In this version of modern day Britain the magic users who comprise the small elite rule Britain and make the non magic users or commoners pledge ten years of slave service to them. There are slave towns that exist in Britain or they could work on an estate for one of the magical family elite. The Hadley family is a family that applied to do their slave days on the Jarden estate, the leading family in this world. The only exception is their sixteen year old son Luke is sent to a slave town instead to do his slave days. This book is written from different points of view the Equals, the magic users and members of the Hadley family on magic users. When they Hadley's get on the estate they soon discover that one of the Jarden sons, Jenner does not have magical Skill but he does not have to do slave days because of his family background. This runs parallel to wars where the draft is enacted where the wealthy could get their sons out of being drafted for military service especially with unpopular wars. Luke gets involved with those who want to get rid of the slave days and to end the oppressive rule of the Equals. There are a small minority of Equals who wish to at least change the slave days though no one mentions that anyone who does not have magical Skill should do slave days no matter which family they are born into. I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review from Netgalley.

In this first book in her Dark Gifts series, Vic James has created an alternate world, a dystopian, modern-day Britain, where the monarchy has long been abolished through regicide and commoners are now ruled by aristocrats called 'the Equals.' This elite group has magical gifts and have created a smooth-running society; all they ask of commoners in exchange is ten years of their lives, working as slaves. Two families collide--one elite, one commoner--and this society will never be the same.

I enjoyed this ya fantasy immensely. There's plenty of intrigue, adventure with some gore, and many social issues to consider. The focus is mainly on the teen characters, some of whom grow, exhibit great bravery and make quite a few mistakes. Who to trust in this crazy world? Is revolution even possible against such 'Skillful' power?

I'm looking forward to reading book two, Tarnished City, which I've heard picks up the story right where this book ends. What will happen next??

The Gilded Cage was one of my most anticipated reads but it sadly did not deliver. James' created a terrifying world and premise, and it should have held my attention but it did not. I wanted more character descriptions and more world building.

This is another example of the premise piquing my interest and the execution being a bit of a letdown. This is pretty classic YA, though it does have more political dealings than most. Due to the political leanings, the worldbuilding felt a bit more structured than many YAs out there right now.

There were many characters and most were not terribly well fleshed out. The numerous POVs did nothing for me and I really wish more authors would stick to one POV, it almost always makes the book more compelling. This did not feel as stale as a lot of books in the young adult market these days and I appreciated that.

I contemplated whether I really wanted to read Gilded Cage or not. Dystopian YAs and me don't generally mix well but despite some of the world elements, this book read as a mix of dystopia and fantasy.

And it worked.

The elite upper class possess magic and lord it over all those beneath them, including in the form of "slave days" where regular citizens have to give up 10 years of their lives. Not exactly the kind of world you'd want to live in, right? 

I enjoyed the darkness in this book, touching on child labor and the world beneath the glitter. On the surface, we have a multitude of characters and perspectives to view this world through, anywhere from the elite nobles to those simply trying to survive, to those wishing to change the world. The intertwining elements really gave this book a richness in the world that I appreciated, at least at first glance. Diving in deeper, the choices for this world never quite made sense to me, the system of spending 10 years just gone from regular society especially as I can't imagine being able to move out of that so easily without resources, funds, etc. And points within the story also struck a wrong chord where characters (namely the Equals, specifically in the Jardine family centered in the story) do things. . . and we never know why. A lot of this book, in terms of the background information, came off as plot devices rather than organic to the story being told. 

That being said, I found this story unique in its take on slavery and magic. For that, it stood out, but it wasn't what I expected from the synopsis given. The multiple points of view made it hard to really connect with a character because as soon as something would happen to one, it shifted and I ended up having to wait too long between their scenes to care. I'd have rather had a more in-depth look at one, maybe two characters. I think Gilded Cage relied too heavily on being able to bounce around and reveal snippets of the mysteries unfolding; without that, I don't expect this book would have held its own. 

And yet. . . and yet I did enjoy the book on some levels, enough to read the sequel when it comes out so there's that at the very least. While I didn't get quite what I expected and the dystopian elements didn't work for me, there was enough of that "something else" that hooked me for book 2. I expect more politics and intrigue in the future, and I'm curious how James will handle that. It worked to a degree this time around, so here's hoping book 2 doesn't fall to sequel syndrome. Gilded Cage was good, better than I expected for the dystopian elements, and I'm interested to see how this series pans out!

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. Unfortunately, I have lost interest in the title, partly due to trusted reviews, and will not be reviewing the title. I have, however, promoed the title through my weekly recap with links to Amazon. Thank you again, and I apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

Another different book for my collection ...

