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!

I really had to debate this review for nearly a week. Fortunately I buddy read this with my friend, Rachael, so I actually have the messages between us to remind myself what I liked and didn't like.

I loved the story, I've never read anything like it. It was definitely a new take on magic. The characters referred to in the book as having Skill are the ones with the magic. The aristocrats are the Equals, and the unskilled is everyone else. The unskilled have to devote ten years of their lives to the slave days. Essentially for ten years they have to put their lives on hold and work for no pay. The majority of the population has to complete their slave days in a industrial type place where you can have any number of jobs and everyone seems to be treated poorly. One of the characters, Luke, ends up here and we basically read as a revolution gets started. Another main character, Abi, ends up working for the Jardine family. The Jardine family is a very important, skilled family. This is a much more cushy way to live out your slave days.

Now lets get to the confusing aspects of the book. We start out the book with Gavar, heir of the Jardine Family, chasing down the mother of his child and her daughter. I'm assuming this was more important than what I got out of it while I read the book. I finished the book with no idea if Gavar is a good guy or bad guy. The second son of the Jardine's is Jenner and somehow he is unskilled, which is pointed out in the books multiple times as not being possible. And the youngest son is Silyen. I am unsure if Silyen is a villain or a good guy because we only had one chapter through his POV. The only other chapter that we learned a lot more about Silyen was told in Euterpe's POV. Another main character we followed was Bouda, Gavar's fiance, out of everyone she seemed the most pointless. We had two chapters following her and I honestly think they could have been skipped. There was also a small romance added in that just seemed completely forced and out of nowhere. Not every book needs a romance. If you want to add a romance at least make it build up!

There was a point in the book that just seemed like something to be a shocker and that was Lady Hypatia's dog. Dog definitely ending up being much more important later on though. The first half of the book I was not very interested at all. I had no clue who the main characters were, what the main plot points were, and I didn't really understand any of the characters. The second half was a bit more enjoyable. It ended with a bit of a cliffhanger as well. Apparently this is going to be a trilogy so I'll probably try to continue it.

Gilded Cage definitely has a lot of potential and I will most likely read book two because of it, but I don't think it was properly accomplished. I had to spend nearly a week debating this review because I both liked and didn't like this book and I landed on just giving it an average rating.

I thought I'd give it a try because I've read some good YA sci-fi books recently, but this didn't distinguish itself in any way. Disappointment.

I received an email from Netgalley introducing Gilded Cage and it immediately caught my interest. The first line of the synopsis was enough for me to instantly push the "request" button on Netgalley and anxiously await my acceptance. I immediately became hooked and loved the characters and the world James created. It did have some subtle similarities to other YA books I've read, but it definitely stood out!

I loved getting to know the characters and I especially loved the constant change between narrators and points of view. It was a little extra insight to how each character reacted to their circumstances, and the changes in points of view allowed the reader to get to know each character a little deeper.

The magic added such a complex flair to the novel and made it unlike other YA books that I've read. There were several unexpected twists in the plot and I couldn't guess what would happen next. I read the last page and just sat there thinking, "Ok James, you're going to have to hurry up and right the next book... like NOW"! I thoroughly enjoyed Gilded Cage and would highly recommend it to lovers of fantasy YA books.

There are a ton of awesome sounding books coming out in February, but Gilded Cage is definitely going to rise to the top. It was mind-blowingly amazing and here’s why. I went in expecting something set in a newly industrialized era, but what I got was modern day with the added twist of a 10-year period of enslavement for each and every non-gifted member of society. This book managed to defy every expectation I had when I began reading.

The most important feature in Gilded Cage is the inescapable decade of slavery that every person must complete. People give up their homes, jobs, and human rights, becoming chattel to the state. This thought was viscerally appalling to me, making an even stronger impact because the story is set in a modern time period that could be a distorted mirror to our own. The slave days, coupled with a society ruled by families with preternatural gifts makes for a gripping, perturbing story that is nearly impossible to put down. The skilled Equal families and their government are similar to the aristocratic society of historical England, minus royalty and with all of the corruption and power games.

The most powerful family, the Jardines, are central to the story, but we wouldn’t have this story if it weren’t for the Hadley family. The Hadley’s are doing their slavedays together as a family and have gotten lucky enough to serve at the Jardine estate. A far cry better than the toxic slums that most people end up in, right? Well, Luke Hadley gets to experience those slums first hand because the powers above have decided that a boy his age wouldn’t be of any use on the estate. As he learns the ways of revolution, his family learns that serving the Equals is still quite dangerous.

