Gilded Cage by Vic JamesMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
One family is torn apart by Equals, aristocrats with mysterious powers, and held captive.
Luke Hadley, sixteen-years-old, is ripped away from his family and sent to Millmoor, the dusty, grimy low down, work camp everyone spends ten years, to fulfill societal obligations. While his two sisters and parents are sent to work for none other than Lord Jardine, ruler of the most powerful family in Great Britain. Thanks to his sister Abi’s smarts, the rest of his family works underfoot, serving their time, and his ten-year-old sister is in charge of caring for Heir Jardin’s illegitimate new baby.
ID chipped, and living in Millmore, the country’s oldest slave town. Luke meets a few unusual suspects and joins in the plans for a revolution.
Back at the Royal Family’s in Kyneston, Abi is falling for Jenner, Lord Jardine’s polite, and handsome (UnSkilled) son, while working together to organize the offices.
Baby Libby’s father is Gavar Jardine, heir of Jardine, and his anger is explosive at best. Ten-year-old, Daisy, has come to trust him, against the family’s best interests. And there’s the Young Master, Silyen Jardine, whose “gift” makes Abi’s uncomfortable, if not downright ill, the way he enters her head and sees everything.
Lords and Ladies, torment, and secrets and possible revolution, a dystopian world that feels familiar but oh, so different, and the likelihood of it being feasible are quite frightening. Gilded Cage, is told in multiple POVs, which kept the pace flowing and the tension tight. I was hooked from the start, the pace, and the author’s imagination is extraordinary, the end (chill bumps!) leaves you wanting more.
A magical, YA fantasy. I hope this book becomes series, for years and years to come. Outstanding YA debut for all ages.
Expected publication: February 14th, 2017 by Del Rey Books
*There’s a Goodreads Giveaway for this book until mid-December.
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