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To Cage A God
The 1st book of an epic new, Imperial Russia-inspired dark fantasy duology of gods, politics, and deadly magical powers from a Sunday Times bestselling author
As a child, Galina’s village was decimated in a battle between the alurea, a ruling class possessed by gods imprisoned in human bodies. A stranger offers her shelter—and justice against the empress who slaughtered her family. The bargain is Galina will become a vessel for a deity of her own. And when the time comes, she will be a weapon used to take control of the throne.
Twenty years later, the woman who invoked Galina’s god is dead, and she’s on the run with her foster sister, Sera. Both women are fugitives struggling to adapt to the deities within their bodies and forced to finally attempt the mission they were groomed infiltrate the palace and overthrow the cruel empress to end the brutal reign of alurea.
But their duty grows complicated when Sera’s ruthless former partner catches up with her, and Galina finds herself on the verge of losing her heart to an enemy princess. As secrets and lies come to light, both women will discover what they’re willing to do for their people—and how far they’ll go to occupy a blood-soaked throne.
For readers eagerly awaiting the next season of Shadow and Bone or those hoping to find similar reads with a more adult audience and more queer representation, These Monstrous Gods is the perfect new dark fantasy to fall in love with.
As a child, Galina’s village was decimated in a battle between the alurea, a ruling class possessed by gods imprisoned in human bodies. A stranger offers her shelter—and justice against the empress who slaughtered her family. The bargain is Galina will become a vessel for a deity of her own. And when the time comes, she will be a weapon used to take control of the throne.
Twenty years later, the woman who invoked Galina’s god is dead, and she’s on the run with her foster sister, Sera. Both women are fugitives struggling to adapt to the deities within their bodies and forced to finally attempt the mission they were groomed infiltrate the palace and overthrow the cruel empress to end the brutal reign of alurea.
But their duty grows complicated when Sera’s ruthless former partner catches up with her, and Galina finds herself on the verge of losing her heart to an enemy princess. As secrets and lies come to light, both women will discover what they’re willing to do for their people—and how far they’ll go to occupy a blood-soaked throne.
For readers eagerly awaiting the next season of Shadow and Bone or those hoping to find similar reads with a more adult audience and more queer representation, These Monstrous Gods is the perfect new dark fantasy to fall in love with.
480 pages, Paperback
First published February 20, 2024
216 people are currently reading
16852 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth May
13 books2,524 followersElizabeth May is the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Wolf and the Crown of Blood, To Cage A God, the Seven Devils duology (co-written with Laura Lam), The Falconer series, and historical romance novels under the pen name Katrina Kendrick. She is Californian by birth and Scottish by choice, and holds a PhD from the University of St Andrews. She currently resides on an old farm in rural Scotland with her husband, three cats, and a lively hive of resident honey bees.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 791 reviews
September 5, 2023
The good thing about this book is that it's short and easy to read, so it won't take up much of your time.
The bad thing about this book is that it's a compendium of clichés. Generic Russia-like world (come on, anyone can tell the plot was taken from the Russian Revolution, complete with Fantasy Bolsheviks, and they even have the emperor killed the way Tsar Alexander II was killed), generic Awful Nobles With Magic, generic Evil Emperor (or empress in this case), Generic Hidden Princess From Ousted Dynasty (as if we've not had enough Anastasias in fantasy already), Generic Traumatised Warrior With A Disability (only make her a woman and a lesbian to please the readership), generic Noble Terrorist With A Good Cause, and an expected happy ending for the two main girls, complete with marriage proposal.
I can't say I cared in the least about the story or the characters because of how commonplace it all is, how YA it all reads even if the author insists it's not YA because the writing and the overall superficiality of the worldbuilding and plotting does give mainstream YA vibes. The "dark" content doesn't make it any less YA-like, or any less formulaic, either.
Perhaps I'd have been more interested if I didn't know the time period this story took elements from, but this was clearly not for someone who wants something meatier and with more substance in Fantasy that draws inspiration from real life and history. It's simply not going to stay with you, because it doesn't stand out for anything truly remarkable plot-wise or character-wise.
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The bad thing about this book is that it's a compendium of clichés. Generic Russia-like world (come on, anyone can tell the plot was taken from the Russian Revolution, complete with Fantasy Bolsheviks, and they even have the emperor killed the way Tsar Alexander II was killed), generic Awful Nobles With Magic, generic Evil Emperor (or empress in this case), Generic Hidden Princess From Ousted Dynasty (as if we've not had enough Anastasias in fantasy already), Generic Traumatised Warrior With A Disability (only make her a woman and a lesbian to please the readership), generic Noble Terrorist With A Good Cause, and an expected happy ending for the two main girls, complete with marriage proposal.
I can't say I cared in the least about the story or the characters because of how commonplace it all is, how YA it all reads even if the author insists it's not YA because the writing and the overall superficiality of the worldbuilding and plotting does give mainstream YA vibes. The "dark" content doesn't make it any less YA-like, or any less formulaic, either.
Perhaps I'd have been more interested if I didn't know the time period this story took elements from, but this was clearly not for someone who wants something meatier and with more substance in Fantasy that draws inspiration from real life and history. It's simply not going to stay with you, because it doesn't stand out for anything truly remarkable plot-wise or character-wise.
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
February 14, 2025
DNF. Keeping the book because it’s the best sleeping aid I’ve ever used.
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September 13, 2023
DNF @ 25%
It truly, truly pains me to give this book a bad review, because I was SO excited for it - in the midst of a glut of Slavic-inspired fantasy that gets misty-eyed about the beauty of Imperial Russia, finally a book from the perspective of the revolutionaries! And on the face of it, there's a lot to recommend this: the premise is fascinating, the character relationships as set up are compelling, and the mythology is fresh and interesting. Unfortunately, all of this is overshadowed by a problem that all the interesting concepts and characters in the world can't overcome: bad prose.
I mean really bad prose. "How did this get past an editor" prose. "Verging on incoherent" prose. Take, for instance, this sentence:
"A haze of smoky prayer herbs hung in the air, sweet and pungent, descending from thousands of braziers with incense in the snow."
What incense? What snow? I genuinely cannot make heads or tails of what's being described here. And that's one of the precious few instances where something IS actually being described, because what May does far more often is tell us what emotion the characters are feeling in bland, blunt language without doing anything to make it feel tangible. Observe:
"Leaning in, he exuded a presence that seemed to swallow the air whole."