However much I liked the Hadleys for their resourcefulness, perserverance, and all around goodness, I liked the Equals because they’re monsters. The Jardines have closets of secrets and my opinions of them were ever-changing. Gavar is a rage machine, all sharp edges and black leather… until he’s with his baby daughter, then he’s awestruck and impossibly happy. Silyen is powerful beyond belief, but no one really knows what he’s capable of. I’m still unsure if he’s playing devil’s advocate or if he’s playing a long game. Jenner is quite unlike either of his brothers and I think he has a scrap of decency, though I have reservations about him. The other Equals range from sadistic to power hungry to abolitionist and each page brought something new to love or loathe.

Vic James is going to bring the house down with this book. This book had more momentum and had a society twice as appalling as The Hunger Games. Dystopian at its finest? Absolutely. I LOVED it and I’m going to go ahead and say this is one of the best books I’ll read in 2017. The countdown to the next installment is on!

A entertaining novel of speculative fiction. The world is ruled by Equals, people who have the Skill (pretty much like magic). Everybody else has to serve their slavedays: 10 years when their rights are suspended and they are forced to become slaves. Most go to slavetowns, horrible slums where people are underfed and overworked. Abi, however, is so smart that she comes up with a plan for her whole family to serve their slavedays in the estate of a family of Equals. But the Jardines have many, many secrets, and Abi and her family will be involved in some of them. The plot never slows down and the action just keeps coming. There are several points of view that give a solid overview of different environments besides the Jardine’s mansion. Luke, Abi's brother, is mistakenly sent to a slavetown where he gets involved with the resistance. In a way, this novel reminded me of the Red Rising Trilogy, because the story involves politics, historical facts and traitors on both sides. The difference here is that the world is somewhat recognizable. There are cars, and phones and people speak like normal, contemporary folk. Since this is the beginning of a trilogy, be forewarned that all characters end in precarious situations after a doozy of a climax. I'm counting the minutes till the second part comes out

I received a copy of "Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts #1)" from NetGalley for an honest review. I wish to thank NetGalley, Del Rey, and Vic James for the opportunity to read this book.

This is the debut novel by Vic James. I really, really enjoyed it!! It was a slow start as it had SO much to set up. But, once the premise was explained, I could NOT put it down!! This was a creative novel with fantasy and magic. It was really well-written and thoroughly enjoyable. Definitely cannot WAIT for the NEXT book in the series to come out - hopefully, SOON!

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who likes magic and fantasy. In a nutshell, it is hard to explain, but it is just a great novel. Read it!!

P.S. I had the book for almost two months, but it did NOT take me that long to read the book. I was sick and had the holidays get in the way of reading this enjoyable book!

I’ve been shying away from reading YA for some time now, having had my fill of angsty, love-triangle-filled dystopian stories to last two lifetimes. With my oldest child rapidly approaching this time in his own life, I figure, if I need to live through it, I don’t need to read it “for pleasure.” Vic James’s debut novel, Gilded Cage, was an exception, and I am far from sorry for it.

Gilded Cage offers an alternate history of England where society is ruled by those with Skill, magical abilities which are passed down in certain family lines. Equals, as they call themselves, also established the Slavedays, ten years of servitude for commoners but with the right to choose when to serve them. Kyneston is the ancestral home of the current ruling family, the Jardines, and the place where most of the story takes place. The three sons—Gavar, Jenner, and Silyen—each have their own agenda to bring to fruition. Into this toxic environment comes the Hadley family. Abi, the oldest and very clever girl that she is, has been working on a plan to enable the entire family to serve their slavedays together in what was supposed to be considered practically a luxury location compared to the alternative. As it happens with most plans, a monkey wrench gets thrown in, and only four out of the five family members are accepted. Luke, the teenage boy, does not and gets shipped to the cruelest of slavetowns: Millmoor.

As each family member tries to adjust to their new surroundings, another revolution seems to be brewing. The idea of abolishing the slavedays has officially been proposed in Parliament, though not by choice from the one proposing it. Many hands are reaching for power, each with very different plans. Through multiple POVs, we get to see varying facets of life of the privileged and the indentured. Through it all, the question of innate/genetic magical Skill provides the backdrop for the age-old tug-of-war between the rich and the poor, the oppressed and the oppressors.

I thoroughly enjoyed how the story unfolded, even though I am usually not a fan of more than two alternating POVs since you can easily fall into the trap of rehashing the same scene, just with another pair of eyes. As a result, the pacing can falter and the plot derails. However, James carried it off with aplomb. Each POV provided not only the necessary character development but kept the pacing consistent and the story riveting. I could not put it down. I won’t reveal much more, because that may take away from allowing you the full experience of this delightful book, but know that ingenuity, courage, compassion, and devotion all await your discovery. Happy reading!

