Vic James

For readers of Victoria Aveyard and Kiera Cass comes a darkly fantastical debut set in a modern England where magically gifted aristocrats rule--and commoners are doomed to serve. NOT ALL ARE FREE. NOT ALL ARE EQUAL. NOT ALL WILL BE SAVED. Our world belongs to the Equals--aristocrats with magical gifts--and all commoners must serve them for ten years. But behind the gates of England's grandest estate lies a power that could break the world. A girl thirsts for love and knowledge. Abi is a servant to England's most powerful family, but her spirit is free. So when she falls for one of their noble-born sons, Abi faces a terrible choice. Uncovering the family's secrets might win her liberty--but will her heart pay the price? A boy dreams of revolution. Abi's brother, Luke, is enslaved in a brutal factory town. Far from his family and cruelly oppressed, he makes friends whose ideals could cost him everything. Now Luke has discovered there may be a power even greater than magic: revolution. And an aristocrat will remake the world with his dark gifts. He is a shadow in the glittering world of the Equals, with mysterious powers no one else understands. But will he liberate--or destroy?

Gilded Cage

A thrilling Orwellian vision of Britain, with a rebellious Hunger Games heart, Gilded Cage is the astonishing debut novel from Vic James, and the first title in her electrifying The Dark Gifts Trilogy."Twists and turns make this hard to set down" BooklistOne glorious summer, Luke's family is torn apart. He's expecting nothing more sinister than exams, while his sister Abi anticipates university. But they'll be separated to do their slavedays - a decade of labour demanded by law, enforced by a magically-skilled aristocracy.Luke will dream of rebellion in a barbaric factory town. Abi will navigate the malice of a high-born estate, and find an unlikely love. But the siblings must choose sides as Britain moves from anger to defiance. They'll become entangled in acts of savagery and magic, as nobles vie for power. No one is safe and none will emerge unscathed. Is there a better way - or will a dangerous young aristocrat remake the world with his dark gifts?PRAISE FOR GILDED CAGE"An absorbing first installment that presages an intriguing new fantasy series." Kirkus"Beautifully characterised and compellingly plotted, Gilded Cage is an impressive debut" Guardian"The historical parallels are too delicious to ignore . . . one can't help but anticipate the next novel in the series" Washington Post"The most intriguing political fantasy premise since The Hunger Games . . ." Barnes and Noble

Laura Kehoe

Originally posted on The Book Unicorn

I honestly wasn't sure what to expect going into The Gilded Cage. It sounded like an awesome premise, but unfortunately what sounds like a good idea in the description sometimes falls flat in the actual story. I'm happy to say that The Gilded Cage absolutely did not disappoint. I reeeeaaaallllllyyyy liked this book. A lot.

This book is set in an alternative version of our world. In this world, England is split into two groups: those who are "skilled" (born with supernatural powers) and those who are not. The skilled rule, while the rest of the country is forced to spend ten years of their lives as slaves. 

First off, as I already mentioned, I loved this idea a lot right from the start. I'll admit, I'm a sucker for a good dystopian book. But this is so much more than your steroptypical young adult dystopia. The Gilded Cage raises some interesting, and sometimes disturbing, ideas about the human race. But it doesn't feel preachy, or like it's trying to shove a particular belief down the reader's throats. The ideas are there, and the reader has to option to interpret them however they want. 

The characters are pretty great too. I really enjoyed pretty much everyone, with a few exceptions. Each character had their own unique personality and backstory. Abi and Silyen are two of my favorites, but there are many more I loved too. It was easy to get attached to these characters and I was so invested in what would happen to them. 

I do wish a few things would have been explained better, and there were times when I felt like the world building was a little lacking. There's definitely a lot more that needs to be explored in the future books. But, the stuff that was in the book was really cool! 

I would definitely recommend this book. And I'm really excited to see where Vic James takes the story next! 

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing a copy of this book in exchange for a review!

Interesting read, but not my fav. Overall lacking in background/world building. I liked it but won’t go reading book 2.

Sophia 

Sandra Tammaru

Steysha

3,5 stars.

This book was so hyped that, as it often happens, it failed to meet my expectations. I no longer read dystopian novels, but Gilded Cage caught my attention. For some reason I thought that it will be as successful as The Hunger Games and the Divergent series. It definitely has its own charm, but the idea is pretty simple.

