I galloped through reading this book. I was entranced and was driven to finish as fast as I could. In the midst of reading I attending NY ComicCon and had the pleasure to meet the author Vic James and get a signed print ARC of this same title...The only hard part was meeting her before finishing the novel..I was at the climax of action and just wanted to read! Good characters and beginning of a nice series. It got a bit frantic at the end and confusing sorting out who, what, when, but overall good work.

I didn’t enjoy this book and I honestly have no clue how else to summarize it. Yes, I read the description and I did see the bit about commoners serving those with magic, known as “the Equals” for some reason that either wasn’t disclosed or I didn’t pay attention to, but I didn’t realize it was ten years of actual slavery, complete with the loss of all rights and “personhood.”

So let’s start with my biggest issue with this book – I don’t buy the premise. Now, I’ve read dystopias before and oftentimes there is a suspension of belief required to really get into the story. But I do not buy that in modern times, people would willingly serve a small class of people, by literally becoming slaves for ten years of their lives, even if they get to choose at what age they do so (well, by the time they turn 60 or something). Other countries have Equals and handle magic with varying degrees, but I believe England was one of the few countries that have these slave laws and it made it even harder to believe that the common people wouldn’t have broken free of this ridiculous agreement by now.

Yes, the Equals are all rich (because, of course) and some are very powerful, but throughout the story we realize most of these people never even display their powers, making me wonder all the more why they’re in a position to command slaves at this point. Many of them don’t even know the extent of their own powers and I wondered whether they could actually snuff out a serious rebellion.

But before I even realized how ridiculous I thought the overall plot of the book was, I was bored to death by the characters. I didn’t care about Luke, Abi and their family and how they were going into slavery. I didn’t care about any of the clichéd Equals. They were so bland I couldn’t even bring myself to hate them, which would have at least been entertaining to some degree. Oh, well there were two sisters named Bouda and Bodina and I hate their names, so that’s something I suppose.

All in all, I was predominantly bored by this book and was relieved when it was over. I believe this is to be a trilogy, but I’ll pass on that.

I expected more from this book – more atmosphere, more character development, more excitement. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I would recommend this book to anyone. However, I seem to be in the minority compared to the other reviews I’ve seen so far, so perhaps you may enjoy this.

Definitely not what I was expecting from the cover and synopsis. I had expected a historical fantasy and even though I didn't get that I really did enjoy what I read! It was definitely a fantasy just set in modern times. I loved the multiple POV's too! I can't wait to read the next book.

Fantastic debut! Thank you to the author, Netgalley, and the publisher for providing me with an ARC; this does not affect my review.

In an oversaturated genre full of cliches, this book is unique for YA Fantasy. The world building is excellent. Initially, I found all of the names and locations to be a bit hard to retain but that eased up as the book progressed. The plot is highly political and it reminds me of Game of Thrones mixed with Red Rising :) I liked the dystopian aspect of Equals versus commoners and the fact that different Equals have different levels of strength and power. I also typically prefer first person POV but this book switches off between multiple third persons and it was still quite enjoyable. There was enough voice from the author to easily differentiate the chapter owners.

For all those worried: there is a small amount romance but it's not the main focus. Additionally, there are a plethora of complex characters to enjoy. Even the villains are multifaceted, and you'll love to hate characters like Bouda. The book flew by once I was around 25% or 30% and when it ended I was so sad that I didn't already have the next installment.

Holy plot twists batman! This book was anything but predictable. I have never encountered a book I wanted to hate but loved so much. I'm not a fan of the 'slave days' scenario, I find it highly improbable, but I really liked the magic and story that evolved from it.

There was also no main character, but more of a cast of characters. At first I was afraid it would be too many POVs, but each one was both relevant and smoothly incorporated. We are given insight into the characters' intentions that we never could have otherwise. And the characters themselves were so well developed, so flawed and alive, I am still in awe.

Overall, this book was a great read that went by too quick even though it wasn't short. Many questions were raised and not many were answered, so book 2 will be a must read.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy for review!

An interesting new take on a distopian future. Characters are well drawn and distinct. Great book for science fiction and fantasy buffs.

