4.25⭐️
Thank you to HapperCollins, Avon, Brooke Fast, and NetGalley for eARC (all opinions my own).

This was great!! Dystopian mixed with The Most Dangerous Game, throw in some romance and found family. No magic or powers but a hats not needed. It is well-paced pretty much throughout and perfect length IMO with enough sprinkled in for what the series might have in store going forward.

Raven is our FMC a bounty hunter in poorest district in the city who only hunts to support her younger brother. Those arrested in the city are sent to Endlock a notorious prison where the wealthy can pay to hunt inmates for sport. The longer you survive the more money you cost hunters to hunt and more the upper echelon of city makes in profit. Raven’s brother is arrested and sent to Endlock and so the rebel cause recruits her to go into Endlock to free a high value prisoner and also get her brother out. Enter our MMC Vale a guard at the prison whose motives are kind of unclear (but let’s be honest we know they’re not😉). Raven just navigate the prison rules, hunts, feelings for Vale in order to make her daring escape.

Even more so for a debut I thought this was great!! I really have very few complaints and I think honestly many of them may be addressed in future books. Below are some thoughts though again they are minor in my mind.

I would have liked more background and info on this society though again I think we are poised for a lot of that in coming book(s) given where the story is going so not huge complaint.

The love is bit of insta-love (though it was better than silver elites insta-lust but not by huge margin). I could really have done with more motivation for both characters as to why they love each other. Especially the MMC who is just in love from moment one before he knows anything about her. But hopefully their relationship can get deeper in future books.

I also hope that the side characters get more fleshed out in future books. There is a lot to like about Raven’s found family characters and hopefully out of prison (come on that’s not really a spoiler now is it 😉) we get more depth.

Overall very enjoyable and will be excited to see where series goes from here!

I’m sure this dystopian romance will blow up on BookTok and Bookstagram.

It is super fast-paced with straightforward writing, so super accessible. The plot’s got a great hook: the main character is incarcerated in a prison where the rich hunt the prisoners for sport. I DNF’d Silver Elite, but this one, I kept reading until the end.

Now what’s not so great: the stock characters that lack definition. Also, the romance. It’s instalove with a significant power imbalance and dubious content (in my opinion). There are also not enough meaningful interactions to build up the FMC and MMC’s relationship as anything real other than lust, though the story wants you to believe it’s deep love. The MMC calls the FMC “Little Bird” and her name is Raven and the title of the book is “To Cage a Wild Bird,” so… the MMC also regurgitates a lot of popular romance BookTok phrases.

If you like Silver Elite, this one’s for you.

I’m rooting for Gray tbh.

Triggers:
Lots of violence, including against children; torture; attempted sexual assault

Tropes:
Wrong side of the tracks
Forbidden romance
Hidden identity
Found family
Who did this to you?

Spice: 🌶🌶

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

While there a lot of intriguing elements to this book, I found it just wasn't for me. It's not a negative reflection of the book, but rather of my own personal tastes.

Review: To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast

This book had me hooked from page one. To Cage a Wild Bird throws you straight into a brutal world where survival is everything and love is the most dangerous risk of all. Raven is fierce, loyal, and impossible not to root for—and I loved how her strength was always grounded in her love for her brother.

The setting is terrifying in the best way—Endlock feels like a dystopian nightmare you can’t look away from. The tension is constant, the stakes are high, and the slow-burn connection between Raven and the prison guard was just the right mix of forbidden and magnetic.

It’s gritty, emotional, and full of raw intensity. If you love dystopian romance with bite, found family, and heroines who would burn the world down for the people they love, this one’s a must-read.

MUST READ! Enemies to lovers💕, dystopian🔮, prison🔫, slowburn🌶️

Raven has had a rough childhood, her parents were killed in front of her, and now she must protect her brother. When her brother gets into trouble, she infiltrates the Endlock prison in order to save him and others. Along the way she makes friends and she gets very close to a prison guard. You've gotta read if they complete the mission and make it out alive… oh and they are also being hunted and killed by the rich for sport.

This novel kept me on my toes and I found it was perfectly spaced. Not too detailed and not too quick, the story was told smoothly. The ending is quite a cliff hanger, leaves you wanting more! It reminds me a bit of the “Us dark few” by Alexis Patton. Also a really good read and different character background and storyline but similar setting!
Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

Awesome read !!!!! This author did a great job of bringing the characters and this brilliant story line together I loved it put in the mind of purge lol but yeah so good

To Cage a Wild Bird is set in a gritty dystopian world, a century after the Second Civil War.
We follow Raven, a fierce and determined bounty hunter, who infiltrates a brutal prison where inmates are sold as bait for rich hunters—all to save her younger brother.
Having raised her brother since she was sixteen after the death of their parents, Raven hasn’t had much time to enjoy life or form meaningful connections. Inside the prison, she’s faced with a hard truth: she can’t do this alone. If she wants to escape and protect him, she’ll have to trust someone—a reckoning she’s avoided for years.

The descriptiveness and world-building were absolutely on point. The dystopian setting was rendered really well, immersing me fully in the harsh, unforgiving reality Raven was up against. It felt dangerous, raw, and very real and intriguing.
I also loved the found family aspect and the broody, mysterious love interest—who happens to be a prison guard. That dynamic brought a lot of tension and emotional pull to the story.

