I am currently reading King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard, and it is slowly but surely killing me! I’m not even being dramatic, (ok, I am) this book is shredding my soul to pieces! The main character is named Mare Barrow, she has three older brothers and one younger sister. She lives in the fictional country of Norta, which is at war with the Lakelands. Her world is divided by blood, those with red blood are considered less than, and those with silver blood are nobility and royals who have supernatural powers. All people with red blood are conscripted to the war that has been going on for over a century at the age of 18 unless, they have a job and are considered an essential worker. Mare’s older brothers, Bree, Tramy, and Shade, are all conscripted into the war, but her younger sister Gisa has a job embroidering fabrics for the Silvers. Certain events lead to Mare finding out that she has the ability to control and create electricity from small sparks to lightning. Mare ends up having to pretend that she is a long lost Silver and is engaged to the youngest Prince Maven. When the royal family is forced to pay attention to her, the first thing she does is beg for her brothers to be brought home from the war. Throughout the first book we learn that Mare is closest to her older brother Shade. And eventually when she sneaks out of the palace to visit her family, she finds out that her older brothers, Bree, and Tramy, were brought home safe, but that Shade died just before his discharge came. This is a really sad scene for so many reasons. In the epilogue of the book, we find out that Shade is alive and has the ability to teleport. I was so extremely happy when I read this scene, even though I knew that because of how important he was he was likely going to die at the end of the four book series. Throughout the second book, we get to see a lot more of Shade and we get to see that he is an amazing person who cares deeply for his sister, and he also has a great sense of humour! However! At the end of the second book during a prison raid, Shade teleports to Mare so that he can get her onto the airship that will take them back to their base but, as he reforms next to his sister, a thin needle of metal pierces his heart, and he dies before his knees even hit the ground. This was so sad that I almost gave up on this series. I wasn’t sure if I had enough mental and emotional stability left to keep dealing with this level of intense sadness. But it turns out I did, and I kept reading. Mare is in captivity for the first half of the third book, but is eventually rescued and gets to see her family for the first time in six months. These are incredibly happy scenes in the book, when we find out that not only is her family ok, but her dad who was injured in the war, losing one of his legs and one of his lungs, was healed by a skin healer which is a type of Silver, and can now walk and breathe on his own, even if it’s challenging at the moment. There are so many scenes where they can just be a happy family living together and enjoying that everyone is safe and sound. But every time a scene like this happens, THE AUTHOR BRINGS UP SHADE AGAIN AND I AM READY TO DIE. Here are some quotations from the book that have slowly ripped my heart and souls into shredded little bits of nothing.
There is no Maven, no manacles, no brand, no scars. No war, no rebellion.
No Shade.
I wasn’t the only one missing from our family. Nothing can change that.
He isn’t here, and never will be again. My brother is alone on an abandoned island.
I refuse to let another Barrow share his fate.
This quotation is on page 349 and starts off as a nice sentence about how she is free. THEN IT BRINGS UP HER FLIPPING BROTHER AGAIN AND MAKES EVERYTHING SAD.
Here is another instance where this happens, when Mare goes downstairs to her family for breakfast the day after she is rescued.
The sound of cooking fat crackles on the air. “I hope Bree hasn’t eaten it all.”
My brother certainly tries. While Tramy helps her cook, Bree hovers at my Mom’s shoulder, picking strips of bacon right out of the hot grease. She swats him away as Tramy gloats, smirking over a pan of eggs. They’re both adults, but they see like children, like I remember them. Gisa sits at the kitchen table, watching out of the corner of her eye. Doing her best to remain proper. She drums her fingers on the wooden tabletop.
Das is more restrained, leaning against a wall of cabinets, his new leg angled out in front of him. He spots me before the others and offers a small, private smile. Despite the cheerful scene, sadness eats at his edges.
He feels our missing piece. The one that will never be found.
I swallow around the lump in my throat, pushing the ghost of Shade away.
JUST WHY?! THIS WAS SUCH A NICE AND AND WHOLESOME, HAPPY MOMENT AND THEY WENT AND BROUGHT UP SHADE.
I’m done. Writing this has only intensified my anger towards this book. But I felt like I just needed to get it out there before the author brings up shade again and I fling the book off a cliff.