How? What does "swallow the air whole" mean to Sera, our POV character? What about his manner gives this impression?
"The suite was a display of wealth and opulence, yet it left her cold. The glittering baubles and gilded decor held no interest. Shelves lined the walls, stacked with books and writing materials that were untouched and forgotten, gathering a fine layer of dust."
How is the room a display of wealth and opulence? What are the glittering baubles? What gilded decor? I can't picture any of this.
And here's how May depicts (or tries to) her characters' feelings:
"Galina's gut twisted as Ekaterina's grim words hung in the air. She couldn't help but feel responsible for the other woman's burden, and the debt Galina owed her could never be repaid."
Why can't she help but feel responsible? Why does she think the debt can't be repaid?
"But Galina's steps faltered, fear rising like bile in her throat. A chasm of terror opened beneath her feet, threatening to swallow her whole."
What does this chasm of terror feel like? What about the fear? What physical sensations accompany it? Is she nauseous, light-headed, feeling cold? How can the reader immerse themselves in the story when the prose skims over every emotional beat that might engage them?
A lot of this comes down to what I call "YA house style," which makes a certain amount of sense: May's background is in YA, after all. And despite the fact that this is advertised as an adult book, the only real "adult" thing about it is that one of our leads swears a lot and talks about fucking. It's a child's idea of what adulthood is like. There's nothing sophisticated about the prose (the vocabulary level is also pretty low - on a purely textual level, a clever twelve-year-old could probably read it with no comprehension issues) and while the ideas presented are thorny - the struggle between revolutionaries who want to blow up the world with no care for what comes after and those who want to hold back out of concern for what will happen to those caught in the crossfire - the prose resists actual engagement at every turn. I spent every page of this book that I read trying desperately to find SOMETHING I could connect to, and I kept coming up empty-handed. I have no idea what May's writing is like outside of this book - I never read her other titles - and so I don't know if a firm editorial hand and/or a second draft would have produced a better result. But I do know that the ideas being put forth here are utterly failed by their delivery, and it's a real shame.
It truly, truly pains me to give this book a bad review, because I was SO excited for it - in the midst of a glut of Slavic-inspired fantasy that gets misty-eyed about the beauty of Imperial Russia, finally a book from the perspective of the revolutionaries! And on the face of it, there's a lot to recommend this: the premise is fascinating, the character relationships as set up are compelling, and the mythology is fresh and interesting. Unfortunately, all of this is overshadowed by a problem that all the interesting concepts and characters in the world can't overcome: bad prose.
I mean really bad prose. "How did this get past an editor" prose. "Verging on incoherent" prose. Take, for instance, this sentence:
"A haze of smoky prayer herbs hung in the air, sweet and pungent, descending from thousands of braziers with incense in the snow."
What incense? What snow? I genuinely cannot make heads or tails of what's being described here. And that's one of the precious few instances where something IS actually being described, because what May does far more often is tell us what emotion the characters are feeling in bland, blunt language without doing anything to make it feel tangible. Observe:
"Leaning in, he exuded a presence that seemed to swallow the air whole."
How? What does "swallow the air whole" mean to Sera, our POV character? What about his manner gives this impression?
"The suite was a display of wealth and opulence, yet it left her cold. The glittering baubles and gilded decor held no interest. Shelves lined the walls, stacked with books and writing materials that were untouched and forgotten, gathering a fine layer of dust."
How is the room a display of wealth and opulence? What are the glittering baubles? What gilded decor? I can't picture any of this.
And here's how May depicts (or tries to) her characters' feelings:
"Galina's gut twisted as Ekaterina's grim words hung in the air. She couldn't help but feel responsible for the other woman's burden, and the debt Galina owed her could never be repaid."
Why can't she help but feel responsible? Why does she think the debt can't be repaid?
"But Galina's steps faltered, fear rising like bile in her throat. A chasm of terror opened beneath her feet, threatening to swallow her whole."
What does this chasm of terror feel like? What about the fear? What physical sensations accompany it? Is she nauseous, light-headed, feeling cold? How can the reader immerse themselves in the story when the prose skims over every emotional beat that might engage them?
A lot of this comes down to what I call "YA house style," which makes a certain amount of sense: May's background is in YA, after all. And despite the fact that this is advertised as an adult book, the only real "adult" thing about it is that one of our leads swears a lot and talks about fucking. It's a child's idea of what adulthood is like. There's nothing sophisticated about the prose (the vocabulary level is also pretty low - on a purely textual level, a clever twelve-year-old could probably read it with no comprehension issues) and while the ideas presented are thorny - the struggle between revolutionaries who want to blow up the world with no care for what comes after and those who want to hold back out of concern for what will happen to those caught in the crossfire - the prose resists actual engagement at every turn. I spent every page of this book that I read trying desperately to find SOMETHING I could connect to, and I kept coming up empty-handed. I have no idea what May's writing is like outside of this book - I never read her other titles - and so I don't know if a firm editorial hand and/or a second draft would have produced a better result. But I do know that the ideas being put forth here are utterly failed by their delivery, and it's a real shame.
December 30, 2023
The god caged in Sera's body hated her.
They are both shackled together as a cursed pair: an imprisoned dragon and a girl who never asked for her body to be offered to a vindictive god demanding sacrifice for power.
Galina’s god wants to help her be extremely powerful, yet both Galina and god are suffocating in the cage of her mind, unable to forget the nightmares.
The sisters live in a world ruled by cruel nobles, all bonded to unwilling deities unwillingly and granted godpower that obliterated empires.
To prevent war and save common lives, the sisters plan to infiltrate the palace and place Galina in a position to stand up.
”I have this under control." She was about sixty-five percent certain she had it under control.
“Coming from you, those words make me shit bricks.”
Katya existed at the whims of the Empress — the empress having murdered the fifteen handmaidens before her, including her sister. Craving freedom, she forms an alliance with Sera, an informant in the palace.
Her pov’s were the most nail-biting despite normally being the furthest from the action as everything she does feels at knife-point from the Empress’s fickle attitudes. She just wants to save the people around her from pain and escape her enslavement which the Empress views as a great fortune and freedom. Having no real power, she relies on her mind and wiles to pacify the Empress whilst not betraying her true beliefs.
Sera and Galina’s sister relationship is touching to behold. Sisters through all but blood, they would destroy the world for each other.