This book got me from the beginning, by the cover and the synopsis.
At first I thought it might be a new "Harry Potter", bringing young and empowered characters, but it's not. Fantasy and dystopia mixed with a political plot.
There are parallel stories in the book - Abi, her brother Luke and the mysterious Silyen - and all are important.
The synopsis in itself already explains well what is going on throughout story.
The romance doesn't have the central focus. Rather, it addresses issues of freedom, choice (and lack of it), rebellion, revolution.

About the author's narrative, it's good, but I don't like it when it has a lot of POV's.
4 stars

The EQUALs who have supernatural powers control the lives of everyone else in the country in this alternate world. The commoners must serve 10 years of brutal slavery. During that time they have no rights whatsoever. Gilded Cage is the story of the Hadley family who enter into their slave period together with no real idea of what is about to happen to them. They sign up to be together on the Jardine's estate one of the most powerful ruling families. The slave family is immediately torn apart when 16-year-old Luke is sent to one of the most brutal slave factory towns. He becomes part of a rebellion against the system. Ten-year-old Daisy becomes a nanny for the illigitimate child of the Jardine family heir. The child is the product of an affair between Gavar and a murdered slave girl. Abigail the oldest child begins to fall in love with Jenner the second son of the Jardine family. He has the burden of being the only one in his family with no powers. The third Jardine son, Sylin is the most powerful and the most scheming of them all it seems, but to what end the reader is left wondering. The head of the Jardine family desires greater power at any cost. The Hadley family members along with the other commoners struggle to survive the brutality of the system. Three and one half stars.

In this England, magic rules - and all others must serve as slaves to this noble class. One family finds themselves entangled in a rebellion against their rulers - and an attempt at a coup. Compelling and thoughtful, with lavish prose.

Unfortunately I was not able to hooked on this book enough to finish it. The story just did not hold my interest at this time. I will attempt to try again at a later date.

Interesting but very very political for me. I couldn't focus on the story.

Dark and enjoyable fantasy/dystopian book that kept me hooked from start to finish. I will definitely make an effort to read more from this author because I genuinely enjoyed reading Gilded Cage and can't wait to see where the story goes in the future!

I remember hearing about this book and being so excited about it. It's an alternate London, where commoners are basically slaves for 10 years to those in power. It seemed up my alley, but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. And for some reason, I never got around to reviewing this book, and since I was looking forward to it, I did want to talk about it.

It was really hard for me to get into, and I don't know that I'm interested enough to keep going with the series. The origin of slave days seemed really confusing, and not explained very well. It's the same with the origin of those with skill, and for the life of me, I cannot remember how it started. It just didn't seem like the world was explained- you were immersed in the world, which was different, but I found myself wondering what the history was, and I hate that whatever was explained isn't sticking.

I do wonder when it's supposed to take place- there were times when it felt like the technology was modern enough, but at the same time, it felt like an alternate Victorian London. I did like that, the alternate Victorian London feel, and now that I think about it, it is sort of a steampunk London, which worked pretty well with the concept of a slaveday.

Still, I feel like this book is another book in the wave of books where the upper class has powers that the lower class doesn't have (or isn't supposed to have, but does). Maybe I'm just jaded about this type of book already, but for me, there are better books in this genre to read. Maybe if I had read this book before some of the other similar books out there, I would have felt differently. Or maybe it's just not my cup of tea. Either way, it's not for me, but maybe you'll like it.

My Rating: 2 stars. For me, this one was okay, and I don't know if I'll be continuing the series.

I was not able to finish this book, so I decided not to feature it on my blog.

I absolutely loved this book so much that I have taken quite a while thinking about the review. I love that the characters have abilities and I also like the good vs. bad struggle. I enjoyed learning about each character and trying to decipher each' true goals.

There is so much that could be said that I don't know where to start. Amazing, exciting ... Excellent story telling. I think about this book at times months after I have finished it.

This was removed from my Kindle, and I no longer have access to download it.
I will be passing off a recommendation to some friends that I believe will enjoy this book.

Set as an alternative history novel, Vic James’s debut novel is a rollercoaster of magic and intrigue as readers follow the story of six individuals whose lives are about to be altered irrevocably. Luke Hadley thought that he’d be able to pick his own Days, when to do the mandatory ten years of service he’s required by British law to fulfill. His parents however, have a different plan. Since doing your days can affect what jobs you can do once you get out, they decide to simply go on and do their days and bring their children with them. Aly has a choice, she’s eighteen, but to Luke it’s a blow to his entire life to be told he has to go and leave behind everything he’s known.

