I was going through the upcoming releases when I saw that one in particular, Gilded Cage by Vic James, was getting a lot of buzz. After taking an initial look at it, I acquired an ARC from netgalley and decided that it was likely going to be a book I was supposed to enjoy more than I did. You know the type, something that is hyped as the next Game of Throne or Harry Potter, but never lives up to the sell. So I tossed my copy on my to-be-read pile and forgot about it for a month. I eventually decided I could use a break from fantasy with some historical fiction and maybe see if Gilded Cage might be ok, and then I promptly had to eat my words and feelings because it is pretty damn good.

I say it is a historical fiction, but I realized near the end that it is more akin to an urban fantasy (look a lot of people were on horses and I jumped to conclusions about time periods, it is the present. My track record with this book is embarrassing). The story is set in a present day London, but with a radically different world than ours. In the world of Gilded Cage, there are two groups of people; the skilled (called equals) and everyone else. The skilled are those who can perform magic, and it sets them above their fellow man. The skilled are treated differently in every society (some that we hear snippets of, such as Americans who hunted their into extinction) but in London they formed an aristocracy that rules over the land. In England, in order to keep the economy afloat, each unskilled must submit to ten years of slavery at the time of their choosing. Some do it young, some do it old, but they all do it. The slavery can take the form of anything from back breaking manual labor in the textile industry to being the butler or personal slave of a skilled. But no matter what the experience is horrible and usually changes the person for the worst. Our protagonists are two families, one skilled and one unskilled. The skilled family is one of the leading aristocratic families, with an older son who is a brute, a sweet middle son who is unskilled, and a strange youngest son Silyen who is quiet and eerie but is unprecedentedly skilled at… well, skill. The second family is a group just entering their slave days, some in a back breaking shanty town and some at the gilded palace of the Skilled. The plot follows several POVs in each family and what a plot it is.

The prologue of the book left me a little disappointed and made me think that the story was going to be a melodramatic sob story, but once again I misjudged it. Despite the upsetting topic of slavery, Vic James does a great job exploring the horrors of the subject without being too over the top. In addition, the skilled families are painted with a variety of personalities and shades of grey that make it both easy to hate some and hard to hate others. The book’s primary strength definitely resides in its characters, both main and support. Almost every character is well fleshed out and interesting, but for now I will focus on the three main POVs. Silyen, as mentioned before, is the youngest and most skilled of one of families. He is unhappy with the status quo of the world and dislikes that skilled live lives of luxury while the unskilled do labor - but not for the reason you would expect. See Silyen isn’t a romantic revolutionary - he is obsessed with the skill and feels that the equal’s slavelord status has keep skill from improving. Abi is the oldest child of the unskilled family and is helping protect her family in a skilled household and dig up secrets on their reclusive kind. Finally, Luke is the middle child of the unskilled family and has been shipped off to the machine shops in the worst part of the country. There he joins a revolution fighting against the equals. All their stories are fun, exciting, and filled with twists and intrigue. I really enjoyed the plot and am excited for more.

The only major cons in the book were that the ending felt a bit abrupt and that some of the details of the world could be fleshed out a bit more. The ending is a huge cliffhanger and it left me feeling like I didn’t quite get a full book. However, it certainly left me wanting more and it isn’t going to stop me from picking up the sequel as soon as possible. In addition, I felt it hard to understand the time period and state of the world occasionally and I wish that the same level of attention given to building out the cast was spent on their surroundings.

Other than these minor nit pickings, the Gilded Cage delivered a much better story than i could have imagined and is well on its way to earning a spot on my best of 2017, and it is only February. Vic James has created a fascinating new entry into the fantasy genre that is hard to classify, other than as good. The Quill to Live definitely recommends you learn from my mistake and pick up and read Gilded Cage with little delay.

Rating: 8.0/10

I enjoyed this book. While the beginning started of slow for me and had a major 'Hitler concentration camp' feel it definitely picked up quickly after the first 25%. The characters were well thought out and developed and the world was painted beautifully. I will say though I did find it rather easy to guess what was going to happen nearing the middle to end of the book.

I will most definitely be reading the second book in the series!

Check out my blog for the full review in a couple days. Brutalbookworm@blogspot.com

I was sort of interested in this story, but within the first few chapters there was a glaring plot hole. If anyone can delay their time as slaves, then why wouldn't they? If I could delay mine until I'm old and have already lived my life, then I would. Honestly, there would be a chance that death would happen before slavery even would start. From the sound of the slave towns, death would be preferable.