The story is as old as the hills: the society is divided into two groups – Equals (the ruling class) have incredible powers and control the world, and ordinary people are just slaves who have to carry their service for ten years. The funny thing is, even Equal families bear children who don`t have any special abilities, but, nevertheless, they are still members of a privileged society. Naturally, there is no democracy, because Skilless people are too afraid to say a word, if they don`t want to be massacred.

There are 7 POVs in this book. 7! That was my biggest problem. I can handle 2 POVs, but 7? Yes, they help us to see the story from all sides, but I couldn`t connect to any of the characters, they lacked depth. Basically, we read on behalf of two families: the Hadleys and the Jardines. The Hadleys are slaves who work for the most high-ranking family in their country – the Jardines, who pulled down the monarchy and marked the beginning of Equals’ dictatorship. 

While the Jardines fight for a place under the sun, Luke Hadley is sent to work in Millmoor - a nightmare of all unskilled. There he meets a small group of rebels and joins their glorious revolution.

What I didn`t like: Equals are described as an all-powerful people, even one of them can bring down an entire army of Skilless. Their powers have some differences, however, it has not been described who has what capabilities. So what exactly does this Skill? Based on the events in the book - it is infinite and puissant. Nevertheless, other countries have long cashiered dictatorship, and Equals live with ordinary people on an equal basis. Only a few, including England, adhere to the old regime. So, how ordinary people could do it, if one Equal can kill them all by power of a thought? Why rebels (not more than 8 people) still manage to fight them? 

I still would call Luke the MC of the book, because most of the chapters were from his POV, and they were more action-packed. At first his sister Aby seemed to be a clever heroine, but most of the time she was dreaming about one of the Jardines, though I couldn`t call it a romance. And, of course, I must mention Silyen Jardine - my favorite. As far as I understood, he is one of the most powerful Equals of his time. His role in the book is fairly small, but he still had time to catch my attention. Ambitious, cunning, clever, harsh, ruthless - his motives are not clear. I would call him a mix of Darkling and Kaz Brekker. Perhaps he aspires to a better future, but his methods are quite ruthless and bring benefit only to him. 

Overall, I can`t say that this book is bad, but not spectacular. Sometimes I was bored, sometimes I couldn`t put it down. The ending requires a high praise, because it`s full of twists and turns, but the middle – not so much. Personally, I recommend giving it a chance. Perhaps the sequel will impress me more.

A thrilling Orwellian vision of Britain, with a rebellious Hunger Games heart, Gilded Cage is the astonishing debut novel from Vic James, and the first title in her electrifying The Dark Gifts Trilogy. A modern Britain. An age-old cruelty. Britain's magically skilled aristocracy compels all commoners to serve them for ten years – and now it's the Hadleys' turn. Abi Hadley is assigned to England's most ruthless noble family. The secrets she uncovers could win her freedom – or break her heart. Her brother Luke is enslaved in a brutal factory town, where new friends' ideals might cost him everything. Then while the elite vie for power, a young aristocrat plots to remake the world with his dark gifts. As Britain moves from anger to defiance, all three must take sides. And the consequences of their choices will change everything, forever.

A 2018 World Book Night Pick

Liz Carpenter

Mixed feelings about this one. She's written some really fascinating, layered characters in an interesting alterna-world, but I'm not sure if this is really my genre. One the one hand, I want to know what happens next. On the other hand, I don't know if I want it enough to actually read the next two books.

Sheila Goicea

Ignorance bred fear, as Father was fond of saying, and fear bred obedience.
My relationship with this read was strange. While I thought the concept was brilliant, I had a tough time actually getting into Gilded Cage until more towards the end. 

Reading the synopsis, my eyes quite literally sparkled. 



The setting sounded (and was) absolutely amazing. Well, not amazing considering there is apparent oppression of a certain populace. I mean--amazing as in, what a brilliant idea for a dystopian novel!? Getting into the book, however, proved to be difficult throughout the first half. Perhaps it was due to the more explanatory nature in tone in order to set the stage for the remainder of the story? I'm not really sure.

While this book is undoubtedly dystopian, it naturally reads like any historical fiction, which may be a part of my overall confusion and inability to immerse myself into it further. Technically being a science fiction read, this book simply didn't feel like one, which, by no means is a bad thing! Perhaps because this book crosses some boundaries, it rests at a place higher than my categorical mind can comprehend because I've been conditioned to think that "Sci-fi" and/or "dystopia" mostly means futuristic. Gilded Cage certainly breaks the mold that has been determined by most other books in this genre.