Problems arise when Luke isn’t initially taken to the Kyneston estate with his parents and sisters. Rejected by the Lady Jardine, Luke is sent off to Millmoor, the slave-town where it’s a struggle to survive. Which, by all rights, should be impossible as children under 18 are required to be with their parents to serve their days. On the wrong side of a brutal security guard for trying to help a street girl he attempted to save on his first day in the place, Luke gets drawn into a world of treason and perhaps the end of the slave days by Doc Johnson. Problem is, it’s a lot different to do things in a slave-city than to do them on an estate.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Winterborne Zelston is caught up in a plot to twist everything that keeps the country running. At the request and a bit of cohersion by Silyen Jardine, he puts forth a proposal to end the slavedays in exchange for the return of his life-long love. The love who just happens to be Silyen’s aunt who’s lain in a coma for the past twenty-five years. While he struggles with what he’s been forced to propose, other forces begin to work to undermine his regime and simply destroy the world.

The Gilded Cage is full of twists and turns readers will love, though a small understanding of politics might be required to follow completely. It was difficult at times to keep up with who belonged to what family. Also the idea of Skill, while followed, was never fully explained. While it seems some individuals are super powerful, some seem to barely have any Skill or even a rare few have no Skill at all among the upper crust of society. Perhaps the next novel, Tarnished City will clear up some of the unexplained and unfulfilled plotlines that were left at the end of the novel.

This is one of those book that 5 stars are not enough, it is one of the best books I've ever read and I've been reading for a long, long time.n  There are hundreds of reviews that give the synopsis and more so I am just going to say that this is a book that you must read if you like any of the genres it falls into.  I am so glad I have the middle book and as soon as I pot this I am starting it and begin the long wait until the next book. 

The author has done a wonderful job with her character and world building.  Although, I don't particularly like multiple POV's it works here and unlike many who complained I didn't find that it kept me from enjoying the book or learning about the different characters.
 
I'm afraid that Abi is in for a rude awakening with her attraction to Jenner, who despite being an Equal has none of the Skill that the rest of his family have.  I think her ideas of romance are based on the novels she read prior to beginning her service. 

Her brother Luke is an amazing young man and I cannot wait to see what happens now that he has been sent to Crovans' house of horrors.  Her sister Daisy may be the luckiest member of the family even though both Abi and Luke are afraid what may happen to her now that she is caring for Libby, the daughter of Heir Gavar. 

Gavar has a terrible temper, detests Bouda, the woman he has to marry and both hates and fears his father Whittam and he is unsure of his younger brother Silyen. His fiancée is one of the worst characters I've read in a while, she may actually be worse than Crovan.  She has every nasty attribute that a person can have, she is spoiled, manipulative and believes she is better than everyone else including other Equals and thinks that those that aren't skilled deserve to be slaves and not just for the ten years they are required to serve.  Despite all his flaws I believe that Garver will surprise us; anyone who loves his base born daughter and tries to provide her with the best possible care despite his father and Bouda cannot be all bad.  When he tells another servant that they will treat Daisy, who is only 11 with the same respect and call her Miss Hadley because she is responsible for his daughters' wellbeing cannot be be as bad as he seems here.  If he could get all of them out from his father's control he could be one of the best characters of the book. 

Silyen is the one character that I cannot figure out.  Why is he supposedly working for the resistance when he does so many things to others that humans just should not do to another living creature?  Is he playing both sides?  Why doesn't he tell his father what he knows about the murder?  Why is Luke important to him and why did he release Dog but refuse to do the same thing for Luke and his family?  Some of these questions may be answered in the next book, but I doubt if we will know the everything until the last book.  How am I going to make it until it is released in Europe?  I refuse to wait for the American release, I'll buy a copy as soon as it's released overseas, unless I am lucky enough to get an ARC to read. 

5/5 STARS:  I received a free digital ARC in exchange for a honest, unbiased review.  I sincerely thank the author and/or publisher for providing an ARC through NetGalley,.**

I picked this book up several times and gave it a couple opportunities to hook me, but it never happened. There were some interesting ideas in the plot especially focusing on class disparity and how it stratified society but the characters themselves never engaged me at all or made me care why they were suffering from these disparities and the struggles they engendered .

I did not enjoy the writing style of this book. I really had a hard time with the names of the characters and how many names at that. There were so many characters and so many people in the political world that I had a hard time trying to remember who everyone. The author had a thing for giving some characters more than one name. One characters was introduced as Dina but referred to as DiDi by her sister to later find out that her actual name was Bodina . With in one sentence she was called both names. It happened throughout the book and it was very frustrating.


I was quiet confused throughout the book and I was having a hard time getting through it. Many times I was tempted to DNF this book but only pulled through due to it being a Netgalley book and I wanted to be able to review it. I will say that the last 12% of the book redeemed itself.

2 1/2