Abi, smart, driven, and about to start med school, and her younger brother Luke, are surprised when her parents announce they will be entering their ten years of slavery. Their younger sister just turned ten, the youngest age anyone can go and the family makes arrangements to work for the most prestigious family in England, the Jardines. In this alternate England, any member of society that isn’t an Equal, one with magical powers, is required to serve ten years as a slave. This law started in the 1600s when it saw its last King. The Equals are the powerful ones now. Luke and Abi are not thrilled at the idea but knowing they will all be together and not working in a slave town that sucks the life from you like Millmoor, they accept their fate. But, as fate would have it, the Jardines failed to tell anyone that Luke would not have a place with them and he is sent to Millmoor. Alone.

While at Millmoor, Luke keeps his head down, does what he is told and endures the hard labor, long hours, and paltry food provided. His one friend is a smallish girl, maybe thirteen, who talks him into running errands for her. Things like delivering new glasses when Millmoor won’, bringing medicine to a sick person, or random items like cable to who knows where. Luke knows there is more going on and is eventually invited to join a group of revolutionaries who plan to overturn the slavery agreement. Knowing his life is on the line, he risks it anyway for the sake of the cause.

While Luke is at Millmoor, his family has been settling in with the strange but powerful Jardine family. The three brothers each have distinct personalities, but Abi is drawn to Jenner. She works with him as the families secretary and has developed a bit of a crush, despite the fact that she can never be with him. Jenner, to his credit, never leads her on and knows his lot in life, especially since he is an anomaly in his family - he was born into a family of Equals with no powers of his own. While I wasn’t a huge fan of Abi’s crush (hello, you’re supposed to be the smart one!), I chalked it up to teenage hormones. Daisy, the youngest of the family, has been put in charge of the bastard born child of Gavar, the oldest Jardine. He is sinister, dutiful to his family, and soon to be wed to another powerful Equal. Daisy only sees Libby, the baby she is in charge of, and Gavar’s devotion as a father. What she doesn’t see is his manipulative and violent side, much to the chagrin of her sister. The third brother, Silyen is secretive, keeps to himself, and has plans of his own that don’t involve the family.

Things are going seemingly well, even though Abi and her family can sense the stress from the Jardine family and the rest of the Equals. Riots and demonstrations are happening in the slave towns and they have no idea if Luke is okay until one day he shows up. A transfer has occurred, and he is once again back with his family. He fits in well but is anxious to be doing something for the friends he left behind. Little does he know that is all about to change.

The story is told from many, many points of view (Abi, Luke, all three Jardines, etc.) and I was a little distracted at first, mostly just trying to keep pace with each character and his/her story. But, once that settled, this was a delightful modern day fantasy with many elements to keep the reader interested. While this wasn’t teeming with magic, the snippets that were shown worked, had imagination, and excitement. I imagine we'll be seeing much more from the second book.

I received a review copy of this book on Netgalley.
Abi and her family go to work as servants for a wealthy and powerful family. But while their job is considered safer and better than working in the slave town, it still has its own horrors. Meanwhile Abi's brother, Luke is in the brutal slave town where he is subjected to abuse. I spent the first half of the book wondering who got the worse job. Sure Abi's job was mainly administration but the family she serves, the Jadines, are absolutely terrifying. While Luke has to work under uncomfortable circumstances, he atleast has some sort of solitude at the end of the day.
But then everyone seemed like a friend and then everyone seemed like a foe so I was just confused. Can anyone be trusted? Should no one be trusted? This book had me second-guessing every character and I loved every second of it. The writing is flawless, the plot moves quickly and the twists and unimaginable.
This is one of those books that leave you with a thousand questions. Just give me the rest of the series already. I NEED MORE!!! Go read this book. You won't regret it.

Is All the Glitters Gold…or only a Gilded Cage Waiting to Snare the Unwitting?
I like dystopian fiction, in fact I could say it is one of my favorite genres… but even though I dove into this book expecting to like it, I was still blown away. Gilded Cage is everything a dystopian book worm could want, and more. It has magic, it has doomed love, it has a flawlessly built backstory and world for the characters to move through…and its themes about slavery and wealth are so spot on that they actually made me physically uncomfortable. While being a wild ride full of magic, rebellion, and seething manipulations, the book also begs the larger question of how easily could the haves establish a slave society, building their fortunes and ostentatious lifestyles on the backs of those have nots? Related imageWe’ve certainly seen it in the not-so-distant past with African slavery, and in the modern caste system in India…so could it happen again where you live? And would you have the strength to resist? These are just a few of the disconcerting themes that lace their way subtly through this very excellent work of fiction.