The world is set in modern-day Britain, but it doesn't feel like it. Society is divided into two parts: aristocracy, and commoners. The aristocrats have a major advantage on their side: they can use magic. Because of this, they have assumed positions of power and privilege. Anyone outside of the elite group of magic users must spend ten years in servitude. These unfortunate souls get to pick when they serve, but nothing can get them out of it until after ten grueling years and then their freedom is granted. Nice, huh? Whether it be for a wealthy family, or in the slums, wherever one is placed, he or she must go. 

The divide in lifestyles is immediately exemplified by the vast differences between the Hadley family, and the Jardine family. The Hadleys, being of non-noble birth, are commissioned to work for the wealthy and powerful Jardine family. Through a debacle, Luke is placed in one of the factory slums instead and forced to separate for his family. 
"There aren't many that see this place for what it truly is. Even fewer who realize that the slavedays aren't an inevitable part of normal life, but a brutal violation of freedom and dignity, perpetrated by the Equals."
Having a vastly different experience from the rest of his family in the factory city, Luke uncovers a populace of people desiring change in the system. The ability to use magic shouldn't be the sole reason why certain people held high places in society. Seeing the amount of injustice most people must go through for these elite individuals, Luke decides to partake in a diverse and secret group pushing to make a change in the system. 

This plot was thick and complex. Even so, the way things took place felt natural and possible with the world created here. In this way, this plot was effortless and functioned well. On the other side, because there was so much happening throughout this story, it was difficult to follow at times. Many characters are cast for variously sized parts, making it difficult to keep track of who's who and what their purpose is. However, the climax and end of this book does a good job to wrap up the overall plot and clarify the functionality of some people throughout.

I think in general that this book will garner mixed reviews. While the content is original and with depth, the material doesn't present the "feel-good" atmosphere many readers are looking for. Oppression, slavery, and mistreatment of humans aren't light topics to discuss, nor should be glanced over lightly. Despite this fact, I appreciated the author's ingenuity with the subject-matter and creating a world that is dynamic and believable. 

Vulgarity: 30 words total (from what I counted - this could be slightly off.)
Sexual content: Minimal - some kissing.
Violence: At least moderate. Some of the scenes were rather graphic.

My Rating: ★★★½

Chrissy

I received this digital copy from netgalley for review.

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 
My Full Review

Nickie Mohler

Imagine having to serve 10 years of your life as a slave to the wealthy and elite. If you were born without magic, you have to. Abi thought if she could get her whole family to serve their time together at the estate of one of the most powerful families in history, everything would be great. It has to be better than the factories right? Needless to say, things don't go according to Abi's plans. This is a great story, the world created is completely screwed up and utterly fascinating. I received a copy of this book from Net Galley

Southern Today Gone Tomorrow

Written by Vic James, this story follows Luke and overseers as their mandatory 10 years slave work with their family. Or so they think.

This novel follows the equals, those who wield Skill to accomplish great and powerful things, and the commoners below them, who must serve as slaves for 10 years of their life.


 
Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Would I recommend it? Yes. Is it a fantastic book? Well…

Here is what keeps me from totally raving about this book (and, yes, I do love Gavar): things randomly pop up in the writing.

This is so annoying. I get it, you need to get this information out, but it is okay to make the book a little longer. This isn’t a script. Speaking of scripts, when I got to the back and read the bio, the style of this writing suddenly made so much more sense. She is a TB producer.

This would make a great movie or TV show. Really a TV show because it skips around too much for a movie.

Recommend for fans of dystopian and urban fantasy.

Jolie

Review comGilded Cage starts off with a young woman, Leah, running for her life across the ground of the estate she was a slave too….Kyneston. She is hoping to make it to the wall before Gavar and Jenner do. She has her baby, Liberty (aka Libby) with her and she is hoping that Libby would be able to open the gate so they could escape. It doesn’t happen. Libby doesn’t have the Skill to open the gate. Or as Silyen, the youngest and the most Skilled of the 3 brothers said, maybe she doesn’t want to leave her family. It doesn’t really matter anyways because before Leah could do anything else, Gavar shoots Leah. Miraculously, Libby isn’t hurt and Gavar takes her back to the house….leaving Jenner to mourn over Leah. Jenner does try to get Silyen to heal her but he won’t…saying that even he can’t bring back the dead. As they are talking, Leah dies.

A few months later, we are introduced to Abi, Luke, Daisy and their mother and father. Luke is the equivalent of a junior in high school and Abi, a senior. Their little sister, Daisy, is 10 years old. Luke is studying for his final exams when he notices a strange man looking at his father’s restored Austin-Healey. The man unnerves Luke, for some reason, and is quickly on his way after seeing that Daisy is celebrating her 10th birthday.

