for the same reason, as well as Maven's and Mare's possible relationship. It will never happen. It just wouldn't be healthy for them to wind up together.As bleak as this book felt for most of it's content, I can happily say we now have a Mare similar to the one from Red Queen. She's once again fierce, cunning, and motivated by her goals. It will be such a delight to see this Mare in action in book 4 to which I eagerly await.King's Cage was a dark foreboding journey that brings it's characters to the brink. Darkness looms in many characters in the book, and each must force themselves to face it. Some handle it better than others, but ultimately it's their convictions that guide them through that darkness.
