My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received an e-arc from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Gilded cages is a story of two different worlds. One is the world of people who are ruling with magic. The other is a world without magic that are ruled-that are slaves.
The time has come for The Hadley family to serve their decade as slaves to those who have magic.
By unfortunate circumstances, separate Luke Hadley from the rest of his family. He is shipped of Millmoor, where the slaves get the worst treatment.
Abi and the rest of her family are set to serve the most prestigious ruling family. What was supposed to be a reprieve turns out to be a nightmare of exponential proportions.
The book takes place from multiple perspectives, but ultimately follows the Hadley children: Luke and Abi. Luke was a great character who we really saw grow from a 17 year old child to mature young adult well past his years.
Abi, on the other hand didn't really feel like a central character. She was more of a narrator of sorts when the author didn't know how to move the story along. Additionally, her romance with a certain someone popped out of nowhere and had no purpose. It was a romance made for the sole purpose of saying this was a romantic story. Guys, it's not. There was no build up or background to how the romance take place. Ugh
Silyun, the third son of the ruling family is evil (?) AND I LOVE IT. It was a pleasant surprise to get the villain's perspective...but, can we even call him a villain? We don't know his exact agenda, only that they serve him and him alone. Meaning, Silyun is capable of great kindness, but he's always got ulterior motives. Are they fame? To make history? What is it????? Well, whatever it is, I LOVE IT. HE CAN BE THE MAIN CHARACTER. I VOLUNTEER HIM AS TRIBUTE.
The ending left me shocked. Luke develops strong bonds within Milmoor and trust is broken leaving him in the crapper come the sequel. Readers and Luke both learn that people are not always who they seem and trust in a world ruled by magic can be a dangerous gift to give.
If my review hasn't already screamed it from the rooftops by now, let me spell it out for you: Gilded Cage is essentially Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard but more dystopian and dark, in my opinion.
Ultimately, unlike in Red Queen however, characters aren't black and white. Each character is shades of grey and we have no idea what side of the chess board they're playing for.
All I can say is I'll definitely be reading the sequel and I can't believe this book is coming out February 2017. I NEED THE SEQUEL NOW.
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