I enjoyed the story's dual POV and thought choosing Celine, the younger duchess, versus Magali, the older duchess, was a great choice. Although, Magali's POV was sometimes bland compared to Celine's. I know that Magali was supposed to keep her secrets to herself until the big reveal towards the end, but there could have been a lot more done.

Phillipe and Celine had their ups and downs as love interests as well. While reading, I sometimes could not understand whether they genuinely liked one another. The romance was not the story's driving force, though, so it was not a big deal. That said, I hope the next book provides more insight into their relationship and true feelings for one another.

I want to see where the story will go, especially after the ending! The twist was great, in my opinion. This book comes out on August 17th, 2023. Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins UK, and One More Chapter for the ARC!

I really enjoyed reading this. It’s billed as Puss in Boots meets Game of Thrones, and I would say that was a pretty accurate description.

This is a complex story so you do need to pay a lot of attention to keep track of what is going on, and trust me, a lot goes on! This doesn’t stop from the get go…it’s non stop drama!

A great read, a wild ride!

My thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins Publishers for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

I really struggled with this book. A lot of it at the beginning felt like an info dump but it never got fully fleshed out. I never got a true sense of the world, the relationships, or the characters. It was really hard for me to get into and I struggled to finish it if I'm being honest.

I think this one falls into the category of it’s me and only me. I haven’t been able to go beyond 35% and had to dnf unfortunately. I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters or the settings and story overall. Maybe next time
But I always say that it’s a good book that will definitely have readers who will enjoy it but it wasn’t for me.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

I was excited to start reading this as I've not read a Puss in Boots retelling before. I found the character synopsis very helpful at the start of the book and found it helpful to turn back to. I enjoyed the dual POV. I'd say thus is for those who enjoy complex fantasy books.

Unfortunately, I was unable to finish this book. I gave this book approximately 25% of the way through to see if the pace changed overall but I can honestly say I did not enjoy it.

Typically, I love fairytale retellings and anything fantasy, but unfortunately I found this book to be extremely confusing and clunky to get through. Even with the character description at the beginning, it felt like the author was telling us what we should be feeling/experiencing with this book, rather than just letting us feel and explore for ourselves.

I will not be posting this review to goodreads.

The Kingsom is a Golden Cage is a fantasy mixed with intrigue young adult novel. Celine embarks on a dangerous plan that would not only free her as a pawn, but also free tue one she loves from a spell that prevents them from being together. After all he has been magically bound in his count form. However, there are other plans in play and Celine doesn't know all the pieces like she thinks she does. It's an intriguing story full of twists that keels the reading hanging on until the end and waiting for the next book in the series.

I enjoyed this story. The dual point of view between Celine and Magali, who is portrayed as the main antagonist. In the beginning I was very annoyed with Celine's personality as she definitely came across as a spoiled brat. It's unfortunate that she didn't truly change until the very end of the book. Hopefully she continues to mature in the next book.

So I’d like to start by thank NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.

Unfortunately I really struggled with this book. The style of writing really wasn’t for me unfortunately. The synopsis was really intriguing I just feel like it was a very drawn out book and hard to get into. Celine and Hugo also didn’t really do it for me, their chemistry wasn’t the best. I think the idea was great and I really enjoyed some aspects. It was just hard for me to get in. I think the story has potential though, and I am a mood reader so it might not have been the book I needed at this point!

All thoughts are my own!

Unfortunately I didn't like anything about this book and it was my least favorite read so far this year.

The story is about a princess, Celine, who had her love turned into a cat and she must marry his cousin in order to have a chance of freeing him. However, there is a larger plot going on behind her back,

All of the world building is told in stories about the past, so I never got a real feel for what the world was like. I was instantly confused because it felt like being dropped into the middle of a story instead of being there from the beginning. So many relationships and feelings were already established and we're just told how each character felt about the others. Without getting to see those relationships and feelings develop I didn't come to feel invested in any of the characters or their stories. There are character guides in the beginning, but I didn't feel like they helped and I shouldn't have to keep going back to the beginning of the book and rereading the character summarizes to understand who they are.

The romance is basically non-existent, everyone is just manipulating everyone else for their own gains and no character is likable, except for maybe Phillipe.

I will not be continuing with this series.

Celine is a princess, locked in a tower. She is about to be forced to marry, but she has a secret lover Hugo, who was turned into a cat 5 years ago. They have a plan. In order for the plan to work, she has to marry his cousin, until Hugo can come back. But nothing is as it seems. Everyone has an agenda.

I was very intrigued by the synopsis but was disappointed when reading the book. It had all of the elements of a good fantasy, but it was too confusing.

got it on Netgalley, all thoughts are my own

I was beyond intrigued when I first heard about this book. I'd never even heard of a Puss in Boots retelling, let alone read one and I applaud the author for choosing a lesser known fairytale to retell.