Every character in this book is effortlessly developed and mesmerizing…with so much duality that even now, I am still unsure of the motives and allegiances of a few important characters. The basic premise, that all non-magic members of British society must give ten years of their lives as slaves to the magical elite, is fresh and new. And the moment when Abi, Luke, and their family realize that they have signed away all rights, and even their basic personhood, is the first moment when your stomach might twist uncomfortably. But, there will be plenty more moments like that, as the story progresses and the evil rot at the core of this dystopian version of Britain is gradually revealed. Image result for girl trying to escape gifAbi thought she was making the best choice for her family in choosing to do their days on one of the grand estates, but she quickly realizes that the golden veneer is just that: only skin deep, and what lies beneath is horrifyingly twisted. This overarching sense of doom is nicely tempered by the budding romance between Abi and one of her masters, who by a twist of fate is non-magical, despite having been born to privilege. But will he be willing to risk it all to help Abi and her family?

The book ends with multiple cliff hangers, that have me waiting with bated breath for the next book in the series. Here’s hoping for some resolved questions, and even more uncomfortable musings…because the books that make you question yourself and the world really are the best ones. I highly recommend that you pre-order Gilded Cage today.

Apart from the standardless father and son Jardine pair and the man/dog, this was actually a pretty enjoyable good book. I thought the irony of the ruling class calling themselves "Equals" while they forced normal people into slavery for an allotted period of years and treated them like less than dirt quite clever. I am quite excited for the next installment, as this one ended on a bit of a cliffhanger.

Book Review will be posted to link below and Goodreads.
Link for blog will be available on February 7 - one week prior to release date.
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Not all are equal. Not all are Free.
Wait – have I read this before?
Vic James’ debut novel, Gilded Cage, proffers up an alternate Great Britain with all the makings of a dystopian society comprised of an elite ruling class of magic wielding aristocrats who use their “Skill” to keep their skill less counterparts – the commoners of England under control. As a means to maintain their power and infrastructure of their world, the Skilled require that all commoners serve in slavery for ten years of their lives. The Hadley family is beginning their slavedays and will be sent to serve their ten-year sentence at the estate of the highly powerful Jardine family, Kyneston instead of the slavetown of Millmoore. When Luke Hadley is reassigned to Millmoore instead of joining his family at Kyneston he befriends a ragtag group of rebels who are set on undermining the Skilled and ultimately abolishing slavery in Great Britain.
Sound familiar?
It should. Two groups battling for power and equality, where the oppressors are able to use their magical abilities to keep everyone in check? I believe I have read this before, a few times, actually.
Therefore, while the plot is nothing new, there are some good things about this book and parts that I hope she elaborates for the next two books of the trilogy:
• The writing is easy to read and follow. I think that this will make the reader more likely to finish the book and stay with the story.
• There are multiple points of view. The reader is able to get into the heads of various characters, skilled and non-skilled. This mechanism works for the most part, but I really wish that the author had focused on only those who were pivotal to the storyline. Luke, Silyen and Abi were probably the best developed – but I would like to see emotional growth from all three in the next two books.
• Magical abilities and interesting sub plots. I love the magical abilities of the skilled characters and I found the history of these people to be very interesting – I hope Vic James elaborates on this as the series goes on. Moreover, I just really want to know more about Silyen’s abilities. I won’t lie, he’s the only character keeping me interested at this point.
• The Cliffhanger! For me, it took a lot of time to get to a place where I began to invest myself in the characters and the plot of this story. The cliffhanger at the end that should bait readers for the next two installments.
Overall, I found the book to be unremarkable garnering it a three star average rating from me. I would like to see a more fluid, better developed second and third installment to the series. For a first book, this works well for the genre and audience intended and I would recommend it to upper middle graders and younger high school students.

What a wonderful start to a series! First of all, thanks to NetGalley and Random House -Ballantine for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.
There is a lot of world building in this book but at no time did I feel like this story or any action was sacrificed in order to get the reader to understand the rules of this world. This is a story that gives us an alternate history. Hundreds of years ago, magical people of "Skill" called Equals took over parts of the world (this story takes place in Great Britain) and subjugated people with no magical skills. Normal people were then required to take 10 years from their lives which could be served at any time to be slaves to the Equals with no rights. The central characters that are normal all come from the same present day family who at the beginning, decide to serve their 10 years together. The story is told from multiple POV which really works here. I can't wait to see what happens next!