Posted on goodreads:

Part of me wanted to give this 3 stars just because of the ending. I'm not a fan of the cliffhanger ending trend at all. If a story is well told and interesting enough to continue into a series then I will already want to know 'what next?' I don't want the story to end in the middle of a scene, it's just annoying. In general I liked the book though and went with 4 stars.

Vic James created a fairly believable dystopian story set in Great Britain. Here, the class division of haves vs have-nots is not separated economically but magically-those that have magical 'Skills' are the rulers and everybody else is simply a commoner regardless of wealth and must spend ten years at some point in their life as a slave, mostly working in industrial slave towns. The story is centered on a family who has just entered their mandatory 'slave days' and mainly focuses on the teenaged brother and sister, Luke and Abi, as they deal with their situations.

While parts of the story were a little predictable, there were still several things that surprised me, which is always a plus. Overall I liked the book and look forward to the next in the series, hopefully there won't be another mid-scene cliffhanger though.

Gilded Cage by Vic James will be released on Valentine’s Day, 2017. This is an excellent novel with a rich backstory and detailed world building, interesting characters and plenty of plot. Don’t go by the blurb for this novel which make it sound like YA fantasy with teen romance and devoid of original ideas. It has plenty of themes that adults will enjoy. (This review is condensed from my blog post here: http://www.morebooksthantime.com/gilded-cage-by-vic-james-excellent-fantasy-set-in-alternate-england/)

Backstory – Slavery

James built a detailed and richly thought-out world. Consider her treatment of slavery, a repulsive idea in any context however configured.

The slavery concept as executed in the novel is unique. The Equals could have forced everyone to work 1 week a month for 41 years, which would be about the same total as 10 years all at once. But if you think about it, a 1 week per month routine would quickly become just a duty, onerous, unpleasant, but not soul-shattering. To make their power and position absolutely, unequivocally clear, Equals force the 10 years.

When do you do your 10 year slave days? Young so you have the rest of your life free (if you aren’t killed or maimed)? At 55 so you can enjoy 35 years of adulthood first? Alone or with a spouse? With your children? It’s a horrible choice and there is no good answer.

Anytime an author establishes a framework so carefully structured that readers think about the economic and political (to say nothing about moral) ramifications we have the makings of a great fantasy. Once the author sets up the structure then she must create characters and a story that are equally vibrant. James has done that here.

Characters

James does an excellent job showing us the characters, especially Skilled brothers Gavar and Silyen, one expected to pursue political leadership and the other scheming and exploring his Skill, Gavar’s repulsive fiancee Buoda, commoner Luke and would-be revolutionary leader Dr. Jackson.

She uses small details to show us the people. For example, Bouda wants to force anyone who is unemployed long term back into slavery and can’t understand why her perfectly logical idea was not adopted. That tells us about Bouda. We see people interacting, many interesting minor players and some take risks and some do not.

Gilded Cage stands alone as an excellent, thought-provoking novel but it is also set up for sequels. It is character-driven with several minor characters positioned for larger roles in the next books as conflicts are primed to start.

Overall

Vic James has given us a fascinating novel with a genuine plot, world and characters. She balanced writing a solid story with setting up sequels and I hope to follow her through her next novels.

5 Stars

I received an advance copy from NetGalley in expectation of a review.

I loved this book, everything from the cover to the plot to the characters. I loved that the love story wasn't too "in your face" and was mixed with intrigue and action. I can't wait to read more from this author.

I really enjoyed the writing style and I felt that each pov had their own voice. I enjoyed the use of an alternate-universe England, but the reasoning behind some world-building choices, like why the Equals needed slaves were not expanded to their full abilities.

Good characters, excellent worldbuilding (even though slave!fic is not my favorite subgenre). Left me wanting to read more..

I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine.

This first book in the Dark Gifts trilogy sets the stage very nicely for how this alternative history of Britain works. Author Vic James has made it easy to understand how the Equals and slaves came about. I appreciated her cleverness in calling the ruling class aristocrats "Equals" when, of course, we see in this novel that they are nothing of the sort. They are, instead, a group of people who have inherited magical abilities. These abilities are used to keep the ordinary people under their strict control. If you don't posses the Skill, you must do a term of ten years as a slave doing the jobs necessary to keep an economy running. If you live through your decade of slavery, you are then declared to be "free". And since it has been this way for so many hundreds of years the Equals keep becoming stronger and the others stay exactly where they are. For the most part the primary characters in this novel are young adults, mostly in their late teens or early twenties.