Whilst Sera is the protective, defensive older sister, Galina appears broken and afriad of every shadow. Yet, it is Galina who has the most potential.
The romance:
Sera has a smoking hot past with a fugitive assassin who's got a penchant for blowing things up. He’s incredibly dangerous and full of plots to bring down the palace - which now includes Galina.
”You could stab me in the heart and still be the only person I give a damn about."
Galina meets the sequestered Princess who, on first meeting, jokes about poisoning her tea. Alone in a palace ruled by fear, they form a tentative bond. Their relationship was soooo cute! The Princess’s easy banter and inner remonstration was extremely enjoyable.
”But I promise you this. If anyone touches you, I'll consider killing them for you."
Galina's heart skipped a beat at the tenderness in the other woman's expression. "Vasilisa Yuryevna, are you flirting with me?"
This will definitely satisfy romantasy fans, hitting that craving for snarky back-and-forth banter, tender hard-hitting proclamations, and just the right amount of burning passion.
One thing that did annoy me in this regard (which appears quite common in romantasy), ill-timed sexual scenes. You’re about to die, or your friend is being tortured, or you’re under a detrimental time constraint, yet you have fun time? I don’t know, seems strange to me.
There are a plethora of perspectives. I swear every character who says more than five lines is given a chapter at some point. Whilst I might have found this frustrating, I actually quite enjoyed it as it opened the world up to see from all sides. However, it did feel like an easy narrative device used by the author.
This was delightfully funny, fast-paced, and filled with lovable (albeit morally grey) characters - and the romance never overshadowed the plot. Filled with court intrigue and cruelty, forbidden love, raging gods, and explosive magic capable of crippling empires, this romantasy was extremely entertaining.
This may be presumptuous, but I feel like this could be the next Fourth Wing hit.
I would recommend this if you enjoyed Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas or The Final Strife by Sara El-Arifi.
Thank you to Tor for providing me with a physical arc in exchange for a review!
Bookstagram
They are both shackled together as a cursed pair: an imprisoned dragon and a girl who never asked for her body to be offered to a vindictive god demanding sacrifice for power.
Galina’s god wants to help her be extremely powerful, yet both Galina and god are suffocating in the cage of her mind, unable to forget the nightmares.
The sisters live in a world ruled by cruel nobles, all bonded to unwilling deities unwillingly and granted godpower that obliterated empires.
To prevent war and save common lives, the sisters plan to infiltrate the palace and place Galina in a position to stand up.
”I have this under control." She was about sixty-five percent certain she had it under control.
“Coming from you, those words make me shit bricks.”
Katya existed at the whims of the Empress — the empress having murdered the fifteen handmaidens before her, including her sister. Craving freedom, she forms an alliance with Sera, an informant in the palace.
Her pov’s were the most nail-biting despite normally being the furthest from the action as everything she does feels at knife-point from the Empress’s fickle attitudes. She just wants to save the people around her from pain and escape her enslavement which the Empress views as a great fortune and freedom. Having no real power, she relies on her mind and wiles to pacify the Empress whilst not betraying her true beliefs.
Sera and Galina’s sister relationship is touching to behold. Sisters through all but blood, they would destroy the world for each other.
Whilst Sera is the protective, defensive older sister, Galina appears broken and afriad of every shadow. Yet, it is Galina who has the most potential.
The romance:
Sera has a smoking hot past with a fugitive assassin who's got a penchant for blowing things up. He’s incredibly dangerous and full of plots to bring down the palace - which now includes Galina.
”You could stab me in the heart and still be the only person I give a damn about."
Galina meets the sequestered Princess who, on first meeting, jokes about poisoning her tea. Alone in a palace ruled by fear, they form a tentative bond. Their relationship was soooo cute! The Princess’s easy banter and inner remonstration was extremely enjoyable.
”But I promise you this. If anyone touches you, I'll consider killing them for you."
Galina's heart skipped a beat at the tenderness in the other woman's expression. "Vasilisa Yuryevna, are you flirting with me?"
This will definitely satisfy romantasy fans, hitting that craving for snarky back-and-forth banter, tender hard-hitting proclamations, and just the right amount of burning passion.
One thing that did annoy me in this regard (which appears quite common in romantasy), ill-timed sexual scenes. You’re about to die, or your friend is being tortured, or you’re under a detrimental time constraint, yet you have fun time? I don’t know, seems strange to me.
There are a plethora of perspectives. I swear every character who says more than five lines is given a chapter at some point. Whilst I might have found this frustrating, I actually quite enjoyed it as it opened the world up to see from all sides. However, it did feel like an easy narrative device used by the author.
This was delightfully funny, fast-paced, and filled with lovable (albeit morally grey) characters - and the romance never overshadowed the plot. Filled with court intrigue and cruelty, forbidden love, raging gods, and explosive magic capable of crippling empires, this romantasy was extremely entertaining.
This may be presumptuous, but I feel like this could be the next Fourth Wing hit.
I would recommend this if you enjoyed Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas or The Final Strife by Sara El-Arifi.
Thank you to Tor for providing me with a physical arc in exchange for a review!
Bookstagram
July 25, 2025
No gods were caged in the telling of this story
A common idea in fantasy is that a sorcerer is a person who has a continuing relationship with a magical spirit of some kind, and the spirit is the thing that actually does magic for the sorcerer. Good examples are the Penric and Desdemona series, or the Bartimaeus series. Elizabeth May's To Cage a God has sorcerers of this type. The sorcerers are called alureans and the spirit things are called zmei -- they are the "gods" referred to in the title. A zmeya is imprisoned within each alurean (thus the title To Cage a God) and can be called on to do magical things for that person. As you might expect, zmei differ in their capabilities and in their willingness to cooperate, so we have less and more powerful alureans. Most of the alureans are people of noble ancestry -- the rulers. The most powerful of these is Empress Isidora, who is the brutal oppressor of her people.
No gods were caged in the telling of this story. That surprised me a bit. Although the title To Cage a God doesn't actually promise that the caging of gods will occur in the course of the action, I made that assumption. It turned out to be mistaken. All caged gods in this book were caged before the story begins.
Most of the caged gods are inside alurean nobles. It is a little vague how they got there -- apparently the children of alureans themselves become cages for gods of their own, though the mechanisms through which that occurs were entirely unclear to me. In addition, two of the heroes of the story, sisters Galina and Sera, acquired their gods through biotechnological (my word) manipulations some twenty years previous. (I have no hesitation in telling you this, because it's in the publisher's blurb.) Galina and Sera are leaders of the resistance, who have a plot to overthrow the Empress and establish something that looks more like a democracy.
