Name: To Cage a Wild Bird
ISBN: 9780063462717

Brooke Fast

In the city of Dividium, the law is simple: commit a crime, and your punishment is a life sentence in Endlock.

Raven Thorne is Dividium’s most notorious bounty hunter, living on the edge of society. But when her younger brother, Jed, is sentenced to Endlock, Raven will do anything to save him—even if it means getting herself arrested.

Now trapped in a prison where danger lurks around every corner, Raven must use all her cunning and strength to protect Jed—and herself if she is to complete her perilous mission. But there’s one obstacle she never expected: the prison guard who stirs something deep inside her. The man she should hate. The man whose true motives seem impossible to pin down.

In a world where trust is a weapon and love is a liability, Raven must decide if she will risk everything to tear down a vicious system.

Divided Fates Book 1

To Cage a Wild Bird

Rose-Lynn 

I wanted to like this book but found it painful to get through. It started out good - I was interested at the beginning of the story. I found it petered out quickly. First off, it felt like it was trying to be The Hunger Games, and Thorne was trying to be Katniss. Everything kept feeling so far fetched and working together too perfectly. It annoyed me that this prison had been locked tight for so long and was notoriously impossible to survive but then here comes our heroine and she can break out in 2 months? I also found the spicy parts to honestly just be annoying because they felt random and try hard. For me this was a major struggle to finish and I will not be reading the inevitable sequel since it was left on a "cliffhanger".

Sasha

"I suppose anyone foolish enough to cage a wild bird shouldn’t expect them to sing for their captor."

This was a highly anticipated read for me this year, I have been missing dystopian novels so much and I was glad to see they're making a bit of a comeback. 

 has an amazing premise that hooked me immediately, a post-nuclear-war America has been divided into self-governed remote cities and settlements. In one of these cities, Dividium, where our FMC Raven Thorne lives, the Council have split the city into three sectors, Lower, Middle and Upper, depending on the type of work they produce. But over the years that has slipped into a classist caste system with the Lower Sector experiencing poverty and food insecurity, and the Upper Sector living in luxury. To control the population, citizens who commit criminal acts are sent to Endlock prison where they are commidified by the wealthy, who can buy them as targets to hunt and kill. When Raven's brother is sent to the prison she devises a plan with the help of a rebel group to get herself incarcerated as well so that she can work with another rebel to break the three of them out. What entails is a twisted journey of secrets, corruption and community.

Raven is an interesting character, after her parents are sent to Endlock for their rebel activity she takes it upon herself to do whatever neccessary to protect her younger brother, Jed. But as a minor with two strikes against her name she doesn't have many options for work and turns to bounty hunting, a point of contention with her brother. I found her to be fiercely protective and loyal to those she cares about, and I was rooting for her throughout this story. I really liked her character arc, going from her relatively selfish position at the beginning where she only thought about herself and her brother, to developing friendships within the prison that made her realise that most people, no matter which sector they're from, has a story of betrayal and hardship that shapes them into who they have become and the "crimes" they have committed. I really enjoyed that this book had a message of not judging others based on their place in society and that to overthrow corruption it takes all sorts of people from all walks of life to make that possible. The romance in this book was nice as well, and it had moments where I was on the edge of my seat with good tension really held this book together.

Unfortunately I did feel like this was slightly underdeveloped though. I understand that this is just the first book in a series (I'm not sure how many there are planned) so some of the plot holes will be ironed out in further installments, but the writing itself let me down a bit. I found a lot of the plot twists very predictable and in my notes I was commenting on how some of the group's plans had very obvious issues. Some of the actions the characters take, especially Raven, were not very smart at all despite the writing trying to tell us that Raven is intelligent and pragmatic. There were moments where she intentionally winds up the guards and Warden with her smirky, ego-driven attitude that had me scratching my head and wondering why she was being so thoughtless. I also think a lot of the world building was a bit shallow, it felt a bit like this book was trying to ride on the coattails of 

 hype and hadn't fully fleshed out the deeper parts. The side characters were sadly a bit one dimensional as well, which meant that I wasn't fully invested in them. There were a few nail biting and sad moment, but I never really felt the emotional connection on the page. Even Vale, her love interest, felt a bit gratuitous, their chemistry didn't really work for me, and I think it would've been better if he had stayed more of an antagonist.

