Gilded Cage by Vic James
Rating: 4 / 5 stars
I’ve been shying away from reading YA for some time now, having had my fill of angsty, love-triangle-filled dystopian stories to last two lifetimes. With my oldest child rapidly approaching this time in his own life, I figure, if I need to live through it, I don’t need to read it “for pleasure.” Vic James’s debut novel, Gilded Cage, was an exception, and I am far from sorry for it.
Gilded Cage offers an alternate history of England where society is ruled by those with Skill, magical abilities which are passed down in certain family lines. Equals, as they call themselves, also established the Slavedays, ten years of servitude for commoners but with the right to choose when to serve them. Kyneston is the ancestral home of the current ruling family, the Jardines, and the place where most of the story takes place. The three sons—Gavar, Jenner, and Silyen—each have their own agenda to bring to fruition. Into this toxic environment comes the Hadley family. Abi, the oldest and very clever girl that she is, has been working on a plan to enable the entire family to serve their slavedays together in what was supposed to be considered practically a luxury location compared to the alternative. As it happens with most plans, a monkey wrench gets thrown in, and only four out of the five family members are accepted. Luke, the teenage boy, does not and gets shipped to the cruelest of slavetowns: Millmoor.
As each family member tries to adjust to their new surroundings, another revolution seems to be brewing. The idea of abolishing the slavedays has officially been proposed in Parliament, though not by choice from the one proposing it. Many hands are reaching for power, each with very different plans. Through multiple POVs, we get to see varying facets of life of the privileged and the indentured. Through it all, the question of innate/genetic magical Skill provides the backdrop for the age-old tug-of-war between the rich and the poor, the oppressed and the oppressors.
I thoroughly enjoyed how the story unfolded, even though I am usually not a fan of more than two alternating POVs since you can easily fall into the trap of rehashing the same scene, just with another pair of eyes. As a result, the pacing can falter and the plot derails. However, James carried it off with aplomb. Each POV provided not only the necessary character development but kept the pacing consistent and the story riveting. I could not put it down. I won’t reveal much more, because that may take away from allowing you the full experience of this delightful book, but know that ingenuity, courage, compassion, and devotion all await your discovery. Happy reading!
