Interesting premise; not a stand-alone book

You'll have to check out the other books in the series for all this to be worthwhile. I'm not rushing for the next one but I'll get to it nonetheless. Nothing earth-shattering here, but good enough set up.

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Worth a reread

Rereading as a preparation for Tarnished City.
Is been a few years since I read Gilded Cage for the first time, but I enjoyed this reread a lot.
There were a lot of small details I had forgotten, but absolutely worth a reminder!
Looking forward to how to story goes on in he next books!

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Marred by monotonous narration

Intriguing concept and good story but such boring narration! It was fine when she was doing the characters’ voices but the descriptive passages almost had me falling asleep. This current weird VoiceOver-style of rising/mid tone inflection after each and every sentence becomes so tedious to listen to. Such a pity because if it’s the same narrator for the second book, I won’t be buying it.

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Tremendous!

I very well structured and thought provoking book. The split viewpoints kept things interesting and there was just enough light and shade in the storyline......looking forward to the next story!

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3 people found this helpful

Magical power corrupts

You've read the synopsis so don't need me for that. The magic of the Equals is well thought out and interesting. What if those with power had absolute power and knew they could get away with anything? I totally believe that they would. The characters are well-formed with believable (if currently obscure in some cases) motivation, and I'm looking forward to finding out what they do next. Vic James is good at showing not telling and all the exposition comes naturally from the characters. There's a bit at the very end which I wasn't expecting and which made me happy and expectant. Good job.

So, if you like alternative England with magic then I recommend this book. Much as I love London, it makes a change to have a northern industrial setting for parts of the story. I will definitely be getting the rest when they appear.

One star off for being a trilogy so no resolution at the end. I like books with an overarching story but with a satisfying conclusion at the end of of each book. Or rather this kind of trilogy is fine if you discover them after they've all been written and can binge on the whole lot. What can I say? I'm a greedy reader and terrible at waiting.

Avita Jay does a good job. Some of the accents are a wee bit generic but nothing that jars you out of the story and she is always consistent with characters voices.

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30 people found this helpful

Dark. Distopian. Unequal. Skill

Thoroughly enjoyed The Guilded Cage. The storyline interweaves an alternate British history against a background of magic, or 'skill' of some people. As I got close to the end I realised the book wasn't going to give me the conclusion I wanted and I was very pleased to find it is the first part of a trilogy. Very much looking forward to the release of part two.

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5 people found this helpful

Brilliant, have to read the next book

very well read. I enjoyed it very much. I didn't think I would enjoy a book fantasty world about magic.
I did.

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3 people found this helpful

Great story with a good flow and emotional telling

Loved this book, very easy to read and instantly felt a connection with the characters

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3 people found this helpful

Not bad. Definitely for a teenager reader

When I got this I thought foolishly it was an adult fantasy - didn’t read the synopsis properly and think it was a daily deal. However I listened in the car on my from job to job and it was ok.
Definitely hunger gamesey for the Brit’s. As a girl born in Manchester I cringed at the accent (I don’t have one being what the book would called being privileged and being sent to boarding school in the West Country ) but I did have one and I have lots of family from Manchester and the vicinity and ugh!! Why make them sound sound pathetic and maudlin!! All of the Mancunians sounded drippy and Whining and I hated that most of everything g of this narration. The characters were good though if not predictable and I felt a whole host of plagiarism from other novels creeping in. Which is fine, because one idea can take lots of forms but this felt contrived and trying to grab as much from pop literature as possible. Throw in a large helping of the hunger games, a dollop of the handmaidens take, a pinch of Orwell’s 1984, some Game of Thrones and bake for 30 mins on a high heat and this is the result. Quite palatable with a cup of tea but I won’t rush back for more as I’ve tasted better.

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First in a trilogy

Personally I always feel cheated when a story doesn't have any kind of conclusion and you have to wait a year or two for the next books to get the end of the story. If this frustrates you too you may want to wait till the full trilogy has been written.
The publisher's summary leaves out the important fact that this is just the first book in the series which is rather naughty. Unlike the episodes of TV where the cliffhanger ending has you tuning in the following week, waiting a year or more for another book means I will probably have forgotten the story and consequently why I should read the next one.
Otherwise it's a fun, and undemanding listen, with an interesting premise - probably more for the YA market.

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26 people found this helpful