
Member Reviews

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.

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.

3/5 Stars
Vic James' Gilded Cage had been drifting around in conversation at the end of 2016 and I was intrigued enough to request a copy. With a world where the ruling class possesses considerable power both in politics and magic and all commoners serve a term of slavery, this novel questions the very fundamentals of humanity. Unfortunately for me it didn't quite hit the mark and left me with a lot of mixed feelings.
The best part of this story was the politics and magic at play in this dystopian England. The Skill the Equals possess is essentially just magic. Some are better at healing, others destruction, but most of them consider themselves better than those without. Change may be on the horizon though and more than one is working in the shadows. Whether that's good or bad is up for debate, but it does keep the reader on their toes.
It's hard to know where to even begin with these characters. When it comes to the Hadleys, Luke shined, making tough choices and looking out for the people he cared about. Abi, this smart, talented girl was unfortunately sidelined by love and it was kind of disappointing. As far as the Jardines go, Silyen was a creepy kid but ridiculously powerful, Gavar was the brute, and Jenner the normal, kind one. It was such a mixed bag and I'm not sure I fully connected with any of them besides Luke.
My biggest problem with this book was actually the set up and pacing. Honestly there were too many POVs and some of them were so sporadic they felt extremely out of place. As far as plot goes it was slow in the beginning and then it's was one thing after another at the end. All of this made it hard to connect and there was also a lot of time and moments just glossed over which left me wanting more.
Overall Gilded Cage by Vic James held an interesting story but fell flat in a number of areas. An intriguing world needed more to hold it up and while some of the characters stood out, too many of them were overshadowed. I wish I had liked this one more but I'm still curious to see how the rest of the series plays out. Hopefully others will be able to enjoy this title though.

This was one book that I was looking forward to since I read the description. It did not disappoint. Set in an alternative Britain where the Equals has magical abilities known as Skill. The remaining population does not and must serve a 10 year slavedays period. During their slavedays they have no rights and are treated as slaves. While slow-going at first as you are introduced to the characters and world they live in; the last third of the book goes by quickly. Looking forward to the next installment.

The first time I started reading this book I had an idea of where I thought the author would go. The description sounds intriguing, but when the family of characters ended up getting separated right off the bat and each of the kids started to act as I would have predicted in each of their scenarios I lost interest and haven't been able to keep reading more than 1 or 2 pages here or there.

