Books Young Adult

“Red Queen” Series – part 3 & 4

King’s Cage and War Storm by Victoria Aveyard are the final books in the Red Queen series and I was so excited to finally have the series complete! I rushed through the third book, loving every word of it.

For the first time, the story was being told from different points of view: with the main characters being separated, chapters switched between several characters to show the developments in the different groups. This added a nice new dimension, and the reader got to see some of the other character’s thoughts and doubts. With multiple epic battles and emotional moments, the story kept my attention as always.

But then it was time for the fourth and final book. I kind of dreaded reading War Storm. Mostly because I was afraid that the ending would be disappointing, like so many great series. I just don’t like those ‘flash forward’ endings, where you get to see the main characters in a perfect future – often with the main characters having kids together. Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and even 50 Shades of Grey all end this way, and it bothers me. Mostly because it leaves nothing to the imagination of the reader, but also because it seems too perfect. With all the characters have been through, often with emotional damage, it just doesn’t make sense that everything works out perfectly. So even though I really wanted to know how this series’ story ends, that fear of the ‘perfect future-ending’ kept me from diving in head first.

But when finally my curiosity won, I couldn’t stop reading. Just as the third book, the chapters are being told from different female characters, although a few chapters are written from the perspective of the two Calore princes. I loved reading the thoughts and motivations of some characters who are displayed as the enemy. When you get to know them, you see that there is a lot more to them than what Mare sees in the first two books.

There certainly is a buildup to a plot twist. Some characters are not loyal to their alliances, so that is sure to drop a bomb. And the complicated love story continues in the fourth and final book. I won’t spoil anything about the story, but I’ll say this: because people switch sides constantly, the story keeps changing and you’ll keep wondering who is betraying who.

Verdict

King’s Cage was an amazing third book to the series. It added character development of others than Mare, making you cheer for some fictional people that you would have never imagined to be the good guys. This also leads to some small plot twists and – of course – huge battles.

War Storm might be my favorite and least favorite part of the series. As the love story develops, it kind of turns into an on-again-off-again relationship, which started to bore me. Yes, you have values that don’t match. Yes, you love each other anyway. WE GET IT.

But besides that, the story is great. Betrayal, arranged marriages and a lot of scheming make for an interesting finale. And as always form epic battles a great deal of the plot. To my delight there was no ‘perfect future-ending’, but the epilogue fitted the characters and all they have been through.

Aveyard has an appealing style of writing, sucking the reading in until the very end. (Although after a while you notice everybody either smirks or scowls constantly.) Even after finishing, I find myself still thinking about the books. Because of the open ending (compared to a more closed ‘perfect future-ending’), I can imagine different outcomes for the characters.

I would read this series again and I highly recommend it to fans of Young Adult series. Have you read this series? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

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