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

This topic is no longer of interest to me and I will not be finishing this book.

I did not know exactly what to expect. I went into the novel without expectations and so I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it. The world is so detailed and there are so many different storylines that are all starting to converge. I really wonder where the next book is going to head and I cannot wait to read it.

Gilded Cage has the same ingredients that every other dystopian, semi-fantasy book has out there with the classic division of have's and have-not's with the added element of magic.

It's a dystopian with the world divided into elites and the non-elites in this case the Equals—the Skilled aristocrats— and the Non-Equals who have to give up a decade of their life to slavetowns without any pay.

The times are bleak as in this world you don't get to be a full citizen until they complete his/her slavedays.

Told from multiple POV. We get to see the world through members of a family torn apart due to the slavetown agreement. Not all family members of our protagobist family get to go the world behind the Gilded Cage where the Skilled (the family with magic) live.

The book ends on a semi non-cliffhanger that sure makes one want to know what happens next. I want to read the next book just because, but I am not that eager to do so as my experience with this book was a-okay.

I, for one didn't like the similar high end family trope and the love story sure added to my dislike. This setting has been the backdrop for so many novels out there that I just can't. I didn't really like the characters or the plotline.

The last few chapters saved the book for me or it would have been a two star read for me.

This book was highly loved on Wattpad so there's that.

Special thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for this review copy.

An interesting read, I'm usually intrigued by anything that has to do with aristocracy, but this book was far too political for me. It was hard to get into the story when everything is about political machinations. A little too dark for my taste, it weave an interesting story involving social structures and power. My kids would probably enjoy it, although I didnt.

In the world of the Gilded Cage, you possess magic or you don't. Possession of magic places you in the upper tiers of society, while lack of a magical gift requires you to enter the service of the magically gifted for ten years. The Gilded Cage tells the story of two families - one gifted, one not. As the lives of the families become intertwined, the reader discovers that it takes more than magic to create a family, and that power doesn't necessarily belong to the ones with the power.

This was one of the best dystopian novels I've read in a long time! I wasn't sure what to expect because some supernatural fiction comes across cheesy and unrealistic, but each and every one of the characters in this novel had their own depth and humanity - whether they had magical powers or not. I cannot wait to continue reading this series when book 2 comes out!

I really got into this book at the first - the story and world were intriguing and I liked the writing. I ended up with a very busy mid-month though, and somehow my forward momentum was ruined. I never dreaded reading, and I always enjoyed it when I did read, but I didn't get through it as quickly as I normally would.

What I liked the most was the characters - I liked seeing some good in one I initially thought of as 100% bad, and some of the others surprised me! I also thought the story was good - there was lots of intrigue and it kept moving well. What I didn't like was some of the world - it's a neat world but parts just don't make sense or I just can't see how they could possibly work. However, it is book one and I suspect a lot of that will be explained.

Anyway, it was an enjoyable first book in the series!

This book was just OK for me. I always recommend going ahead and reading a book, if it sounds interesting to you because I am just one person and just because I might not care too much for something, doesn't mean someone else might not love it.

Gilded Cage by Vic James is a hard book to review in the sense that once I finished it, I was truly depressed. There's not anything redemptive in the game of political power machinations happening and the abuse of power, is sickening. That said, this YA story was one of the first in a long time that made me disgusted with how easily manipulated humans are in their efforts to get rich and stay in high political positions. Trust no one! Also, I had no problems following the multitude of switching narratives. I am intrigued and will definitely be getting the next book in this series. My only fear being that it will not end with any hope for humanity which I do not like when finishing a series. Finely, darkly woven political thriller with supernatural elements; GILDED CAGE is probably best for older readers or ones who are mature enough to read Hunger Games and the torture in it.

I requested Gilded Cage by Vic James many months ago and due to a series of unfortunate, or perhaps fortunate as the case may be, events I was unable to read it until just a few weeks ago.