When Abigail Hadley learned that her parents were about to enter their decade of slavery she applied to the Labor Allocation Bureau for permission for her entire family to be sent to the Kyneston Estate in Hampshire to remain together and do their slaveyears together. On the day of their departure they found that mother, father, Abigail (19) and Daisy (10) were, indeed, bound for Kyneston. Luke (17) however had been assigned elsewhere. As each member of the Hadley family begins their new life as a slave they have remarkably different experiences though none of them are entirely pleasant and it only gets worse as time passes. One of the Equals on the Kyneston Estate has powers other Equals can't even begin to imagine and he intends to use those powers for his specific purposes. This story shows perfectly how power can be used in corrupt and dangerous ways.

Fans of Young Adult fiction will enjoy this imaginative world created by a talented writer. I'm sure people who enjoyed this first book will be awaiting the second with great anticipation.

Oh this was an awesome and quick read that is surely to be a big hit for 2017. Gilded Cage is riveting and captivating and will grip you from beginning to end. Author Vic James is one author that should be on everyones watch list.

Be sure to put Gilded Cage on your tbr. You won't be disappointed.

Loved this book! It was really 4.5 stars for me, but half stars were not an option.

This is a well paced, exciting, and inspiring book about an upper class supresting a lower class, and the fight for equality. I really enjoy dark, edge-of-your-seat books that you can not put down, so this book was perfect for me! I just hope I can get the galley of the next book because I don't think I can wait for the sequel.

As James says in her acknowledgments, this is a British book… there is slang I have only ever heard from British friends, and yet, it was a ton of fun to be fully immersed in this new setting for me… just a side note…

So this England belongs to Equals, a small part of the population who has magical gifts and has become the ruling body over the rest of the people. Oh and the rest of the people, the normal ones… with no real power are forced to sacrifice a decade of their lives to serve (read that as become the slaves of) the Equals.

Abi Hadley has worked incredibly hard to ensure her entire family can spend their slave-days serving the Jardines, the Founding Family, at their over the top family palace (or house… or estate… think crazy lavish even for British royalty). And yet, there is a gigantic hiccup when her brother Luke is sent, at the last possible moment, to Millmoor – a slave town.

The story then follows the Hadley’s as they begin their slave days, and we slowly start to see that even inside the powerful Equals there are disagreements on what society needs to be like. And of course, there is the challenge of reuniting the Hadleys… if that can even be done…

I am in love with James’ writing style. She has developed an amazing cast of characters who are so complex and exciting, it didn’t matter whose perspective was given each chapter because everyone was unique and engaging. (The story is told through different perspectives to help give fuller experience to the reader because there is a ton happening in each sector of the story.)

As a result of the writing style, I loved the pace. This book starts off at a sprint and never slows. This is one that is hard to put down because you just have to know what happens next. And how does the Jardine world mix with the Slave-town Millmoor?? Trust me, you won’t be doing the dusting when you could be reading this book instead.

I cannot wait for the rest of the series... seriously, it might be the cause of my insomnia...

I thoroughly enjoyed this YA book. I appreciated the similarity between the world of this book and our own. The "celebrity" status of the ruling class makes a great statement on how celebrities are viewed in our world. I liked the political intrigue, the eccentricity of the "young master," the character development in general, etc. I am definitely looking forward to where the series will go in the next book.

Wow! What a fascinating and complex alternate history! I usually don't care for alternating narrators but here I found myself leaping from one storyline to the next, each as well-developed and engaging as the last. Not repetitious, either: each narrative moved the plot along without wallowing, a bane through much of YA. More of this world, please!

I received a digital copy of this title from NetGalley.

My 15-year old son gives this 3.5 stars. He liked the character of Jenner the best. Also, he doesn't care for the trend of series books. I guess I should look for more standalone titles for him. He was ambivalent about reading Dark Gifts #2, whenever that should be released.

I found it an interesting read, particularly now, when discussions of white privilege are not uncommon, and racism (sadly, terribly) still exists. Commoners endure 10 years of slavery to the Equals, aristocrats who usually possess a certain magical Skill. Gilded Cage follows a family that is doing their 10 years all together, including their youngest daughter.

