Gilded Cage Review

About: Gilded Cage is a fiction novel written by Vic James. It will be published on 2/14/2017 by Del Rey Books, 368 pages. The genres are young adult, fiction, dystopia, and fantasy. There are 3 books to the Dark Gifts series: book 1 is called Gilded Cage, book 2 is called Tarnished City which will publish 8/7/18, and book 3 is called Bright Ruin, which will be coming in 10/9/18. According to the publisher’s website, “Del Rey Books began as an imprint of Ballantine Books in 1977. Founded by editors Judy-Lynn and Lester del Rey, Del Rey is now one of the world’s foremost publishers of science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction, as well as media and pop culture titles.” Please see below for more information about the author and publisher.

My Experience: I started reading Gilded Cage on 11/8/16 and finished it on 11/14/16. This book is an excellent read. It’s full of actions and happenings from beginning to ending. It draws in my attention and keeps me there. There are hints of romance and there are some heart-stopping moments. After chapter 3, I was intrigued and my heart started beating faster.

“Trust was what made everything possible. Trust lent you someone else’s eyes, someone else’s strong arms or quick brain. Made you bigger than just yourself”. 50% Luke

Multiple POVs: I like that this book has multiple POVs. There are views from the commoners and views from the Equals. It’s not confusing despite many characters introduced in this book. I like the suspense and actions in this book. The story flow nicely. Vic James wrote a compelling story with brave characters and unique world building. The characters are smart and independent for their age. I like them all, the good guys and the bad. It’s an eye opener to follow these characters’ train of thoughts. There are enough backgrounds to each characters to understand them in this book. I like Luke’s train of thoughts, but I am most intrigued with Silyen. He always shows up at the right time and he always seems to have some grand plans in the works. I like to experience Euterpe’s point of view too.

Summary: The people who are able to perform magic are called Skilled or an Equal. The people who can’t do magic are called commoners and are condemned to serve 10 years of their life as a slave to an Equal. The commoner can choose to serve anytime in their life and there are pros and cons to serve at a young age or an old age. Someone will take action and change the course of life between the commoners and the Equals, but who? and will he/she/they succeed?

Pro: multiple POVs, action-packed, page-turner, couldn’t put down, magic, adrenaline rush

Con: none

I rate it 5 stars!

Buy it here for free shipping: Book Depository

About the Author:

Vic James is a current-affairs TV director who loves stories in all their forms. Her programs for BBC1 have covered the 2016 U.S. presidential election and Britain’s EU referendum. She has twice judged The Guardian‘s Not the Booker Prize. Gilded Cage is her first novel, and an early draft of it won a major online award from Wattpad for most-talked-about-fantasy. She has lived in Rome and Tokyo, and currently lives in London. (Photo obtained from Goodreads and info obtained from Penguin’s website).

***Disclaimer: I received this ebook for free via NetGalley in an exchanged for an honest review. Many thanks to the author Vic James, publisher Del Rey Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review. Thank you!

xoxo,
Jasmine