Rarely have I read a story where my thoughts at the end are such a complete turnaround from my thoughts at the beginning. When I first started Gilded Cage, I was beyond pumped--the excellent writing, solid world-building, and strong portrayals of the main characters all made me think this book was going to have everything I wanted. Yet by the time I finished, I could barely even put my feelings into words. I didn’t love it, but I also didn’t hate it. The whole thing just left me cold.
In the alternate world of this young adult dystopian, Great Britain is nation starkly divided along class lines. The Equals are the ruling elites who run the government, live on sprawling estates, and enjoy the power granted to them by their magical gifts. Then there are the commoners, who may be the majority, but they have no representation and are expected to submit themselves to a mandatory ten-year term of service to the Equals. This period is called their “slavedays”, in which they will have all their rights stripped away and no longer be considered citizens.
When the story begins, we are introduced to a family about to begin their slavedays. Siblings Abi, Luke, and Daisy Hadley have been arranged to accompany their parents assigned to the Jardine estate, home of one of the most prominent nobles in Equal society. However, on the day the Hadleys are scheduled to depart, a misunderstanding occurs and 16-year-old Luke is instead separated from his family and shipped off to the slavetown of Millmoor. Feeling desperate and alone, he befriends a group of fellow slaves who teach him how to survive, which in turn makes Luke realize there are more ways to fight back than he’d previously believed.
Meanwhile at the Jardine estate, the rest of the Hadley family are exposed to all the political intrigues and scheming of the Lord and Lady Whittam, along with their three sons Gavar, Jenner, and Silyen. Nevertheless, Abi ends up falling for one of the noble-born young men against her better judgment, putting her in the terrible place of questioning her loyalties and having to decide between freedom and love.
Despite its hackneyed dystopian premise and the overly simplistic concepts, I really did enjoy the first part of this book. From Animal Farm to The Hunger Games, you see a lot of the same themes get used over and over for these types of stories, and yet I never seem to get enough. While the core ideas behind Gilded Cage might not be anything we haven’t seen before, I did enjoy seeing Vic James’ take on them and her attempt to inject a few twists. The prologue was a perfect ten what it came to capturing my attention, and what I read in first few chapters made me want to know more. The writing was also delectable.
So I was shocked when it hit me; somewhere around the quarter to midway point, all my previous enthusiasm had somehow drained away, and I hadn’t even realized it was happening. It just occurred to me suddenly that I was bored, I didn’t really care about the characters, and I was zoning out more and more. The feeling was ambivalence, also known as the death knell of a book under review.
Here’s what I think happened: 1) over time, the strength of the story began eroding due to too many POVs. I couldn’t help but feel the author was trying to emulating the structure and style of an epic fantasy, except, of course, Gilded Cage is not an epic fantasy. 2) The story got hung up on too many unnecessary details. Don’t get me wrong, though. Details are nice. Details are important. But when I find I can zone out or forget everything that was said for several pages at a time, and then have it make absolutely no difference at all in the end, that’s a problem. 3) The split storytelling between the Jardine estate and Millmoor was an interesting decision, but I’m not sure that it was carried out too well. While it was nice seeing a picture of both sides of the world, the ultimate effect was neither here nor there. I couldn’t form a connection to either storyline, and ended up shrugging off both.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I’m disappointed. What started off so promising ended up making me feel so…blah. Still, that’s not to say the book didn’t have it strengths. I recommend giving it a try if the description interests you. It has also been received very positively by a lot of other readers, and I encourage everyone to check out their reviews for another perspective because they do a fantastic job covering all of the story’s charms and high points. Simply put though, the strengths were not enough to overcome the ennui I felt for most of the book, which stumbled after a great beginning and unfortunately never recovered its momentum.

Set in an alternate England, aristocrats with magic "talent" are Equals, the rulers. Commoners without talent are required to serve as slaves for 10 years, but they can choose when they want to perform their service - there is no mandatory age to report in. The 10 year thing kept bothering me - 10 years! why not 4-5, the average military term to serve, or something similar. 10 years! How do you plan a life around a missing 10 year chunk? But other than that - great story! Once I got settled in, I found this really engrossing, with a unique storyline and excellent characters. Although it follows one family as they serve their slave years, the children are the dominant characters here. Starting out as your average, kind, naïve kids, they must meet and deal with so many changes - especially the people, good and evil, they now must serve. I can only see this series getting better and better, with even more depth and world building. And the last few pages are the perfect set up for the next book in this series, and add another twist to the storyline. Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine/Del Rey for allowing me to read an ARC of this great new book. I

Mostly my thoughts are: what did I just read, good sir. Because while I liked the premise and a lot of the plot twists, it was SO POLITICAL and I had actually no idea what was going on. Plus I felt really detached and uninvested with the characters.
I did think the premise was interesting! Once I, erm, went back and reread the blurb, because it takes the actual book forever to explain what's going on. And the whole idea of powerful god-like figures enslaving a modern dystopian world was right up my alley. EVIL THAT DOES NOT SLEEP + REBELLIOUS SLAVES = THIS SHOULD BE GOOD! But no, no it wasn't. (At least for me. Obviously tons of people like this, including like 30 million people on wattpad because apparently it was a wattpad book first.) Instead it was full of dull characters doing dull things. Evil did sleep. Evil napped. The book was just (A) political arguments that went round in circles, (B) powerful people doing confusing things, (C) weirdly convenient things happening for the rebels, and (D) a very disturbing "romance" where a girl falls in love with her master who shows NO affection towards and sanctions her brain being wiped until at the end they randomly kiss.
I felt it had a lot of potential but was lost amongst too many narrating voices that all sounded the same and gave me no one to root for.

I have been looking forward to reading Gilded Cage for a long time and I am so glad that I was able to do so. One of the things that stood out to me about this book was the characters. They made this book. They were interesting and fleshed out and I found myself, while not liking them all, becoming engrossed in their lives and struggles.
If you are looking for a character driven book that has action thrown in there for good measure I think that you have found your book in Gilded Cage!