Also, why would any university take a student that hasn't received any education in ten years? They would have to be re-educated in all that they have forgotten and the newest technology.

DNF

Not all are free. Not all are equal. Not all will be saved.

Our world belongs to the Equals - aristocrats with magical gifts - and all commoners must serve them for ten years. But behind the gates of England's grandest estate lies a power that could break the world.

This story is told from 3 different perspectives; Abi's, Luke's and Silyen's. Abi is a servant to England's most powerful family, the Jardines in Kyneston, but her spirit is free. So when she falls for one of the noble-born sons, Abi faces a terrible choice Uncovering the family's secrets might win her liberty, but she might sacrifice love in return. Luke is Abi's brother and is serving is 10 years enslaved in a brutal factory town, Milmoor, after a mistake is made and he doesn't have a place in Kyneston with his family. Cruelly oppressed and far away from his family, he makes friends whose ideals could cost him everything. Now Luke has discovered there may be a power even greater than magic, revolution. Silyen is a Jarden and he is considered a shadow inn the world of the Equals, containing mysterious powers no one else understands. Will he be literate or destroy?

3.5 stars. I feel like I have read several YA fantasy books in the last year that kind of have some of the same themes. Obviously every book is different, but I feel that I have a read a lot of books where society is divided into the "elite" and the "commoners" and the "commoners" want to rebel against the "elite." Anyway, I did enjoy this book, but I have to admit I really only was interested in the chapters that were told from Abi and Silyen's perspective. I found Luke to just be a bit boring, even though what is happening in Milmoor when he is there, isn't boring at all, I just feel like I have kind of read the same story line before. There are a lot of parts of this story that I don't want to talk about because it will give away some of the plot that should remain unknown until reading the book. Abi's entire family ends up working for the Jardens, minus Luke, but her mother, father and younger sister Daisy are all working in different positions on the Jardin's estate. And Abi becomes involved with one of the Jardin sons, which further complicates things. I will say that the plot twist and the way the book ended was quite unexpected and will leave readers eagerly awaiting the second book in the series, due out this fall.

I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it was only told from 2 perspectives. There are only a few select books I have read where multiple perspectives of more then 2 people really worked, in my humble opinion. It makes you lose interest in certain characters when you go so many chapters in between reading from their perspective. I understand why the author did it in this book because of the multiple locations of characters and wanting the perspective of both a commoner and an Equal. I also felt that I didn't get to know the characters very well, which again is hard to do when you have multiple main characters you are trying to focus the story on. I just only felt like I really got invested in Abi and Silyen's characters and didn't really care that much about Luke's perspective or story. Overall, a well written book and I believe that fans of the Red Queen series and The Young Elites series will also enjoy this book.

Gilded Cage, being marketed as a fantasy despite really being more along the lines of a futuristic dystopia, has an interesting premise to draw in YA readers... but the actual story in these pages is somewhat less fascinating than promised and much more familiar than described (hello Red Queen vibes!). The worldbuilding in Vic James's version of England works in a "don't think about it or question anything too much" kind of a way, but the many conceits the story must take in order to faciliate the plot... well, it all ends up feeling very undeveloped or generic by the long anticipated ending.

The required suspension of disbelief to engage with the plot is encompassing, but the main problem with Gilded Cage is that it is just too long, too boring, and too dull. It feels like an exercise in making a 360-odd page novel feel like a 600-page behemoth. The strong points and new ideas that the novel does bring into play (like Jenner's unique family position, Bouda's pure ambition, the Milmoor kids in general) are often overshadowed or just plain lost in the underwhelming and long-running myriad of plots the book goes through. I seem to be the black sheep when it comes to this series opener, but I needed more depth in the world, and less superficiality on the part of the characters.

Because I cared so little about the people and the world they inhabited made so little sense, with little time or care taken to expanding either crucial element, there was not much for me to invest in for large sections of the story. The cast is also mostly white, which I found to be distasteful especially for a book that tackles slavery as both a societal theme and also as a fact of life for its characters. The story does pick up in pacing and plotting somewhat near the end of Gilded Cage, but for me, it was too little too late. The writing itself is serviceable, if nondescript, and I did find a small romance to help keep me reading here in book one, but I won't be continuing the series with Tarnished City.