Aside from palace intrigue, the plot consists mostly of two romances (also mentioned in the blurb). One is a lesbian Cinderella story. That one was rather charming. The second is a trope I hate, in which an admirable hero has the hots for a total jerk who lacks judgment or moral compass. And of course whenever they get together they are thrown into transports of sexual arousal and bad judgment, which we get to read about in sometimes rather explicit detail. So, yeah, it's the "Good Girl and irresistibly hot Bad Boy" cliché. Eww... Yuck.
In summary, it does what it says on the tin. It's a competent Young Adult/New Adult fantasy. It's readable but never surprises.
Thanks to NetGalley and DAW for an advance reader copy. This review expresses my honest opinions.
Blog review.
A common idea in fantasy is that a sorcerer is a person who has a continuing relationship with a magical spirit of some kind, and the spirit is the thing that actually does magic for the sorcerer. Good examples are the Penric and Desdemona series, or the Bartimaeus series. Elizabeth May's To Cage a God has sorcerers of this type. The sorcerers are called alureans and the spirit things are called zmei -- they are the "gods" referred to in the title. A zmeya is imprisoned within each alurean (thus the title To Cage a God) and can be called on to do magical things for that person. As you might expect, zmei differ in their capabilities and in their willingness to cooperate, so we have less and more powerful alureans. Most of the alureans are people of noble ancestry -- the rulers. The most powerful of these is Empress Isidora, who is the brutal oppressor of her people.
No gods were caged in the telling of this story. That surprised me a bit. Although the title To Cage a God doesn't actually promise that the caging of gods will occur in the course of the action, I made that assumption. It turned out to be mistaken. All caged gods in this book were caged before the story begins.
Most of the caged gods are inside alurean nobles. It is a little vague how they got there -- apparently the children of alureans themselves become cages for gods of their own, though the mechanisms through which that occurs were entirely unclear to me. In addition, two of the heroes of the story, sisters Galina and Sera, acquired their gods through biotechnological (my word) manipulations some twenty years previous. (I have no hesitation in telling you this, because it's in the publisher's blurb.) Galina and Sera are leaders of the resistance, who have a plot to overthrow the Empress and establish something that looks more like a democracy.
Aside from palace intrigue, the plot consists mostly of two romances (also mentioned in the blurb). One is a lesbian Cinderella story. That one was rather charming. The second is a trope I hate, in which an admirable hero has the hots for a total jerk who lacks judgment or moral compass. And of course whenever they get together they are thrown into transports of sexual arousal and bad judgment, which we get to read about in sometimes rather explicit detail. So, yeah, it's the "Good Girl and irresistibly hot Bad Boy" cliché. Eww... Yuck.
In summary, it does what it says on the tin. It's a competent Young Adult/New Adult fantasy. It's readable but never surprises.
Thanks to NetGalley and DAW for an advance reader copy. This review expresses my honest opinions.
Blog review.
February 21, 2024
On my blog.
Rep: lesbian mc, lesbian li with chronic pain
CWs: intrusive thoughts, torture, human experimentation
Galley provided by publisher
There is, I am sure, an audience for whom this book hits all the right spots. That audience, though, very definitively does not include me, as this 1-star review will attest.
I should have realised this from the very start. My very first note about this one is that it’s “that particular kind of writing that’s trying too hard to be quotable”. But I’d liked one of this author’s other books so, foolishly as it turned out, I persevered.
To Cage A God is another casualty of the tendency nowadays to distil a book into a set of tropes and not much else. I do not care that this book has [insert trope of choice here], I want people to be thinking about how they craft the damn thing instead of how it’s going to appeal to the masses on TikTok! This one in particular seems more concerned with how many tropes it can cram into the two romances than, you know, developing a solid story with believable characters — actually developing just anything that might make me want to continue reading.
I realise there’s a certain amount of YMMV to the above point so, if we set that aside just for a moment, let’s instead look at the other aspects of this book that just didn’t work for me. First up, a mish-mash paragraph about worldbuilding and plot. The latter is just a retelling of the Russian Revolution but it’s got some magic involved. Oh and the rebels aren’t actually socialist or communist or whatever adjective you want to add in here, they’re just kind of against abuse of power. So we’re talking a Russian Revolution drained of the politics that drove it. I wrote in my notes that I couldn’t really be bothered to wrap my head around either the fantasy elements of this or the politicking, but it’s not like there’s much politicking to wrap your head around. Not when none of it has any meaning.
About halfway through reading this one, I got bored and went to read some bad reviews of it, specifically one which pointed out the quite gaping large plot holes inherent to even the set-up of the book. In terms of the magic system, somehow you’re supposed to believe that the nobility has this, for want of a better term, power whereby they’re born with these sigils that permit them to call on gods? Hence, to cage a god. (Side note: is this genetic? It implies it, if it’s only the nobility who have this power. But then, which came first, the power or the nobles? So many questions, so few answers!) Anyway, the original rebellion leader discovers that you can force this and thus give the power to people who aren’t part of these noble families (so, not genetic?). So, does she create an army? Of course not! She gives the powers to two small girls so that they might be traumatised and become your standard YA protagonists (oops, sorry, I forgot this one claims to be adult. There’s sex in it and everything). Also to be noted is the fact that these gods don’t appear to have any checks and balances to the power they grant their users. The whole reason these two girls are given powers is because only someone with a god’s power can kill another. (Although, apparently they can be blown up, but this book is, as you will see!, anti-violence.) Another point in favour of just giving so many people this power that they outnumber the nobility (who have to wait for these kids to be born, after all).
But enough about those pesky plot holes because if we didn’t have those we wouldn’t have an angst ridden story about two traumatised girls who just want to find peace. Yes, it’s time to talk characters! Honestly, they were all just incredibly boring to me. You could sum each of them up with a line or so of description and that was it. And the author insists on giving each of them a POV. They didn’t need it! Just pick the two sisters and be done with it! Although having said that, I, shockingly, found the male love interest of the straight sister to be the most intriguing POV (he of the violent revolutionary inclinations — more on that in a second). I say shockingly because, when he was in this straight sister’s POV, it was all I could do to keep from rolling my eyes. God forbid a fictional straight woman get pissed off at a man and remain not turned on at the same time. Especially a proto-typical “bad boy” man who says such vomit-inducing things as “I once won your sweet affection with nothing but a lethal blend of charm and well-sharpened blades”. I mean, really. Have some standards. (Probably also worth noting that I’m not a fan of plots that rely on angsty second chance romances when I’ve no reason to be rooting for them. You’ve just chucked me into the middle of a relationship, I’m not gonna care about it.)