That said, I do think the romance could’ve been more developed. The connection leaned a bit into insta-lust, driven by a preexisting attraction that continued inside the prison. I would’ve loved to see more depth and slower emotional build-up.
I had a really good time with this story!
Overall, this was an intense and engaging read with solid world-building, a badass heroine, and strong themes of loyalty, survival, and trust.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Five stars for Brooke Fast's debut! This had all the good trappings (pun intended) of the classic aughts Dystopian. Immersive world-building, tension, never knowing who to trust. Fast masterfully weaves strong and vivid emotion, plus steamy romance, into this book. I flew through the pages and held my breath on more than one occasion. I'm honestly a little mad at myself that I finished it so quickly, because now I have to wait even longer for book 2. Can't wait to finish this duology and see what else Fast writes!!

I was so happy to get this arc! I follow the author on IG and have been looking forward to reading. This is such a unique story, Raven and her brother end up in a prison where they are hunted by upper class citizens. This was a great book and I can not wait for this series to continue!

hunger games meets the purge: anarchy (kinda?)

love that this author started as a bookish content creator & now will be publishing her debut! excited to see what else she does! thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I am loving the dystopian romance trend that is happening! I couldn’t put this book down and read it in 24 hours! I loved every character she created and the whole storyline overall. I absolutely cannot wait until book 2!

I enjoyed this book, but found the world building to be a bit convoluted at times. The characters were likable and the plot was interesting. I will likely read the sequel.

The way I'm already clawing at the bars for book 2 and book 1 isn't even out yet. It was THAT good! the plot was amazing, This is the next novel EVERYONE needs to read!

WOW! This just made its way into my top 3 reads of the year so far. I absolutely devoured this story and cannot wait for book two.

To Cage a Wild Bird follows Raven, a bounty hunter in a dystopian world who, to support herself and her younger brother, earns her living by catching criminals and sending them to Endlock, a deadly prison where members of society’s upper echelon can pay to hunt and kill inmates for sport. Raven’s world flips upside down when she finds out that her brother has been arrested and sent to Endlock. To free him, she partners with a rebel group, known as the Collective, to devise a plan to break her brother, and one of their assets, out of the prison from the inside.

Prison isn’t a welcoming place for a bounty hunter though. Inside Endlock, Raven must fight to survive not only the deadly hunts but also other prisoners who are seeking revenge. Unsure of who she can trust, Raven begins a tentative partnership with a group of prisoners to help plan the escape, while also finding herself drawn to a mysterious prison guard, Vale, who may or may not be on her side. As the hunts begin to escalate, Raven and her group of inmates must race against the clock to find a way out before the hunts become so deadly that survival is impossible.

To Cage a Wild Bird has everything you could want in a dystopian read. It has high-stakes, heart-pumping action, while being set in a world with significant wealth and class disparity, corrupt government officials, oppression, and rebellion. The found-family in this book is one of its strongest elements. You’ll find yourself becoming emotionally invested in our group of prisoners, feeling every high and low alongside them. The only aspect of this book that could be improved on, in my opinion, is the romance. It felt a bit underdeveloped and would have benefited from taking the time to better establish why these two characters care about each other, beyond attraction.

Regardless, this was a fantastic 5-star read that I would recommend to anyone looking for a dystopian with a romantic subplot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.25 stars)

I’m always on the hunt for a new and exciting dystopian read, and this one absolutely delivered. It’s intense, gritty, and layered with just the right amount of rebellion, emotional depth, and found family goodness.

We follow Raven, an FMC who had me rooting for her from page one. She’s the kind of bad bitch you can’t help but love. Fierce, guarded, and unapologetically determined. But what really hooked me was watching her slowly open herself up to connection. The vulnerability she showed by allowing friendships to form was such a powerful contrast to the brutal world she’s surviving in. And her dynamic with Vale? Chaotic, passionate, and addictive.

One of my favorite elements of the story was the strong sense of chosen family. The prisoners aren’t just surviving together, they’re fighting for each other. Whether it’s helping out with everyday survival or risking it all during the deadly Hunt, there’s something deeply emotional about their bond.

If you’re a fan of The Hunger Games, this will scratch that itch and then some. It’s like a darker, more twisted version with higher stakes and sharper edges. I’m seriously hoping for a sequel because if this is a standalone, I will simply not recover.

I loved this book!

It's a bit of a Hunger Games mash up. We have a dystopian US where prisoners can be hunted by citizens who pay enough money. When Raven's brother gets imprisoned she goes in after him.

I really enjoyed this book because is was high stakes. No spoilers but I appreciate a book where everything is on the table and it's not characters constantly escaping perilous situations.

I also liked a bit of a most gray FMC. Raven will do anything to protect her little brother, even at the sake of her own morality.

The book has great pacing. I was never bored and then I was absolutely glued to the last twenty percent.

Thank you Avon & NetGalley for the electronic advance reader copy! This is my first book from this auther, so I'm so excited to dive into this book ASAP. I will be updating this review as I read.

What am I looking forward to most in this read? Slow burn, immersive world building, action-packed plot, found family.