Sera and Galina, raised to overthrow a brutal empire, must carry on their deceased mother’s plans for rebellion and liberate the common people from their cruel alurean rulers. Galina attempts to infiltrate the empress’ inner circle - but her attraction to the princess threatens the sisters’ plans. While Sera works behind the scenes, she must ignore her attraction to her estranged husband and stop his violent attempts to destroy the empire (lest he also destroy her plans).

I enjoyed reading this and will probably consider picking up the second book. The story moves along quickly enough and the chapters are short (for those who like that). Vitally and Sera’s relationship was one of my favorite things about To Cage A God - fans of second-chance romances might appreciate their story. Throughout, I found myself caring more about Vitaly and Sera than the actual outcome of the empire.

The romance between Vasilisa and Galina fell flat for me, especially towards the end. It became very rushed (and felt like insta-love) but, I’m hoping that’s resolved or further explored in the next book. I also feel like the overall ending wrapped up too quickly and left me wanting more after the initial build-up.

Furthermore, the diversity amongst the characters was somewhat lacking - many of their descriptions were so similar that it felt like they could’ve been the same people. Some of the character descriptions and writing choices were… strange to me, to say the least. The author called out characters’ eye colors throughout the book multiple times, but not a single character was described as having brown eyes. (I did search for “brown eyes” after the endless descriptions of silver eyes, blue eyes and blonde hair). At a point, it became incredibly distracting and a bit frustrating that these were the only character descriptors that were included.

Romantasy readers who are fans of the movie Anastasia and those with an interest in Russian history/culture will likely enjoy this. Aside from my earlier diversity comment, there’s other non-POC rep here that’s done pretty well - disability, chronic illness, LGBT.

3.5
A great epic Fantasy with lots of strong characters.
I really enjoyed this book and its story, mostly thanks to the characters, who were three-dimensional, strong, but flawed. I especially like the friendships and the sisterly bond between Sera and Galina.
The romance between Vitaly and Sera seemed to be very unauthentic to me and catered towards the booktok community that hypes up morally grey men who only care for the woman they’re in love with and nobody else. I was hoping for something more convincing there, but luckily it wasn’t a major plot point.
Unlike that, I very much enjoyed reading about Galina and Vasilisa’s developing relationship, especially pertaining to their dragons.
I don’t think we needed quite as many POVs as we got for this book, especially Vitaly’s and Vasilisa’s (don’t get me wrong, I adore Vasilisa, she’s my favorite character) didn’t feel like they were adding much to the plot, except for understanding the main character’s (Sera and Galina) love interests better. In my opinion, the story should have centered on Sera, Galina and Katya. Nevertheless, the other POVs were interesting as well, they just weren’t necessary for the story.
To me, the plot was predictable (that’s what happens when you consume as many stories as I do), but still exciting and interesting. I was torn between hoping for plot armor for the characters (because I love most of them) and hoping they wouldn’t have plot armor, so the book would be more interesting.
The finale was a bit disappointing, I was expecting it to be bigger and the way parts of the conflict were resolved and other parts rushed didn’t sit quite right with me. But I loved the build-up to it!
I am still excited to continue this series as it was a nice reading experience.

This was so unique and an interesting romantasy/fantasy novel. I really like the different setting and I felt the characters were complicated and intriguing. It took me a little bit to get into but once I did I really enjoyed!

I had high hopes for this, and it was not that bad, but not original. The tropes seem very new, and I loved the idea of seeing something with imperial Russia.
But is not so original. Has all everything other Romantasy has.
Some quotes were soooo good, but the writing style was not so unique.

Galina and Sera’s mother was a monster. She believed in a cause– taking down the nobles who rule with the power of gods– but she tried to do so with an act of unspeakable evil: experimenting on her two daughters, Galina and Sera. Carving runes and injecting them with mysterious serums, she managed to capture a god in each of them. But now dead and with the nobles still in power, it’s up to Galina and Sera to progress the cause.

This is a fantasy inspired by early 20th century imperial Russia and its civil unrest. However, the setting has been divorced from the complex political situation that led to that unrest– the sisters’ mother is probably the most interesting villain, but she dies off-screen and we’re left with a stereotypically evil empress. The only moral greyness rests in Sera’s love interest, a rogueish baddie who’s soft for only her.

I think this will gain some fans because of the setting and the romance, but I found it bland other than the chronic illness rep.

I was so excited for a new Elizabeth May book! This was a bit slow going in the first 1/4 of the book but once the story got going I couldn't put the darn thing down! I'm excited to get my hands on book 2!

Thank you for the chance to read early!

I inhaled this book! This is the first book I have ever read by May, but it certainly won’t be the last.

Sisters Sera and Galina are both running from the past while trying to control the gods that have been forced to live under their skin. They become reluctant weapons in a fight to free their country from despotic rule. The sisters are force to be reckoned with by themselves and even more so when they stand together.

Sera is reunited with a former lover in their fight to bring down the empress. Galina finds herself sharing quarters with the princess who stirs long forgotten feelings in her and her god.

This book was great and I plan to read it again now that I have a physical copy. The characters were expertly written who each had their own story/background, but May tied it all seamlessly together to the overall story. The story, for me, was unique and not one I had read before. I’ve read my fair share of stories where humans interact with gods, but I have never read a story where humans are physically tied to gods. The world building was excellent and the attention to detail helped make the story leap off the page. I highly recommend this book.