Not that the lesbian relationship was any more compelling. In fact, it was really quite dry and bland. The hets got to be all horny and have on page sex. You’ll never guess what happened with the lesbians! (But in all seriousness, I thought we were slowly getting past this hang-up of not letting lesbian characters experience sexual attraction. Guess I was wrong!) Anyway, it’s a bland romance. It’s a romance I couldn’t have given two shits about (and, given that it was up against a het romance I also couldn’t have given a shit about, that’s pretty impressive). I’m pretty sure this book is being marketed as a “““romantasy”””, so it’d be nice to, you know, like the romances I’m meant to be caring about.
Before I let you go, I have one last point, and that’s all about the violent revolution part that I’ve been referencing throughout. Namely, this book does not care for it. This book, a book modelled on the Russian Revolution, is solidly anti-violent revolution. And frankly, that’s quite embarrassing for it! This is a book that wants a violent revolutionary character to be a viable love interest without fully committing itself to being in favour of violent revolution and it’s a fucking weird combination (excuse my language). It wants the sexiness of that aesthetic, but it doesn’t want you to take from it that violent revolution can be (is!) necessary. This violent revolutionary character doesn’t care who he hurts (as long as it’s not her, of course. Excuse me while I break out the sick bag again), but that’s for the sexiness of it, not because we condone violent revolution here, oh no! Don’t worry, though: to appease his love interest, he tones down the willingness to do violence. Actually at one point he’s even described as having an “abyss of villainy”, simply because he’s for violent revolution. Ha! Ha ha! Ha ha ha!
I said that was my last point: I lied, I thought of another! Namely that, from the start, the lesbian mc’s intrusive thoughts are represented by speech in brackets. (Much like I’ve been doing throughout this review!) (I suppose it’s one way of showing intrusiveness.) Which could have been kind of neat but the author clearly didn’t trust her readers to work it out because she literally has a part where these thoughts show up and the next sentence is about the character trying to push her intrusive thoughts aside. And then they just completely disappear from the book altogether, roughly around the time she meets her love interest (cool, love can wipe out mental illness huh!).
Anyway, I apologise for how long this review got. I hadn’t quite realised the depth of my frustration over this book, but now it’s done, the rant is out of my system. And I will be doing my utmost to never think about this book again.
Rep: lesbian mc, lesbian li with chronic pain
CWs: intrusive thoughts, torture, human experimentation
Galley provided by publisher
There is, I am sure, an audience for whom this book hits all the right spots. That audience, though, very definitively does not include me, as this 1-star review will attest.
I should have realised this from the very start. My very first note about this one is that it’s “that particular kind of writing that’s trying too hard to be quotable”. But I’d liked one of this author’s other books so, foolishly as it turned out, I persevered.
To Cage A God is another casualty of the tendency nowadays to distil a book into a set of tropes and not much else. I do not care that this book has [insert trope of choice here], I want people to be thinking about how they craft the damn thing instead of how it’s going to appeal to the masses on TikTok! This one in particular seems more concerned with how many tropes it can cram into the two romances than, you know, developing a solid story with believable characters — actually developing just anything that might make me want to continue reading.
I realise there’s a certain amount of YMMV to the above point so, if we set that aside just for a moment, let’s instead look at the other aspects of this book that just didn’t work for me. First up, a mish-mash paragraph about worldbuilding and plot. The latter is just a retelling of the Russian Revolution but it’s got some magic involved. Oh and the rebels aren’t actually socialist or communist or whatever adjective you want to add in here, they’re just kind of against abuse of power. So we’re talking a Russian Revolution drained of the politics that drove it. I wrote in my notes that I couldn’t really be bothered to wrap my head around either the fantasy elements of this or the politicking, but it’s not like there’s much politicking to wrap your head around. Not when none of it has any meaning.
About halfway through reading this one, I got bored and went to read some bad reviews of it, specifically one which pointed out the quite gaping large plot holes inherent to even the set-up of the book. In terms of the magic system, somehow you’re supposed to believe that the nobility has this, for want of a better term, power whereby they’re born with these sigils that permit them to call on gods? Hence, to cage a god. (Side note: is this genetic? It implies it, if it’s only the nobility who have this power. But then, which came first, the power or the nobles? So many questions, so few answers!) Anyway, the original rebellion leader discovers that you can force this and thus give the power to people who aren’t part of these noble families (so, not genetic?). So, does she create an army? Of course not! She gives the powers to two small girls so that they might be traumatised and become your standard YA protagonists (oops, sorry, I forgot this one claims to be adult. There’s sex in it and everything). Also to be noted is the fact that these gods don’t appear to have any checks and balances to the power they grant their users. The whole reason these two girls are given powers is because only someone with a god’s power can kill another. (Although, apparently they can be blown up, but this book is, as you will see!, anti-violence.) Another point in favour of just giving so many people this power that they outnumber the nobility (who have to wait for these kids to be born, after all).
But enough about those pesky plot holes because if we didn’t have those we wouldn’t have an angst ridden story about two traumatised girls who just want to find peace. Yes, it’s time to talk characters! Honestly, they were all just incredibly boring to me. You could sum each of them up with a line or so of description and that was it. And the author insists on giving each of them a POV. They didn’t need it! Just pick the two sisters and be done with it! Although having said that, I, shockingly, found the male love interest of the straight sister to be the most intriguing POV (he of the violent revolutionary inclinations — more on that in a second). I say shockingly because, when he was in this straight sister’s POV, it was all I could do to keep from rolling my eyes. God forbid a fictional straight woman get pissed off at a man and remain not turned on at the same time. Especially a proto-typical “bad boy” man who says such vomit-inducing things as “I once won your sweet affection with nothing but a lethal blend of charm and well-sharpened blades”. I mean, really. Have some standards. (Probably also worth noting that I’m not a fan of plots that rely on angsty second chance romances when I’ve no reason to be rooting for them. You’ve just chucked me into the middle of a relationship, I’m not gonna care about it.)