Later that night, Luke overhears something horrific. His mother and father have decided to enact their slave days. See, in this dystopian society, all commoners are supposed to serve the Equals, those who have the Skill and rule over the country, for 10 years. What is Skill….well consider it magic of a sort. The Equals can do anything with it…including healing, mind reading and building houses or maintaining a gate that only opens for the Equals. They are sent to a slave town (called Millmoor) to serve out their 10 years. After the 10 years are over, the commoners can hold certain jobs (never went into in the book), own a house and travel abroad.

So it is understandable that Luke is upset. He is losing 10 years of his life and Daisy, who is 10, will not be able to receive any education during the 10 years. Luke would be missing out on college, girls and the start of his life. I would be upset too.

But Abi had come up with a solution. She applied, for the family, at a department within the Labor Allocation Bureau called Estate Services. That is where the Equals go for their house slaves. Her application got accepted and they are being sent to serve the Jardine family on the estate of Kyneston. Seeing that Luke is under the age of 18, he goes with his family. It is the perfect solution to something that is dreaded in the lives of the common people.

Except it didn’t go that way. The day that they are being picked up by the LAB person to be driven to Kyneston, things change. The driver only has 4 names written: Mum, Dad, Daisy and Abi. Luke, unfortunately, gets sent to Millmoor. Which is unheard of because he is a minor. The officer, who was an idiot and I didn’t like him at all, and Luke’s Dad gets into a scuffle. Dad gets a beat down and the officer, Kessler, explains that they are all non people and have no rights. They all separate and then the story goes into Luke at Millmoor, Gavar at Kyneston and various areas , Silyen at Kyneston and Abi at Kyneston.

I couldn’t put my finger on how I felt about Silyen. He had an agenda and he wasn’t afraid to use people to get desired results. But I also saw glimpses of a kind person and of someone who could be more than what he was raised to be. If that makes sense.

Gavar did redeem himself in the book. I did feel bad for him because his father had an ironclad grip on him. It came out that he was in love with Leah but his father made him shoot her. Which is awful. But his father’s control over him was slipping. Gavar reminded me of an abused dog who is just waiting for its master to not be paying attention before tearing his throat out. I also feel that his fiancé will be caught up in that once Gavar snaps. But he does have a soft side. He loves his daughter and he is very taken with Daisy, who is Libby’s nurse and I believe that he would move heaven and earth to protect the both of them. It is going to be very interesting to see how Silyen and Gavar’s storylines end up in the other books.

Jenner was actually my favorite brother. He is Skillless but he is an asset to the estate and runs it. He is close to Silyen (well as close as Silyen lets him be) and he is getting very close to Abi. So close that Jenner’s mother, Lady Thalia, reminds him that he is an Equal (even if he doesn’t have powers) and that she is a slave and warns him off her.

Daisy had to have been my favorite person in the book. She was so upbeat and always saw the bright side of everything. She even liked Gavar, which kinda blew my mind. To be caring for a baby at her age was amazing (now granted Gavar did most of the caring for Libby when he was home and Daisy was just there as a babysitter) but still. She matured over the course of the book and I can’t wait to see where the author takes her character in book 2

I honestly didn’t know what to think of Abi. At times I liked her, at times I wanted to tell her to shut up and at other times I was in awe over her braveness. I am very interested to see what happens to her in book 2.

I felt awful for Luke. Being ripped from his family, put into an awful slave town and being worked to the bone, no wonder he became radicalized. His friendship with Renie, a girl his sister’s age, was very cute but at the same time dangerous. The events after was reunited with his family were beyond his control. I am very interested about what happens to him. Very interested.

Lord Whittman Jaradine, Gavar, Jenner and Silyen’s father, is a bad, bad, bad man. I literally got the chills when I was reading his scenes because his evilness just came off the pages. Again, a storyline that I would be very interested in seeing where it goes. I am also interested in seeing what happens between him and Gavar.

The end of the book ends as a cliffhanger, which made me want to yell. If you have read my reviews for any length of time, then you all know how I feel about cliffhangers. But, it did get me interested in book 2 (which I didn’t know there was going to be one until I pulled Gilded Cage up on Goodreads).

How many stars will I give Gilded Cage: 4

Why: A great dystopian book. This was a quick read with complex characters. I can’t wait to read book 2!!