Sometimes the number of characters became overwhelming, though there are a manageable amount of main characters to keep track of. The writing flows well, with solid pacing throughout. This title earns the achievement of being the YA book with the most vocabulary words I added to my Kindle list. Thanks for making me a bit smarter, Vic!

The ending wrapped up the initial events enough to satisfy readers, while at the same time skillfully whetting the appetite and setting the stage for the next book in the series. I'd be happy to read that one as well.

Gilded Cage has been one of my most anticipated books of 2017 since I first read the synopsis. I was immediately intrigued by the magical Equals and I couldn't wait to find out what Abi's terrible choice was. Not to mention the revolution that was hinted at. I went in fully expecting to love it. Now I have so many feelings about Gilded Cage and not all of them are good.

This book has multiple points of view. In fact, there are chapters told from seven different points of view with some characters getting one chapter each and never appearing again. Multiple POVs can be really hit or miss, but with this many different characters it's almost always going to be a miss. I had a hard time connecting to many of the characters because they'd disappear and by the time I got back to them I had to think to remember who they were.

Abi and Luke are arguably the main characters in this story. Abi has put her med school career on hold for ten years in order to get her family cushy slave days (more on that later), but when it doesn't go as planned, Luke get sent away while Abi stays with the rest of her family. Unfortunately, I didn't particularly care about either of them. I did find Luke's story to be a bit more exciting, but I still wasn't terribly concerned about his well-being and that's never a good sign.

The real bright spots in this story were the Jardine brothers - Gavar, Jenner, and Silyen. Gavar is the family heir and undoubtedly has an extremely intriguing backstory but, oddly, none of it was revealed. In the prologue we find out that he shot his baby's mother for reasons (?) that are never discussed in the 368 pages of this book. Jenner is the brother with no magic, also for reasons (?) that are never discussed. Finally there's Silyen, the mysterious brother with an absurd amount of power for reasons (?) that are never discussed and who I would love to read an entire book about. All of them seem to fall somewhere into gray on the spectrum and I'm certain they're going to be fascinating when everything about them is finally revealed.

My real issue with Gilded Cage is that very few things are sufficiently explained. The world building is never fully fleshed out. The slave days, for example, are confusing. The normal people of Britain - all those except the Skilled Equals - are forced to give up ten years of their lives to "slave days" where they will be considered sub-human and carry out hard labor. I'm not sure how a system would work where normal citizens go off to become slaves for ten years and then reenter normal society. To be honest, I think this book could have been better without slavery. There could have easily been inequality and need for a revolution between the Equals and unskilled without slave days and it would have made more sense, at least to me.

All of that being said, the story is interesting. I was intrigued by the talk of revolution and was eager to see how it would play out (or even get started). I also really wanted to see where each of the Jardine brothers would fit into this political shift - which side would they end up on? I was riveted by every single thing that happened with the Jardines! But the weird thing about this book is that it doesn't feel complete. Absolutely nothing is answered by the end and, although I know this is set up to be a series, each book should still wrap up to some extent. This one just created more questions as time went on and never really resolved anything.

At the end of the day, I'm most baffled by the synopsis. I never did figure out what Abi's "terrible choice" was. The romance that is hinted at never really gains any momentum and neither does the revolution. I want to know more about the aristocrat who "will remake the world with his dark gifts." Re-reading the synopsis after finishing the book, it seems like an overview of the series because many of the things mentioned never happened.

If everything in the synopsis actually happened in this book, it would have been much better, although the magical and political systems would still be unbelievable. What I would really love is a book about the Jardine brothers, specifically Silyen. Based on this character alone, I will be reading the next book in the series. I was definitely disappointed by Gilded Cage, but I'm holding out hope that book two will answer a lot of questions and hopefully give more insight into the Jardine family.

Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts #1) by Vic James is a fantasy novel for teens and adults. In this world, Equals have magic and have the power in society. All the rest of the population are non-magical and have to do slave days, FOR 10 YEARS. They no longer have rights during that time and are treated poorly, or even killed. This is a story about one family that wanted and planned to do the slave days together but ended up getting split up. It is almost two tales in one. It is dark and captivating at the same time. There are many interesting characters and a plot with many twists. I enjoyed it and couldn't help think about it because it was so strange. (In a good way.) Thanks NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.