Not that the lesbian relationship was any more compelling. In fact, it was really quite dry and bland. The hets got to be all horny and have on page sex. You’ll never guess what happened with the lesbians! (But in all seriousness, I thought we were slowly getting past this hang-up of not letting lesbian characters experience sexual attraction. Guess I was wrong!) Anyway, it’s a bland romance. It’s a romance I couldn’t have given two shits about (and, given that it was up against a het romance I also couldn’t have given a shit about, that’s pretty impressive). I’m pretty sure this book is being marketed as a “““romantasy”””, so it’d be nice to, you know, like the romances I’m meant to be caring about.
Before I let you go, I have one last point, and that’s all about the violent revolution part that I’ve been referencing throughout. Namely, this book does not care for it. This book, a book modelled on the Russian Revolution, is solidly anti-violent revolution. And frankly, that’s quite embarrassing for it! This is a book that wants a violent revolutionary character to be a viable love interest without fully committing itself to being in favour of violent revolution and it’s a fucking weird combination (excuse my language). It wants the sexiness of that aesthetic, but it doesn’t want you to take from it that violent revolution can be (is!) necessary. This violent revolutionary character doesn’t care who he hurts (as long as it’s not her, of course. Excuse me while I break out the sick bag again), but that’s for the sexiness of it, not because we condone violent revolution here, oh no! Don’t worry, though: to appease his love interest, he tones down the willingness to do violence. Actually at one point he’s even described as having an “abyss of villainy”, simply because he’s for violent revolution. Ha! Ha ha! Ha ha ha!
I said that was my last point: I lied, I thought of another! Namely that, from the start, the lesbian mc’s intrusive thoughts are represented by speech in brackets. (Much like I’ve been doing throughout this review!) (I suppose it’s one way of showing intrusiveness.) Which could have been kind of neat but the author clearly didn’t trust her readers to work it out because she literally has a part where these thoughts show up and the next sentence is about the character trying to push her intrusive thoughts aside. And then they just completely disappear from the book altogether, roughly around the time she meets her love interest (cool, love can wipe out mental illness huh!).
Anyway, I apologise for how long this review got. I hadn’t quite realised the depth of my frustration over this book, but now it’s done, the rant is out of my system. And I will be doing my utmost to never think about this book again.
May 27, 2024
This book has restored my love for fantasy romance!
The fantasy elements were balanced perfectly with the romance elements, I was rooting for both couples and the dynamics between the couples were so different but done so well.
So the plot of this book is basically rebellion, to overthrow the tyrannical empress that has Godfire an extremely rare form of Godpower.
Now these Gods are actually Dragons from another world summoned and caged within a persons bones via witchcraft that allows them to use the dragons power.
However only nobility (Alurea) have this power, not ordinary people, of course leading to abuse of power and injustice.
There are 2 swoon worthy romances in this book, the m/f relationship is second chance and their stabby banter dynamic was entertaining and easy to root for because Vitalik was a boy obsessed and we love to see it!
~”I wont stop you from leaving me Sera. It’s not in my nature. But if I found you in another lifetime, I’d hold you in my arms until the Gods themselves tried to tear us apart”
~“I’ll always belong to you, until my last breath. In this life and the next.”
The f/f relationship was also built beautifully and its kind of forbidden romance, “im supposed to hate/kill you but”
But the way they cared for each other and felt safe and supported by each other was great.
Galina holding Vasilisa while she injected her medicine was such a tender scene.
The writing was beautiful and flowed perfectly, easy to read yet descriptive and engaging. It just really worked for me. I loved the use of words native to the world it really helped immerse me in the story.
I didn’t get the 5 star feeling but it came pretty close, potentially 4.5⭐️?
I will definitely be reading book 2!
The fantasy elements were balanced perfectly with the romance elements, I was rooting for both couples and the dynamics between the couples were so different but done so well.
So the plot of this book is basically rebellion, to overthrow the tyrannical empress that has Godfire an extremely rare form of Godpower.
Now these Gods are actually Dragons from another world summoned and caged within a persons bones via witchcraft that allows them to use the dragons power.
However only nobility (Alurea) have this power, not ordinary people, of course leading to abuse of power and injustice.
There are 2 swoon worthy romances in this book, the m/f relationship is second chance and their stabby banter dynamic was entertaining and easy to root for because Vitalik was a boy obsessed and we love to see it!
~”I wont stop you from leaving me Sera. It’s not in my nature. But if I found you in another lifetime, I’d hold you in my arms until the Gods themselves tried to tear us apart”
~“I’ll always belong to you, until my last breath. In this life and the next.”
The f/f relationship was also built beautifully and its kind of forbidden romance, “im supposed to hate/kill you but”
But the way they cared for each other and felt safe and supported by each other was great.
Galina holding Vasilisa while she injected her medicine was such a tender scene.
The writing was beautiful and flowed perfectly, easy to read yet descriptive and engaging. It just really worked for me. I loved the use of words native to the world it really helped immerse me in the story.
I didn’t get the 5 star feeling but it came pretty close, potentially 4.5⭐️?
I will definitely be reading book 2!
May 27, 2024
If you're looking for a book that sits on the cusp of romantasy and epic fantasy, combining some light inspiration from Russian history and literature with an adventure that doesn't stop, this is the book for you. I had so much fun reading this book about revolutionaries working together to bring down a tyrannical ruling class!
It may help to know that I was a Dostoyevsky junkie: I might not have a comprehensive grasp on Russian history and politics of the 19th Century, but I was obsessed with reading about his revolutionary Russian princes, all of the different underground revolutionary groups, and the intense retribution from the ruling aristocracy. (I still think about the fake execution in The Idiot sometimes at night when I can't sleep.) To Cage a God gets these Dostoyevskian vibes really right: Sera and Galina are committed to seeing the end of the injustice of their empire. They've also been exploited by their foster mother, a revolutionary leader in her own right, so they're estranged from their revolutionary brothers and sisters. They come up with a ridiculously dangerous (and let's be honest, slightly illogical) plan to bring down the empress that includes Galina's infiltrating the court while Sera does some alchemical research. Their plan might not hold up too well to close scrutiny on the reader's part, but May does a great job of never letting up on the throttle. This means the characters (and the reader) don't get much of a chance to think about the plan since they're already executing it. And look - I had a really great time reading it!