Ultimately, I think this was a case of a great idea but not so great execution. It is the type of easy read that you will fly through quickly, with just enough interest and entertainment to keep you wanting more but not quite enough depth to make it really stand out. I wanted a bit more from this book, there were amble opportunities to really explore the tension between Raven's bounty hunting past and the criminals in Endlock that she had put there, the trauma of what the inmates were going through, and to really show the brutality of the guards and hunters, given that this is meant to be an adult book. But to me, it really felt more YA in its exploration of themes but obviously the spice makes it non-YA. The way elements of the story were introduced suddenly rather than laid as a breadcrump trail throughout made it feel formulaic and obvious to me, and I am really disappointed to feel that way. I would recommend this book if you're looking for something that isn't too challenging but still has darker, grittier elements, and if you're a fan of 

. A big thank you to Netgalley and Wayward TxF for the ARC copy.

Genevieve 

"I suppose anyone foolish enough to cage a wild bird shouldn’t expect them to sing for their captor."

3.5⭐

This was a highly anticipated read for me this year, I have been missing dystopian novels so much and I was glad to see they're making a bit of a comeback. To Cage a Wild Bird has an amazing premise that hooked me immediately, a post-nuclear-war America has been divided into self-governed remote cities and settlements. In one of these cities, Dividium, where our FMC Raven Thorne lives, the Council have split the city into three sectors, Lower, Middle and Upper, depending on the type of work they produce. But over the years that has slipped into a classist caste system with the Lower Sector experiencing poverty and food insecurity, and the Upper Sector living in luxury. To control the population, citizens who commit criminal acts are sent to Endlock prison where they are commidified by the wealthy, who can buy them as targets to hunt and kill. When Raven's brother is sent to the prison she devises a plan with the help of a rebel group to get herself incarcerated as well so that she can work with another rebel to break the three of them out. What entails is a twisted journey of secrets, corruption and community.

Raven is an interesting character, after her parents are sent to Endlock for their rebel activity she takes it upon herself to do whatever neccessary to protect her younger brother, Jed. But as a minor with two strikes against her name she doesn't have many options for work and turns to bounty hunting, a point of contention with her brother. I found her to be fiercely protective and loyal to those she cares about, and I was rooting for her throughout this story. I really liked her character arc, going from her relatively selfish position at the beginning where she only thought about herself and her brother, to developing friendships within the prison that made her realise that most people, no matter which sector they're from, has a story of betrayal and hardship that shapes them into who they have become and the "crimes" they have committed. I really enjoyed that this book had a message of not judging others based on their place in society and that to overthrow corruption it takes all sorts of people from all walks of life to make that possible. The romance in this book was nice as well, and it had moments where I was on the edge of my seat with good tension really held this book together.

Unfortunately I did feel like this was slightly underdeveloped though. I understand that this is just the first book in a series (I'm not sure how many there are planned) so some of the plot holes will be ironed out in further installments, but the writing itself let me down a bit. I found a lot of the plot twists very predictable and in my notes I was commenting on how some of the group's plans had very obvious issues. Some of the actions the characters take, especially Raven, were not very smart at all despite the writing trying to tell us that Raven is intelligent and pragmatic. There were moments where she intentionally winds up the guards and Warden with her smirky, ego-driven attitude that had me scratching my head and wondering why she was being so thoughtless. I also think a lot of the world building was a bit shallow, it felt a bit like this book was trying to ride on the coattails of The Hunger Games hype and hadn't fully fleshed out the deeper parts. The side characters were sadly a bit one dimensional as well, which meant that I wasn't fully invested in them. There were a few nail biting and sad moment, but I never really felt the emotional connection on the page. Even Vale, her love interest, felt a bit gratuitous, their chemistry didn't really work for me, and I think it would've been better if he had stayed more of an antagonist.

Ultimately, I think this was a case of a great idea but not so great execution. It is the type of easy read that you will fly through quickly, with just enough interest and entertainment to keep you wanting more but not quite enough depth to make it really stand out. I wanted a bit more from this book, there were amble opportunities to really explore the tension between Raven's bounty hunting past and the criminals in Endlock that she had put there, the trauma of what the inmates were going through, and to really show the brutality of the guards and hunters, given that this is meant to be an adult book. But to me, it really felt more YA in its exploration of themes but obviously the spice makes it non-YA. The way elements of the story were introduced suddenly rather than laid as a breadcrump trail throughout made it feel formulaic and obvious to me, and I am really disappointed to feel that way. I would recommend this book if you're looking for something that isn't too challenging but still has darker, grittier elements, and if you're a fan of The Prison Healer and The Hunger Games. A big thank you to Netgalley and Wayward TxF for the ARC copy.

To Cage a Wild Bird Divided Fates Book 1

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