Cover Image: The Golden Cage

The Golden Cage

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Member Reviews

One of my reading goals for 2024 is reading all of my backlog TBR and this was the first one up! I love complicated protagonists - it makes them more well-rounded being both dark and human. Solid twisty revenge story!

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This was a really quick fun read. Definitely was a wild ride and wished I would have read this sooner. Will continue to read Camilla Lackbergs work.

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While I throughly enjoyed most of this book, it was definitely all over the place.

It also contained a lot of information that wasn’t necessary to further the plot, if anything it made the reader more confused.

There is such a thing as TOO MANY TWISTS.

3 stars. I didn’t hate it, but I found a lot of it to be hard to believe.

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Why did I wait so long to read this book? If you've been looking for the "next Gone Girl", this just might be it.

Apparently, Faye's husband has killed their daughter!! Faye is a dutiful wife to her successful businessman husband. They are wealthy, have a beautiful young daughter, and seem to everyone to have the perfect life, but there is definitely more to the story. All is definitely not as it seems.

To tell much more would be to spoil the story, but this is a fast-paced tale where the past and present are revealed slowly with twists and turns that will leave you shaking your head. I really enjoyed this story and hope to see more from this author. ( Two notes -- I admit that there were several moments where I figured out the "big reveal" before I read it, but there were enough surprises to keep me interested. AND readers should be aware there are some pretty graphic sex scenes. They are pivotal to the story, but some will find them too much. )

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While I appreciated the premise to this book, I struggled to stay engaged. It may simply just not have been the right time for me to read it. I can absolutely see why someone would thoroughly enjoy this book, but unfortunately, this one was a miss for me.

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Drab, overlong and a forgettable plot.

It starts well, promising a delicious feminist revenge tale, but then meanders off to a very uninteresting and unsympathetic payback. In the earlier sections, Faye is shown as a mysterious and intelligent woman with a dark back story, but then the way she succumbs to the bullshit thrown around by her husband Jack is so unreasonable that, you don't feel any sympathy for Faye.

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Wow. Can I leave my review with just one word?

This one is amazing. From beginning to end, The Golden Cage by Camilla Lackberg is a wild, wild ride. Lies, betrayal, secrets, and so much more. I thought this one would be good, but I didn't think it would be this good. I'm seriously kicking myself for waiting so long to read this one because it really was amazing. I have a feeling that I will be using this one as the book that all others are measured against.

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This book was layered in its plot and characterization. This is a revenge story that jumps back and forth in time. The ending was satisfying, and there were twists along the way.

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This is one of those difficult reviews for me - it's a book I expected to love, but somehow it just didn't quite work for me. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. It's a revenge tale, and while I could understand Faye's desire for revenge, she'd brought so much of her overall circumstance upon herself that it was hard for me to root for her to exact that revenge. She was clearly an intelligent woman who'd made some really unfortunate choices in her life, not to mention some really heinous ones, and blamed everyone but herself for those choices. And it was a bit over the top for me overall - the lifestyle of these rich, entitled women was just a bit much. So there was that entire aspect that just didn't really work for me. And the writing sometimes felt stilted or forced - but I suspect that might be a function of it having been translated. I'd probably have overlooked that aspect of it more if I'd been enjoying the story more.
Having said all of that - I can understand why other folks rave about it, and perhaps it was just my mood when I was reading it. Or perhaps I'm past the age when those stories appeal to me. As I said - it's a difficult review for me! I did enjoy seeing Faye's jerk of a husband get taken down - even though it was a pretty convoluted scheme she used. And I suspect people who enjoy reading about how the rich and privileged suffer too will love it, as will those who enjoy a good revenge story.
Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

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I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book, but it exceeded those expectations. It was twistier, turnier, and more messed up than I’ve seen in a book in quite sometime. I couldn’t get myself to put this book down and finished in under a day - what a wild ride.

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Who doesn't like a good revenge story? I absolutely loved this book and have recommended it to many. Its everything you like in a mystery/thriller. Love the book, love the author. Highly recommend.

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Oh WOW, what a twisty thrill ride of a book! Some might say there's such a thing as too many twists, but I have to disagree. I was in the mood for a dark, fast-paced suspense, and Lackberg delivered. If you like revenge, betrayal, wholly unlikeable and unreliable POV characters, While I do think it's best to go in to this book relatively blind, you should know that Faye has been treated egregiously wrong by her husband, and she's here to get some revenge. Explicit scenes in the vein of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and probably some content warnings, so not for the faint of heart.

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Camilla Lackenberg is a new favorite author! This book was a fast-paced psychological thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I can't wait to read more from her.

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Dark psychological thriller about the length a woman will go to after being dumped by her husband for his secretary. A few twists, lots of sex and nudity and a fairly predictable ending. A quick page-turner.

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A great choice for mystery/thriller fans looking to read more women in translation. This book was entertaining and kept me turning the pages quickly.

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Though Läckberg's books in the Patrik Hedstrom series are still my favorites, THE GOLDEN CAGE was a revenge tale I will not soon forget. While the pages flew by, I was caught up in the dark as well as sometimes sexy twists and turns taking place. A powerfully feminist story, reading about a woman getting revenge and regaining herself was truly addictive.

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What extents would you go in order to get revenge? The main character of this book made many sacrifices for her husband. He took advantages of those sacrifices to build a successful company, using his wife’s ideas. She returns early from a weekend away to find him in bed with another woman, and her kicked out to the curb.

What unfolds is a wild commitment to seeking revenge.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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I am sorry for not reviewing fully but I don’t have the time to read this at the moment. I believe that it wouldn't benefit you as a publisher or your book if I only skimmed it and wrote a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for not fully reviewing!

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This story is quite good and complex. It reminded me a bit of an old Sidney Sheldon novel. This book is best to go into blind and just enjoy all the different feels this story generates. I look forward to the next book.

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This title started me on what I'm calling my "Nordic" phase. This particular culture isn't one I'm overly familiar with, but am learning and loving the literature based there. I'm also not one for thrillers, but this one kept me on the edge of my seat. I had somewhat an inkling of where it was going, but the author was brilliant in her descriptions of how everything happened. I loved it and have recommended it to my patrons!

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