In addition to the rollicking adventure plot, there are two romances that both captured my attention. Sera used to be involved with a fellow revolutionary, so this is a second-chance romance between two morally gray characters. I do not love an antihero, but Vitaly got under my skin thanks to the fact that he is absolutely GONE for Sera from the very beginning. No matter what she does, he's there for her. (Literally: she foils his revolutionary plans on several occasions, and his only response is "I love when she flirts with me.") The other relationship is a sapphic romance between Galina and the crown princess, Vasilisa. Vasilisa is suffering from a congenital condition (another callback to Russian history), and she has a fraught relationship with her mother, the empress. Both Galina and Vasilisa have secrets in their past. Watching them come together was a delight.
Sooooo in sum: I really, really, liked this! Check it out if you're a fantasy reader who can be skeptical of romantasy (like me!) or a romantasy fan who is interested in checking out some older characters and the Russian-inspired setting.
12-Word Summaries:
Meg: Revolution, rebellion, and regime change: everything you want in a Russian-inspired romantasy.
Laine: The evil empire and the rebels have problematic morals, secret third option.
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.
It may help to know that I was a Dostoyevsky junkie: I might not have a comprehensive grasp on Russian history and politics of the 19th Century, but I was obsessed with reading about his revolutionary Russian princes, all of the different underground revolutionary groups, and the intense retribution from the ruling aristocracy. (I still think about the fake execution in The Idiot sometimes at night when I can't sleep.) To Cage a God gets these Dostoyevskian vibes really right: Sera and Galina are committed to seeing the end of the injustice of their empire. They've also been exploited by their foster mother, a revolutionary leader in her own right, so they're estranged from their revolutionary brothers and sisters. They come up with a ridiculously dangerous (and let's be honest, slightly illogical) plan to bring down the empress that includes Galina's infiltrating the court while Sera does some alchemical research. Their plan might not hold up too well to close scrutiny on the reader's part, but May does a great job of never letting up on the throttle. This means the characters (and the reader) don't get much of a chance to think about the plan since they're already executing it. And look - I had a really great time reading it!
In addition to the rollicking adventure plot, there are two romances that both captured my attention. Sera used to be involved with a fellow revolutionary, so this is a second-chance romance between two morally gray characters. I do not love an antihero, but Vitaly got under my skin thanks to the fact that he is absolutely GONE for Sera from the very beginning. No matter what she does, he's there for her. (Literally: she foils his revolutionary plans on several occasions, and his only response is "I love when she flirts with me.") The other relationship is a sapphic romance between Galina and the crown princess, Vasilisa. Vasilisa is suffering from a congenital condition (another callback to Russian history), and she has a fraught relationship with her mother, the empress. Both Galina and Vasilisa have secrets in their past. Watching them come together was a delight.
Sooooo in sum: I really, really, liked this! Check it out if you're a fantasy reader who can be skeptical of romantasy (like me!) or a romantasy fan who is interested in checking out some older characters and the Russian-inspired setting.
12-Word Summaries:
Meg: Revolution, rebellion, and regime change: everything you want in a Russian-inspired romantasy.
Laine: The evil empire and the rebels have problematic morals, secret third option.
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.
March 12, 2024
Create a book about imperial Russia in the days when russia genocize whole Ukraine, invaided Ukraine, kill civilians.
Cathedral, which on the cover — leads by patriarch who agrees with a war and genocide
How perfect and lovely
Fucking shame for the author and the book. Hate this with all my guts
Cathedral, which on the cover — leads by patriarch who agrees with a war and genocide
How perfect and lovely
Fucking shame for the author and the book. Hate this with all my guts
February 15, 2024
The narration was fantastic but the story was SO DULL.
Firstly, this audiobook was narrated by Sofia Engstrand and she was fantastic. Her voice was lively and emotive and it was easy enough to distinguish between the different characters. I did still have to listen at x1.75 speed but otherwise it was done really well.
Sad that the story was just so plain. It really was just a romance novel posing as fantasy. This was ALLLLL about the hookups and the tension between the two couples, and the story itself mostly went nowhere.
It's 'Russian inspired' fantasy, which means a lot of big words and a multitude of nicknames for people that left me plenty confused. I was quite grateful to be listening because I think if I'd had to read all these names I would have eventually given up. There also seemed to be a lot of repetition of Sera's full name which seemed unnecessary.
I like this idea of gods being caged inside human bodies but it really seemed under-utilised to me. The 'dragons' felt more like a metaphor for emotions than actually badass gods.
Katya (I don't remember which of her names was the regular one, sorry) was probably my fave character because at least she had a goal beyond getting laid. She seemed the most well-rounded and fleshed out, though at times I really questioned what she was doing.
Being a dull story AND an audiobook, my mind drifted plenty of times, but I never seemed to lose the thread of what was happening - it was just that slow. It was also the first time I haven't had the e-book to read along with and it was quite tough to not be able to check words and spellings and things for deeper understanding.
Apparently it's a duology but I cannot see where it goes from here. I don't know what else there could be to write a whole other book about. I couldn't even make it through the 'bonus chapter' because I was so done with this story and it's self-centred characters.
And on that subject, Vitaly was one of the most annoying fellas I've read in a while. I'm really tired of arrogant assholes being love interests in fantasy. WE DESERVE BETTER.
With thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this audio
Firstly, this audiobook was narrated by Sofia Engstrand and she was fantastic. Her voice was lively and emotive and it was easy enough to distinguish between the different characters. I did still have to listen at x1.75 speed but otherwise it was done really well.
Sad that the story was just so plain. It really was just a romance novel posing as fantasy. This was ALLLLL about the hookups and the tension between the two couples, and the story itself mostly went nowhere.
It's 'Russian inspired' fantasy, which means a lot of big words and a multitude of nicknames for people that left me plenty confused. I was quite grateful to be listening because I think if I'd had to read all these names I would have eventually given up. There also seemed to be a lot of repetition of Sera's full name which seemed unnecessary.
I like this idea of gods being caged inside human bodies but it really seemed under-utilised to me. The 'dragons' felt more like a metaphor for emotions than actually badass gods.
Katya (I don't remember which of her names was the regular one, sorry) was probably my fave character because at least she had a goal beyond getting laid. She seemed the most well-rounded and fleshed out, though at times I really questioned what she was doing.
Being a dull story AND an audiobook, my mind drifted plenty of times, but I never seemed to lose the thread of what was happening - it was just that slow. It was also the first time I haven't had the e-book to read along with and it was quite tough to not be able to check words and spellings and things for deeper understanding.