Too Many POVs
Anyone who follows my blog knows how finicky I am when it comes to multiple point of views and this book is a prime example of what not to do. I understand it's written in third person. However, that does not give the author the option to jump around to whatever character they want.

Some characters got a substantial number of chapters while other characters got only one chapter. Perhaps I could've overlooked these single-chapter characters if they're POV had offered anything to the plot, but they didn't. It's because of the constant jumping and inconsistencies in POVs that I didn't connect with a single character in the story.

What plot?
I spent 60% of this book wondering 1) what the plot was and 2) what the heck was going on. There is no obvious plot in the entire first half of the book. Even when the plot did develop in the last quarter of the book (or more like the last two chapters), too much was left unexplained. So, not only was there no saving grace, but it didn't help that I didn't care about anyone or anything by this point.

Sub-par World Building
I am really disappointed in this book because it's fantasy and fantasy is known for it's extravagant and mesmerizing world building. Yet, this did not even come close. The only world building in this entire story was the magic and even that was poorly explained and skimmed over.

Time, that's a thing?
The timeline in this book is linear, but garbage. Large sections of time are just... skipped over! This only works if it's implemented into the story appropriately and done for a reason. However, the time jumps in this book did neither. They were just there and they were blatant and they were meant to act as a reason for the characters changing/growing, which it didn't because I never got to know the characters in the first place.

This is a most exciting start to a series. I understand this is the first of a trilogy and I can hardly wait for the second book. The plot is original, the characters believable and vibrant and the story line was often dark and horrific but I so loved it! The Equals ruled Britain and the commoners became slaves for ten years to the Equals. The Equals had special Skills, healing, telekinesis and more. The slaves did their ten years in various slave towns or as slaves to one of the wealthy Equal families. The conditions in the slave town of Millmoor were simply awful, but Luke became part of a rebellious group to improve conditions for Millmoor. The rest of Luke's family were slaves to the Jardines, one of the most powerful Equal families. An exciting read with an ending I did not anticipate. I hope I am lucky enough to be approved for an ARC of the sequel.

This book absolutely blew me away. Vic James has the ability to weave a world that seems highly incredible and pressingly relevant all at once. Add this to your reading list immediately. You won't regret it.

I got about 45% of the way through this book when I decided to quit. There was too much going on in this book to keep straight. There were very interesting parts, and I wish she could have stuck to one or two storylines instead of 5 or 6. It was just too much, not connected well enough to hold my interest.

What if slavery in America had never been defeated and it now extended into England? What if the reason for this was that the ruling class had been able to do terrible magic which kept them in power? This is the premise for Gilded Cage by Vic James. I loved the imaginative premise and the characters. Although clearly meant to be a book series, this first installment was very entertaining and had an action-packed story.


What I Liked:

Setting and Premise:

Lately, I have read many books about an alternate universe set in England (hmm, I wonder if there is a sociological explanation for this?). These books include V.E. Schwab's A Darker Shade Of Magic, and Timekeeper, by Tara Sim. Gilded Cage combines elements of fantasy with a dystopian society. This really worked.


I loved the premise that non-magical people had to commit ten years of their life to serve the "Equals". They could do their service at any point in their lives, with pros and cons to each choice. Get your service over with quickly, and you got a better shot at a comfortable middle class life. Wait until you were older, and risk being worked to death as a slave.


The labor camps were realistic and reminded me of places during WWII. The people's lives there were filled with back-breaking work, unsafe conditions and inadequate nutrition. Most people outside of these camps wouldn't realize just how bad the conditions were.


Contrast that with the slaves who worked at the homes of the Equals. At first glance, it would seem as though they lucked out. No dirty manual labor. But then the reality of not having any rights, and being someone else's property sets in and we can see (for women in particular) the kinds of problems that will arise.


Magic:

Each of the Equals has their own type of magic that they can perform. Most have the ability to heal, but some can also do things such as create buildings, blow things up, alter minds, and force people do anything. This gives the Equals the notion that they, alone, are better than others. They don't see non-magical people as even human. But not all Equals feel this way.



Rebellion:

I also loved the brewing revolt that many of the characters were engaged in. From the people in the labor camp causing trouble, to the servants trying to glean information, and the idealistic rich kids thinking they can help, everyone is trying to change the system. But without a leader, this seems impossible.


