HOLY SMOKES so much just happened! Those battles! The tragic love stories! That ENDING!!! Like I'm still a little flabbergasted at the moment but I'm going to rally for this review! I'm going to try not to give too much away but be aware some of the following will contain light spoilers. 
 First and foremost, I think King's Cage was a juicy character study. I love getting to really know who a character is. There is so much character building here and I became obsessed. I mean this is the third book in the series so I kind of already did know these characters but King's Cage somehow felt much more intimate. We finally get inside of Maven's twisted brain and learn the extent of the damage from Elara. It's tragic and horrifying to know that he can't really distinguish which thoughts are really his own and which were implanted. It makes for a much more complex and sympathetic villain. Mare finally has her fire back! I think a big part of my dislike for Glass Sword came from her just moping around. In King's Cage she's mentally fragile but she's at least fighting back as much as she can. She's back to being an amazing heroine that I admire. I think the best way I can sum up Mare's fight is with this badass quote: 
 "As I stand, fists clenched, teeth bared, I'm ready to fight and willing to lose. I won't be abandoned here without taking someone's teeth." 
 The narration shifts perspective King's Cage and we get to hear from Cameron and Evangeline. Cameron is an interesting and flawed character but she's just insufferable as a person. I found her interesting but ultimately I found her narration to be annoying. Evangeline is a hateful bitch but at least I understand her now. I actually loved her point of view. It's interesting to see a person who has always been the villain as a human person with hopes and dreams and love in her heart for her family. I feel like she and Mare are much more alike that they care to admit. If they weren't divided by blood I would like to think that they would even be friends. (view spoiler)[ Evangeline and Elane are in love! I really love this addition and can't wait to hear more about them! (hide spoiler)] I just really hope I get to hear more from her in the next book! 
 As for all the romance... I don't get the Maven shippers. Don't get me wrong, I do have some sympathy for him and would love to see him redeemed. But everyone seems to forget that he also left twisted "love" notes on dead babies for Mare to find and fucking BRANDED her. That "ship" has long since sailed. I think forgiveness could be possible but never a romance. Speaking of which, I don't exactly see her ending up with Cal either. While I do enjoy their sweet romance and their love for each other, (view spoiler)[ Mare and Cal lose their virginities to each other. The actual event is omitted but it was still so special (hide spoiler)] Mare and Cal are very different people. The way they see the world and their belief structures are just too fundamentally at odds to ever really be able to coexist harmoniously. (view spoiler)[ It was heart breaking when Cal doesn't choose Mare and decides to go back and be King again. I'm a bit more neutral in the decision though. I can see how either side would be right in their own minds and I'm really not sure what the best course of action really should be. It doesn't make it any less heart breaking though. (hide spoiler)] I think the narrative has moved beyond just being a romance and there are just bigger issues to be dealt with than a relationship. 
 After reading King's Cage I'm incredibly worried that no one will make it out alive. Everything is just one big tangled web of deception and intrigue. Mutual destruction seems inevitable at this point. The next book is bound to get much darker before it can rise, red as the dawn.