I did have my reservations but I actually ended up quite liking it! It had very slow pacing, which made it difficult to get through the first 30% but I persevered and ended up finding it rather enjoyable. That being said, it's by no means a perfect book and could have benefited from being a bit shorter.

The plot was a spark of genius and was executed pretty well. Overall, I do think that The Kingdom is a Golden Cage is a good debut and fans of complex fantasy will enjoy it!

Celine’s father, the king, is growing impatient of her unmarried state. The problem is that there is only one man she wants to marry and he’s been stuck in the form of a cat for the last ten years. With her own magic dwindled to almost nothing, Celine feels powerless. Fortunately Hugo has a plan: find the magical object keeping him a cat, break the spell, reclaim his inheritance as Duke, and make Celine a Duchess. If only it was as easy as he makes it seem.

This book is told from multiple viewpoints so that early on it is clear that not everything is quite as it seems. The repeated phrase, “let me tell you how it was”, works well to emphasise this point as everyone gives their own versions of different events. Combined with the huge amounts of backstory and mysteries, this multi-layered narrative could be challenging to follow at times. However, I think this is exactly what makes it such an engaging read.

My opinions of the different characters varied throughout. Certain things made Celine seem weak and overly trusting, whilst others showed her as fiercely independent and intelligent. Overall, I think that the more positive qualities won out as her character developed throughout the book – although she still has a lot of uncertainty and indecision even by the end. In contrast Magali and Hugo are both extremely decisive and single-minded to a fault. However, it is their underestimation of others and their lack of understanding for others emotions that are their main weaknesses.

I enjoyed Lilly Inkwood’s stance on magic in this book, as something that seems to cause more problems than it solves. It took a bit of a back seat to the politics in the book, which I think worked well for the narrative flow.

Thank you to Lilly Inkwood & NetGalley for this ARC of The Kingdom is a Golden Cage.

Plot - 3 stars
Delivery - 2 stars

I saw so much potential in this story. It's rare that I don't know where a story is going.

However, the only character I found remotely likable was Phillipe. I struggled to follow the split narrative voice and felt that it jumped around too much within chapters. I had to re-read numerous parts. There were so many connections to remember, pretty early on I stopped trying to keep track of who was who, figuring that it would fall into place eventually (not sure it ever really did).

This was really well written and the Puss in Boots retelling is obviously very unique. I think this was really more of a "its not you, its me" sort of thing. I just am not someone who usually enjoys fantasy.

However, this was so well written - if you like fantasy, you will enjoy this!

I was really looking forward to this one, because you don't see a Puss in Boots retelling very often. Sadly though, I couldn't quite get into it. I think a big problem with this book is that there's so much detail surrounding the characters and relationships that doesn't get properly explored. There's a big section at the beginning explaining who everyone is, which it felt like was used as a substitute for organic storytelling and character building. Overall I was mostly confused. I think with some more time spent in the beginning developing the world, this would be a much better experience.

I did not enjoy this book at all. If it hadn't been an arc, I would have DNFed it. Too much scheming and lying. For most of it you have no idea what’s going on. The stakes were all really low too, so it’s hard to care about what’s going to happen. Also, I didn’t like any of the characters.

Huge thanks to the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review. I did like the plot a lot, but I found the multiple character POV changes difficult to keep up with.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing an eARC in exchange for a review!

A Puss in boots retelling that never really grabbed my attention. The first few pages are just a long list of characters, most historical and not really relevant to the story. This just felt like an immediate info dump that didn’t ever add to the world building. There’s a magic system that I literally cannot tell you thing about because it’s never truly explained or built upon. For example, the main character has some sort of skill with water (I think?) and she went to a magical school for 4 years where she meets the main love interest. I felt like the dual POVs weren’t necessary and often left me confused. The romance was disappointing and mostly consisted of the princess lamenting the fact Hugo is a cat and nothing is working out how they expected and planned. I didn’t finish this because I felt no drive to do so and I just couldn’t force myself. I’m so sad this wasn’t the whimsical fantasy I wished it to be. This novel would be better suited for a younger audience after some much needed editing to reduce the jumping timelines and twists to prevent confusion. This, unfortunately, just wasn’t for me.

DNF as I struggled to get into it. There were too may characters and the back story was too long and complex. Unfortunately, this book isn't for me.

This is a great addition to the fairytale inspired part of the fantasy genre and reads almost like a spy thriller.

It seems mostly inspired by the story of puss in boots and the story starts with the princess Celine, who is in love with a cat. Yes, a cat. He was formerly her first love, but he returns after 5 years and tells her that he has been bound to remain in this form by the evil Megali, mother of a duke in another kingdom. He also has a claim to this dukedom and wants her to help him scheme to return back to his real form so they can be together, even if it means she originally has to support the claims of another man. and even marry him...

An enjoyable little read, some of the twists and turns gave me a bit of a headache but it is set up well for the beginning of a series.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.