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age Range: Teen

Why: No sex, no language. But there is violence…including a graphic scene of a head being blown off. Also, there is a disturbing side story about a man forced to live like a dog.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Jessica Nottingham

What do I say about this book? I went into Gilded Cage with little to no expectations, because I honestly didn't know all that much about it. All I knew was that this book had very polarized reviews, and that it had an absolutely stunning cover. That's enough for me to want to find out how I feel about it. So, into the depths I went. I actually half read/half listened to this book and so I can tell you that both are great options. The audio may have actually been my favorite though, because the character voices were fabulous.

For the most part, I loved everything about this book. The world building was solid, the idea of magical abilities denoting the wealthy class caught my attention, and the whole concept of "days" really pulled everything together. I even loved the fact that James used his characters to show the fact that, despite how shiny it may be, a cage is still a cage. It gave me great pleasure to watch Luke fight his way through the rougher of the two situations, and yet somehow come out a better person for it. I think the character depth overall is really what sold for this for me.

However it also took one star away because I never got over the fact that the majority of the female characters here are just terrible. Abi especially got on my nerves, and nearly made me throw this book at the wall a few times. I'm just so exhausted lately by women who make bad life choices because of men. Abi, at least, was eventually mildly redeemed. She still drove me completely nuts for the vast majority of the book though. Truth be told, if things had stayed with Luke I would have been just fine!

Overall, this is an honestly solid and intriguing read! I can't wait to move on to the next book!

Wren Hardwick

Published Date: February 14th 2017

Thanks to the publisher, I am honored to be one to get a free, digital copy in order for an honest review. Anything said is my opinion and my opinion only.



I just don't know how I feel about this book.

It has a great concept and had a lot of potential with how this world works.

There are those who are "The Skilled" who have unhuman-like powers, and then there are normal people like you and me (sad day). These normal people have to be slaves to The Skilled for ten years out of their lives where they are treated as not-humans.

Literally once they sign the papers, they lose their human-identity and are legitimately "things" or "slaves".

It's horribly a good start to a story, don't you think?

Well, I for one was super excited about it. But I kind of feel disappointed with what I read.

The characters were just thrown around. I couldn't keep up with all the characters I was suppose to have remembered from 100 pages back that was mentioned that one time during that one chapter. And I just didn't really care for the main characters either towards the middle.

When it first started, I was like whoa whoa buddy this is going to be good, and it was! It truly was going great! But then I got kind of.. bored. Characters didn't really grow and conflict was kind of eh.

Luke and Abi were the only one's I cared a little for. And the ending would have been legitimately mind-blowing if my heart ached for the characters involved. 

I was just a little sad. 
Maybe I built it up so much that not even Sarah J Maas could have reached my goals.

Lisa Beasley

Okay I have to admit when I started this I didn't really enjoy it and I disliked one of the main characters. However it definitely picked up and I got really involved in it. I loved all the politics we got to see and the power play between the various characters. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I started the sequel straight away because that was quite a big cliffhanger to end on.

Kyle Curry

Aya Jennane 

Michael W

priya

Caylie 

Christian Huss

MAGIC RULES. WE SERVE. In a darkly fantastical debut set 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. . . . Praise for Gilded Cage "Beautifully characterised and compellingly plotted, Gilded Cage is an impressive debut."--The Guardian "Exquisitely wicked . . . a lavishly opulent, yet brutally vivid, alternate England which subtly questions modern beliefs . . . If ever there was a speculative fiction book that captured the zeitgeist of an era this is it."--SFFWorld "An alternate modern-day England where enticing drama and social unrest mix with aristocratic scandal and glamorous magic . . . conjuring up the specters of Les Mis�rables and Downton Abbey . . . an absorbing first installment that presages an intriguing new fantasy series."--Kirkus Reviews "Gilded Cage is a heart-pounding combination of dark magic, political revolution, and forbidden romance that had me addicted from the first page!"--Danielle L. Jensen, USA Today bestselling author of The Malediction Trilogy "Devious and deliciously dark with lashings of magic, mystery, and mayhem, this juggernaut of a book will keep you hanging on by your fingernails until the very last page."--Taran Matharu, New York Times bestselling author of the Summoner series "A dark and intriguing vision of an alternate, magic-drenched Britain, Gilded Cage kept me up long into the night."--Aliette de Bodard, author of The House of Shattered Wings "Brisk plotting, sympathetic characters, and plenty of intrigue will keep readers on the edges of their seats, eager for the next book in a very promising series."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)