Tuesday 29 August 2017

Gilded Cage by Vic James

Book Title: Gilded Cage
Author: Vic James
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Source: Library

Goodreads, Amazon UK

Goodreads Summary: In modern-day Britain, magic users control everything: wealth, politics, power—and you. If you’re not one of the ultimate one-percenters—the magical elite—you owe them ten years of service. Do those years when you’re old, and you’ll never get through them. Do them young, and you’ll never get over them.
This is the darkly decadent world of Gilded Cage. In its glittering milieu move the all-powerful Jardines and the everyday Hadleys. The families have only one thing in common: Each has three children. But their destinies entwine when one family enters the service of the other. They will all discover whether any magic is more powerful than the human spirit.
Have a quick ten years...
What did I think? This is the first book in a planned trilogy. I was surprised at how much I ended up liking this. Young Adult is a bit hit and miss with me and I'm more of a fantasy fan, but this book had a premise that simply was too intriguing not to pick up. And I fell a little bit in love with it all...

It's a very political book. This is a world where commoners are required to serve as slaves for ten years during which they lose all basic human rights. The protagonists set out to serve at the beginning of the book and I expected it to be mostly about their struggle for freedom with a dose of rebellion... but I was pleasantly surprised and the reader gets the perspective of the ruling Equals as well and they're not all bad. Some of them are fighting to abolish the slavery.

There are a lot of characters to keep track of and many twists and turns. It's not an easy plot to follow either, but I think that only added to my enjoyment. The characters are layered and well developed and thankfully not one dimensional. The writing is enjoyable and the world building is original.

One thing I enjoyed less was the romance, which felt like it was added just so there's at least some romance or maybe as a set-up for the sequels.

Highly recommended to YA fans who love fantasy and don't mind a book being a bit on the political side.

2 comments:

  1. This one has been on my TBR for a while and I'm so happy to see that you enjoyed it!

    I like that it's a complex read and that the politics are front and centre.

    I don't like romance being a tacked on afterthought, but I think I could easily get past it in a book like this! Lovely review!

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  2. this was a DNF but I'm glad I haven't given up completely! you make it sound good! :)

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