Government Structure:

I enjoyed all the political maneuvering in the government in this book. There are people with different motivations (personal power, love, revenge) who each can effect the other politicians in this "game". This is in stark contrast to the common people just trying to live out their lives without dying as slaves, and you see the vast divide between the two groups of people.


What I Didn't Like:

Ending:

While I know this is going to be a series, I think there should be at least some resolution to what is happening in the story. At the end of this book, nothing is resolved, and a few teaser mysteries are thrown in to boot! Perhaps I am took used to the instant gratification of the internet, but I am a little miffed that now we will probably wait a year or more to see what happens! This was sufficiently annoying to me as to bring my rating down from five stars to four stars.

Vic James has built an amazing world full of magic and color. I loved the story concept... A world where slavery still exists and its mandatory... What? Loved it. I was really intrigued bu the equals and their powers. Each one seemed different. Some were stronger than others. There was mystery to the story and depth in the characters. I was really hoping for something more to happen for the poor people in the slave town, but I guess I will have to read the next installment, wont I?

I received an ARC of Gilded Cage from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

The synopsis of this book is a bit misleading. From what I read I was expecting some kind of huge rebellion, forbidden romance, creepy bad guy type of story.

I got politics.

Now, not to say that that wasn't entirely uninteresting, but it just wasn't what I was expecting.

I was also expecting to be following two or three characters. I got six. I think. There may have been more. And that's a lot, especially when what was going on in these other people's heads was not very interesting and kind of pointless, honestly. Abi and Luke were interesting enough, though for supposedly being one of the main characters, Abi did not get very much page time. It seemed to me that she was supposed to play a big part in what was going on and I think I got three or four chapters about her. Luke had a few more, but that's understandable seeing as how he was actually doing something while working for the rebellion. Kind of.

As for the other characters, I really didn't need that chapter in Euterpe's head. Yes, it held a lot of setup for what happened at the end, but I think it could have achieved the same effect from someone else's view. And Bouda and Gavar just made me unhappy. Thoroughly unhappy. And we can't forget about Leah, whose inclusion with a chapter makes absolutely no sense to me. She did not need one. It was probably one of the most stereotypical prologues I have ever read, which was disappointing. Silyen, though, I kind of liked Silyen even though he was supposed to be the "bad" guy. Honestly, his father was far worse, at least in the way he acted. Silyen's a planner, and you have to appreciate how far his planning went.

Enough about the characters, though. As I mentioned before, I really was expecting some big dramatic rebellion with lots of bloodshed and shouting and horrible secrets coming to light. I got a little bit of that, but it really felt like all that was happening for most of the story was people sitting around talking about doing something. And there was also this time gap issue. A lot of time was skipped over and since the author kept switching from character to character, those chapters with cliffhangers were immensely frustrating, if only because I had to wait a whole bunch of chapters before I got back to that person's head and by the time I did, a bunch of time had passed and the cliffhanger didn't really matter anymore because it's like two months later and it has all been taken care of.

But I wanted to read about how it was being taken care of, not just be told that it was.

Anyway, the story was actually quite interesting, and I think the setup for the rest of the series was well done and I have a lot of questions I want answered like, is Jackson okay? What's going to happen between Abi and her love interest? (I'm not going to say who it is, but is it wrong that I kind of want her to get together with Silyen, creepy as he was? Seriously, I enjoyed his character.) Will Luke be okay? Crazy stuff happened at the end of Gilded Cage and I'm ready and waiting to see where the author is going to go from here. If you're looking for a political book, this should be your next read, but know that romance and rebellion aren't really that prominent.

Ahoy there me mateys! I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here be me honest musings . . .

gilded cage (Vic James)

Title: gilded cage

Author: Vic James

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Del Ray

Publication Date: TODAY!!! (Hardcover/E-Book)

ISBN: 9780425284155

Source: NetGalley

This novel sounded awesome. It is a young adult dystopian with a magical twist. I thought this novel would float me boat. But I just could not finish it and had to abandon ship at 70%. Even though I did skip to the end and read the last chapters. Why ye ask? Well for a myriad of reasons (in no particular order):

The revolution - it just got boring. This is what killed the book for me. I thought how the revolution began was rather uninspiring and the "dangerous" actions of the rebels felt lackluster. Spray painting walls. Hanging banners. I mean I know it was only the beginning of the rebellion but I didn't care about it at all and didn't even want to read about it anymore.