I remember requesting Gilded Cage. It seemed up there with other dystopian/magical type series where you have those with powers and those without. This one primarily focuses on two families, the Jardines and the Hadleys. The Jardines are called Equals, those who have powers or Skills. These Skills can be used to change the physical world or to manipulate the minds of others. The Hadleys are a family without any Skill which means that, sometime in their life they have to spend ten years working their Slave Days. During those ten years they can be assigned to a variety of jobs, some of which are worse than others.

Most of the Hadley family is sent to work for the Jardines which is somewhat cushy but offers some issues of it's own. (The book opens up with one of the Jardine's' slaves trying to run away with the baby she had with one of the Jardine sons and she makes it very clear that he has not treated her well.) But the eldest Hadley son is sent to a work town where the work is dangerous, the hours are long, and the slaves are beaten and treated like nothing.

So of course there's a rebellion with some Equals recognizing that the current system is awful and not fair.

It definitely sounded interesting enough but there were too many issues for me.

- There were too many narrators and the vast majority were idiots. Fall in love with your slave owner after one day? Check. Join a rebellion after one day? Check. Trust your slave owners even though their own brothers tell you that they are murderers? Check. Be super manipulative and possibly working on the side of good but literally never explaining any of it? Check. Oh, and they were also mostly boring.
- I knew there was politics because that happens in all of these types of books. However I did not expect to spend half the book sitting in on political meetings where the Equals rehashed the same arguments over and over and over again. Really, how were there no rebellions before this? You're all idiots.
- The "ending" was unsatisfying. Sure, it was explosive and a good rebellion story needs one of those but where each of the characters ends up was not worth the read.

The gilded cage imagines an alternate world where the Equals (the elite of society) are not just the richest and most powerful, but are Skilled with powers like magic to create, destroy and manipulate the physical world around them as well as the emotional abs thought lives of others. the unskilled ate commoners, each required by law to serve 10 years of slavery in service to the Equals. It is this world into which we are thrust to follow the story of one common family (mainly their children Abi and Jake) and one Equal family (and their 3 sons: Gavar, Jenner, and Silyeun). As the common family starts their years of servitude, they are torn apart and sent to different locations.
I thought this book was decent at creating this alternate reality, but not so great at developing the thoughts and actions of the characters. It seemed somewhat rushed, especially toward the end. Not sure if I'll pick up the sequel when it is released.

This book had an interesting synopsis but in ways it fell short and dragged along at a snails pace. It felt more historical fiction then the magical fantasy I was expecting

This one was difficult for me to get into. I found the world the author built interesting and the class division based on magical ability, while not a new idea, was a solid basis for this story and set everything up well. I found the characters to be well developed and I'm interested in seeing what happens next for everyone.

Thank you so much for the chance to read and review The Gilded Cage. I'm sorry to say that I wasn't able to finish the book. Because I didn't finish, I don't feel comfortable reviewing this title as I didn't get the full story. This doesn't stop me from recommending this title to those I feel like would enjoy the story and/or writing! It just wasn't a story that I was able to get into.

Full of magic and mystery, James delivers a captivating and unique story that leaves you craving more.

I admit, the first quarter of the book was a slow go for me, hence the 4 stars and not 5, but once I hit that mark I was enthralled and couldn't put it down. Each character was well developed and by the end, I found myself torn in deciding who was good and who was bad. I could find both in each of them and I'm curious to see which side each of them will fall in future installments.

With multiple points of view and an emphasis on politics, the plot gets complex. For some this would be seen as a negative, but as I enjoy politics and find tracking several stories along the same timeline challenging but fun, this enhanced the reading experience for me.

I can tell the first book was just setting the board and getting the game started. I can't wait to see how the author moves the pieces, I have a feeling it's going to get really intense. Looking forward to book 2.

If you're a fan of young adult, dystopia, and fantasy genres, this novel is for you. Author, Vic James created a stunning world with enough building to help you completely understand how living works. Although there isn't much emphasis on the magic or fantasy aspect, it turned out exceptionally well nonetheless!

I highly recommend! Full review will be posted at https://tizzymatic.wordpress.com on July 14, 2017