To Cage a God is one of those books that throws you into the world with no set up/explanation and you kinda have to figure out things as you go along. The good side to this is there's no long exposition dumps. The bad side is that sometimes things aren't ever really fully explained. Which is kind of how I feel about the magic system here. Its very interesting system and I hope we learn more about it later on as I have a lot of questions.

Overall this was a fun read, but nothing that blew me out of the water. The characters ended up just being OK for me, as well as the romances. I didn't find myself rooting or attached to any one. I think most people would be drawn to Vitaly, but he didn't do much for me. I strangely needed him almost more deranged and morally lacking? I did enjoy some of his and Sera's interactions. Galya and Vasilisa felt too insta love, even with certain characteristics in place.

I'll definately pick the sequel. The world and magic system is interesting enough that I would like to know more.

Thank you NetGalley and DAW for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It’s rare that I DNF a book. Very, very rare. This book, unfortunately, has to join the one (1) other book I’ve ever DNF’d.

I don’t think that To Cage a God was bad at all, I just don’t think it was for me. It felt like it dragged in the beginning and I really just… couldn’t get into it. I swear I tried. Maybe I’ll try again in the future when I’m feeling ready to give it another go, but for right now, I just can’t.

DNF’d at 15%.

To Cage a God by Elizabeth May is a wonderful compliment to Hannah Whitten's For the Wolf/For the Throne and Kathrine Arden's The Bear and The Nightingale.

We follow Galina and Sera, two sisters who are tasked with taking down the gods who rule their people. The story is beautiful with vivid storytelling and characters you root for the whole time. I recommend this book to people who are interested in Eastern European folklore and storytelling.

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you, NetGalley and publishers.

To Cage a God is a romantasy inspired by Slavic, Eastern European fairy tales and folklore, perfect for readers who love Sarah J. Maas or Rebecca Yarros. Centuries ago, the nobility had discovered a way to cage dragons in their own bodies and use those dragon’s abilities to oppress the normal humans who live a miserable existence at the whims of the nobles. This is the story of two sisters in more than blood who have found their own truest loves and a reason to live.

WOW! I would define it a mix of grimdark and romantic fantasy set in world with slavic elements.
Gripping, twisty and fast paced. War and love, two strong and very powerful sisters, archaic gods.
There's a lot to love and I can't wait to read the next book in this duology
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Sisters with god-like powers thanks to a special bone-grafting done by their mother are destined to overthrow an empire. The first in this dark fantasy duology will land with those who enjoy their romantasy with darkness and violence.

I was very curious to read this title because the premises are really captivating but unfortunately the reading didn't go as I hoped.

This book has so much potential but it is not being exploited.
The setting is rich, vivid and fascinating but everything remains very superficial and at times confusing.

Unfortunately, the story sometimes gets lost in useless resolutions and filler scenes that slow down the pace and honestly bored me a bit.
Even the characters don't shine and it's a real shame.

I really expected something more!

Thanks Netgalley e the publisher for the e-ARC!

I wanted so badly to love this one. The cover is stunning and the summary sounds absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an electronic copy of To Cage a God.

I really enjoyed this one! I found all of the characters compelling, the magic system interesting, and boy was I rooting for the romantic relationships involved. The writing itself was lovely, and while I found the pacing slow at times, I don't think that it took much of my enjoyment away while reading but I did find myself skimming some of the longer worldbuilding sections.

Overall, very enjoyable, great LGBTQ+ and disability rep, and interesting plot!

I really enjoyed this book. I think it was well written and I was attached to the characters. My only issue is that some of the story didn’t like up and make it confusing to follow.

4.5 ⭐️s
Oh man! This is an EPIC story! Imperial Russia, Fantasy, Dark romance?!!! Wow! I could not put it down! That ending though!!
Following through 2 different romances, epic world building and the characters that just jump off the page.
There are something I hope we get more of, more connection to the characters because they are interesting I just feel like we have so much more to discover. I’m excited to see what book 2 brings us.

- I don’t know why this didn’t hit me like I wanted it to. I liked the second half more than the first, but only because I finally started to feel like I knew more about the characters. I just didn’t feel connected to these characters or like I knew them how I wanted to. I felt the most connected to Vasya and Katya, and I really wanted to feel connected to the sisters but just didn’t. The relationships felt insta-lovey and surface level. I did not like Vitalik even though I usually love morally grey characters. He felt very “dude bro,” would not stop with the sexual innuendos, and made a bunch of unintelligent choices without enough info that made no sense to me for being such a “professional.” The Magic felt very surface level. I’m not sure why people were being bonded to dragons in the first place. It was a really cool concept but I feel like I don’t really know anything about it. Which I’m assuming more will be revealed in the next book, but I wish I had gotten more info now in book one to pull me in. None of these criticisms felt dire or particularly annoying. I just didn’t vibe with it like I wanted to 😭 Which makes me sad bc the concept is so cool.

The cover on this book is right up my alley, and the description was so fascinating--it's a real shame I didn't end up liking this a ton. I was expecting a more....cut-throat isn't the right word...but a more intense and thrilling ride. The pacing in this story was surprisingly slow, which you would think could help me understand the world-building seeing as I had extra time to cook in it, but I was still confused by it. This story wasn't horrible, and I thought that the concept was really interesting, but the execution bordered on boring at times. I wanted more depth all around, but less meanderingly paced. Sometimes, I felt my brain wanting to start skimming just to combat the pacing, but I persevered.
I would be interested in more from this author in this world, because with the groundwork laid I feel that a sequel could actually be really good.