Secondary characters - while I actually liked the main characters of Luke, Abi, and was even okay with Silyen, I had problems with many of the secondary characters being rather blah. Silyen's brother Gavar and Jenner were very flat with seemingly little psychology into why they did what they did. Gavar was boorish and angry. Jenner was ineffectual and a hand-wringer. Add in sadistic guards, the hot love interest for Luke called Angel (Ugh!), and the rebels who happen to have super skills and I just felt underwhelmed.

That being said, I did love the sibling relationships between Luke, Abi and Daisy. Also loved the street urchin Renie. She hit all me soft spots.

The parents - well the good news is that parents are present in a young adult novel. Luke and Abi had loving wonderful parents. Okay there. But the bad thing is that after seemingly being involved even tangentially in the beginning, they just disappear from the plot. Silyen's parents are present but seemingly to only have the father and mother be two-dimensional power hungry bad guys.

Insta-love - Sigh. Jenner and Abi. Blech.

Politics - the political maneuvering, which normally I love, was just not appealing. Somehow the problem seemed to be the set-up for how the world functioned. It just didn't quite make sense.

The magic - cool concepts but again didn't seem to have a premise that made complete sense. I will will chalk it up to being a first in a trilogy. However I did want more of the magic that added to the usual dystopian flavor.

I don't normally read the endings of books I abandon but I guess the good news about the writing is while I didn't want to have to "live" through it, I did want to know how this one tied up. That was just more proof that I am done with this series.

With so many books on the horizon, I just gave up. I want me reading to make time seem to disappear, not to accentuate every second passing. I am sad, but I couldn't fight the tide.

If ye want to read another take on this novel of me crew member that loved it check out this review from Beth @ Reading Every Night.

If ye want to read a take on this novel of me crew member who is in the minority with me check out this review from Millie @ Milliebot Reads.

So lastly . . .

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Del Ray!

The author's website has this to say about the novel:

NOT ALL ARE FREE – NOT ALL ARE EQUAL – NOT ALL WILL BE SAVED

A girl thirsts for love and knowledge…

ABI is a servant to England’s most powerful family, but her spirit is free. So when she falls for one of the noble-born sons, she faces a terrible choice. Uncovering the family’s secrets might win her liberty–but will her heart pay the price?

A boy dreams of revolution…

Abi’s brother LUKE is enslaved in a brutal factory town. Far from his family and cruelly oppressed, Luke makes friends whose ideals could cost him everything. Now Luke has discovered there may be a power even greater than magic: revolution.

And an aristocrat will remake the world with his dark gifts…

He is a shadow in the glittering world of the Equals, with mysterious powers no one else understands. But will he liberate–or destroy?

To visit the author’s website go to:

Vic James - Author

To buy the novel go to:

gilded cage - Book

To add to Goodreads go to:

Yer Ports for Plunder List

I love the world this author created! There are the haves and the have nots; the people (Equals) that have Skill (magic) and those that don't. The Equals are basically the royalty of the country and the other people, the commoners, go about their days. However, one twist is that everyone must serve 10 years as a slave to the Equals. Luke and Abi are siblings and are unexpectedly sent to different slave camps. Abi is trying to find a way to get Luke back with the family. What ensues is a wonderful story of rebellion, love, family, and revenge. There were some great characters in this book. The evil characters were colorful and easy to hate. It was easy to cheer for the good guys and then there are some characters that I am still unsure of their allegiance. I look forward to reading more of this story in the next book of the series.

The GIlded Cage was a fantastic book that I enjoyed even more than I thought I would.
I'll be honest- I was expecting more romance than I got (and usually a sub-plot of romance is very important to me) and yet even though the romance wasn't too strong, this book still held my attention.
The book is told from the perspective of several different characters, which made me wary at first, but totally paid off. Normally I find that I'm more drawn to one character's story than another. This means everytime we switch perspectives away from the more compelling storyline, I get annoyed. With this book, not so. I was equally interested in the parallel plots.
I definitely recommend this book to fans of dystopian fantasy who are yearning for a good read that isn't just like every other book out there.

I loved this book so much and I don’t even know where to start because all I want to do is shout my love for it from the rooftops. Gilded Cage is the perfect mixture of fantasy and dystopia. A genre mixture that happens to be one of my all-time favorites. It’s full of complex, flawed, and quite frankly several horrible characters who despite everything you can’t help but be intrigued by. It also has a world that while being set in a modern day alternate Great Britain sometimes has the feel of a Victorian era novel. I didn’t even know until after I finished this that it was Vic James’ debut novel. It didn’t feel like a debut at all but rather something masterfully crafted by a seasoned author. Her writing blew me away and left me wanting more. Seriously, can I have the sequel now? This was one of my highly anticipated releases for 2017 and I think it’s safe to say that it ended up exceeding my expectations.

Gilded Cage follows a familiar fantasy/dystopian storyline which consists of an elitist group of leaders with special abilities who oppress the people to the point where they say enough is enough and begin to rise up against them. However, Vic James wove her own unique qualities into that. In Gilded Cage’s society, the elitist group who govern this alternant Great Britain are called Equals and most of them are not only terrible but wield an extremely powerful magic called Skill. The people who make up the rest of this society, the Skill-less, are required to do slavedays which means giving up ten years of their lives to serve the Equals. They do this by either working in horrific conditions in slavetowns or directly serving an Equal family. Gilded Cage follows the lives of several different characters, Skill-less and Equals, as their society begins experiencing civil unrest and a call for the end of slavedays as well as a power feud amongst the Equals.

One of my favorite parts of Gilded Cage was the characters. Vic James created so many complex and flawed characters. This book has multiple points of view and going in I was a bit worried that it wouldn’t work but it did. It worked so well and each change from character to character was placed in such a way that it built beautifully onto the story and heightened the intrigue and suspense.

There’s Luke Hadley who I felt had the biggest character development out of everyone. Being that Luke is under eighteen when his parents decide that the whole family is to do their slavedays together because they’re accepted to serve an Equal family he doesn’t have a choice. Due to an unexpected decision that his parents have no control over Luke ends up being hauled off to Millmoor, a slavetown, instead of being sent to Kyneston with his family. While in Millmoor, Luke begins to see firsthand the injustice going on and realizes how much he wants the world to change and that he’s willing to fight for that change.

There’s Abi Hadley who I was on the fence about for a while but ultimately ended up loving by the end of the book. She’s an incredibly smart and resourceful character who cares so much for her family. I mean she gave up going to school to do her slavedays with them. However, the hints of romance with a certain Equal and constant focus on that attraction had me rolling my eyes at times. I just didn’t care for the romance.

There’s Silyen Jardine who is quite the enigma and possibly my favorite character out of them all. He’s powerful, ambitious, and seemingly a few steps ahead of everyone else at all times. His next move is never clear and more often than not I got the feeling that he was the puppet master holding all of their strings. Silyen very much seemed to toe that line between good and evil. I could never figure out which side he was playing for and it made him mysterious and extremely interesting. I found myself looking forward to his appearances and wanting to learn more about him. One thing is for sure, he has the potential to be a great anti-hero or possibly an even greater villain.

Beyond those three there are so many other great characters. There’s a group of people from Millmoor that I loved. Especially Renie, I really hope we learn more about her in book two. There are the other Jardines and several Equals who I wasn’t fond of. There were Equals that I actually liked. There was Luke and Abi’s little sister Daisy and their parents. The characters really made this book.

I also loved how Vic James seemed to weave her alternate Great Britain’s history from actual history, Charles I is mentioned a few times. She took and shaped it to fit the events and characters of the world she created. And I know I already said it but her writing blew me away. It was engaging and made for a book that was pretty much unputdownable. I was on the edge of my seat and even had the joy of being completely shocked by a plot twist. It’s rare that I’m caught off guard like that and I spent several chapters of this book with my jaw on the floor. I loved it.

Overall Gilded Cage was not only an impressive debut but an incredible beginning to a new series that I can’t wait to get the sequel for. I’ll be counting down the days because I need to know what happens next.

So, if you’re a fan of the fantasy/dystopia mixture then I highly recommend this book. Trust me you won’t regret reading it.

I received this free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

In Gilded Cage, the Equals, who are aristocrats with magical powers called Skill, rule the world. Commoners that do not have money or Skill must enter a time period called Slavedays. This period of time is 10 years in length and is a time where each person loses their identity to become chattel. Abi is the eldest in the Hadley family and has arranged for her family to spend their Slavedays at an estate rather than a Slavetown, but something goes wrong and her younger brother, Luke, is sent to Millmoor, a Slavetown where he is met with violence. Abi and Luke are trying to change the world right where they are, but things don't always go the way it is planned.

I was so glad to read this book and actually enjoy it after reading a flop. Abi was a character that wasn't surprising but yet one that was enjoyable. She is a strong and self-possessed until she meets a man that stirs her heart. Luke was written very realistically for a teenage boy except for when he is walking around the Slavetown thinking things are sweet or cute. Besides those few moments, Luke presents himself as a strong and independent thinker that is able to fight for what he believes. The Equals are even likable and if not completely approved are still entertaining to read about.

The book does not end with a bow on top so a second book will be on the way. I cannot wait to read the next book to see what happens to all the characters even those I'm not sure about.

I rated this 4/5 stars and recommend it.

Gilded Cage by Vic James was given to me from Net Galley for an honest review. When I first started reading this book, it was a bit hard for me to get into; however, I am truly glad I kept going along the journey. A very unique and a great read on dystonia ideas. The story takes where people have special abilities (or referred to magic) and refer themselves as the Equals (or skilled) the regular common people are called Commoners. The Commoners have to work for the Equals for ten years, whether it is at one of the Skilled estates or in the slavetowns, like Millmoor. There are strict rules for the commoners to follow and if not, there are consequences if they disobey. One example: if they speak out against The Skilled, they can be beaten, have more days put to their years of serving. Another is Skilled are not to have anything more than platonic relationships with the common people. The story unfolds thru Luke, Abi, Bouda, Euterpe, and Gavar. The Skilled should worry less of some of the small crimes that are committed by the people who live in the slavetowns, and worry about what happens under their own roof, not to mention what happens within their own households. Not all the players are what they appear to be. Can not wait to read the rest of the series.

Set in an alternate history, we have England ruled by the elite in an entirely different way - they are blessed with magic, and those not of the elite families must serve ten years hard labour - the only mercy is that they may choose in their life when this servitude takes place. Unless you're under age, such as Luke is, and your parents decide for you. At first it seems to be survivable, as his intelligent older sister has managed to get them into the royal household to perform what they assume will be lighter duties... that is until it turns out that there was no work to be found for him, and he is sent to the warehouse district instead. It is there, that he discovers true hardship.

The book itself is split into parts, and told from a few perspectives - that of the noble-born sons, Luke, Abi (the intelligent older sister) and this is done well, as it's not common to see the tone and and choice of words changing so effortlessly between characters - this works very well indeed, and I wish we saw more of it in general.

The characters also seem well developed and all are interesting, especially those Luke meets in his new and sudden future. Somehow, though I'm usually the first to adore character-driven novels and although I can't think of any issues with any of them entirely, I somehow didn't feel overly connected with any of the characters. Perhaps something was missing, but I can't quite tell why I didn't love them all than I do.

The plot is good and interesting, the injuries and consequences the characters face were believable, and overall it had good pacing and interesting arcs that kept me reading.

Overall it's a good start to the series, and I'm invested in finding out what happens next. With the introduction and worldbuilding now set, I hope that we get more depth to the history and magic system as some parts felt a little inconsistent, but I could be judging harshly. The writing itself is good, which makes this readable despite minor quibbles.

This book ripped me up mainly because of what America is going through right now; it was as if the author could foresee the future and know the wide disparity between classes would be happening in reality.

I felt the dialogue was realistic and it flowed well conversationally. So often there were things the characters said I’ve seen on social media or in TV interviews lately so it made these words all the more gut wrenching. Reading how even within the elite there were some who wanted to make things different and help but were being beaten back by those in power it was like watching the current protests come through the pages of this book.

The plot is well thought out, the storyline is well written and overall I just felt the author did a magnificent job of capturing the political angst that occurs when you have a minority class of people in power oppressing the majority until the majority begins to snap, demanding their freedom and equality.

It was a bit like the British version of The Hunger Games but more political, you definitely get more from the ruling class in this book. There are some truly atrocious things done by those in power to the others and some of the acts were so gut wrenching it made it difficult to continue reading at times but that’s also a testament to the author’s writing ability to evoke that much emotion.

I think it very much speaks to the current political climate and I’m vastly curious to see where the author is going to take it from here particularly since it ends on a cliffhanger.