Apparently it's a duology but I cannot see where it goes from here. I don't know what else there could be to write a whole other book about. I couldn't even make it through the 'bonus chapter' because I was so done with this story and it's self-centred characters.
And on that subject, Vitaly was one of the most annoying fellas I've read in a while. I'm really tired of arrogant assholes being love interests in fantasy. WE DESERVE BETTER.
With thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this audio
February 1, 2024
4.5 stars
I absolutely devoured this book. The author, Elizabeth May, has been on my TBR for a while with The Falconer, so I was thrilled to have the chance to read this book. I’m happy to say that though To Cage a God was my first book by May, it certainly won’t be my last! I loved that we followed two different romances, thought the worldbuilding was fantastic, and really enjoyed the imperialist Russia influences (it gave me all the grisha vibes)!
Thanks to the author for gifting me a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I absolutely devoured this book. The author, Elizabeth May, has been on my TBR for a while with The Falconer, so I was thrilled to have the chance to read this book. I’m happy to say that though To Cage a God was my first book by May, it certainly won’t be my last! I loved that we followed two different romances, thought the worldbuilding was fantastic, and really enjoyed the imperialist Russia influences (it gave me all the grisha vibes)!
Thanks to the author for gifting me a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Want to read
February 3, 2024I wanna hate read this...
January 28, 2024
Review 4.5 stars! 🥰
This is a dark Romantasy inspired by imperial Russia and perfect for fans of Grishaverse series! It also reminded me of Red Queen series where the society is divided between a god-like elite and commoners, filled with rebellions 🏰
Only the nobility has the power to share their body with a dragon god and obtain their powers. That is, until two commoner sisters, Galina and Sera, are infused in secret with the power of the deities into their very bones. The rebellion hoped to use them as puppets for destruction against the oppressive royalty. 💀
My two favorite things of the story are the worldbuilding, which is incredible, and the sisterly bond. I also really enjoy the “hidden identity” trope and get that with each sister as one hides her powers completely and the other hides in plain sight within the enemies’ walls. The pacing in the beginning is a bit slow as we get used to the world and all the terms used. However, as soon as Galina infiltrates the nobility I was hooked!! 😍 also love that each sister has their own romance storyline! The story also has great representation as the characters deal with trauma, addiction, loss.
Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy for review!
This is a dark Romantasy inspired by imperial Russia and perfect for fans of Grishaverse series! It also reminded me of Red Queen series where the society is divided between a god-like elite and commoners, filled with rebellions 🏰
Only the nobility has the power to share their body with a dragon god and obtain their powers. That is, until two commoner sisters, Galina and Sera, are infused in secret with the power of the deities into their very bones. The rebellion hoped to use them as puppets for destruction against the oppressive royalty. 💀
My two favorite things of the story are the worldbuilding, which is incredible, and the sisterly bond. I also really enjoy the “hidden identity” trope and get that with each sister as one hides her powers completely and the other hides in plain sight within the enemies’ walls. The pacing in the beginning is a bit slow as we get used to the world and all the terms used. However, as soon as Galina infiltrates the nobility I was hooked!! 😍 also love that each sister has their own romance storyline! The story also has great representation as the characters deal with trauma, addiction, loss.
Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy for review!
Read
December 14, 2023Yesssss...Elizabeth May is a fantastic world builder! And a sizzling romance writer. I've always admired how her brain works. <3
September 10, 2024
Aspects of this novel are really good; but then I'd hit a lull in the narrative and feel completely different about it. It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride for me between loving the world building and characters; but disliking all of the (most unnecessary) boring sex scenes, odd violent scenes, and a very typical, predictable plot. I could forgive the somewhat predictable plot if only there wasn't a 75 page section in the midst of the excitement of the height of the story that is each of our characters 'getting it on' with their desired romantic interest (be it g/f, wife, etc.).
Ultimately, To Cage a God was an okay read. It's good enough I might read book two. It's not good enough that I would recommend it to anyone. It felt immature in it's delivery at times. This latest fad/trend of 'romantasy' books seems to be killing a lot of really interesting fantasy books or worlds lately. It's almost like May was forced to add some sex scenes in just because they are 'hot' right now (lol). I have no idea if that's true, but if it was it would make perfect sense as her scenes felt unnecessary (except maybe one?) and tacked on at the last minute.
There is an ongoing theme of pain and violence. It that could have been intense but came off bland for me. May has amazing grimdark ideas for unique torture; but she never goes far enough in really describing things to make it feel real, dark and gritty. If you want to truly talk about eviscerating someone or burning them alive then you need to be willing to either gloss over it in all cases or get into the gritty details. Either embrace the dark and get into it in detail; or stay higher level and keep it quite palatable. The halfway commitment to descriptions felt awkward and out of place.
Additionally, one of our MC's (and one of the four or five POVs), appears to have a disease similar to my own affliction, fibromyalgia. At times I felt like May understood the sacrifices those of us with chronic pain disorders who suffer in order to 'be present' or 'do things' because others want us to. But at other times if it wasn't convenient for that character to be weakened (based on the plot needs) she seemed to push them too far; making some actions unrealistic based on the parameters set in the story. If you're thinking, realistic in fantasy, say what? I have a rule that I will accept all the rules of your fantasy world; but you then must live within them and be realistic about what is possible and what is not. People can only endure so much; I dislike magical regeneration not established early on. For me part of what makes a good fantasy novel great is the ability to connect the characters and their plights back to the readers own life.
May, at times, came close here to doing that; but ultimately failed too many times to use it to her advantage in advancing her characters and plot. Maybe May needed a pre-reader that has a debilitating disease and/or PTSD to read the book and provide comments? (as a sidenote if you want amazing fantasy with PTSD check out C. L. Polk's Witchmark).
Overall the weak points started to out-weigh the positive ones by the end. I might read book 2; but I won't be knocking down doors or pre-ordering. I'm sure To Cage a God will find some dire hard fans but I believe long time fantasy readers will find this more of a YA/Teen story that tried to get epic and grimdark; but ultimately fails to really invoke the sense of dread, pain, fear, and power that someone like Joe Abercrombie or Brandon Sanderson has mastered over the years. To Cage a God is perhaps a lesson in what is ‘dark’ for the fantasy genre. This may be intense for those new to grimdark fantasy; but it’s not near as dark as other entries in this niche genre.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
Ultimately, To Cage a God was an okay read. It's good enough I might read book two. It's not good enough that I would recommend it to anyone. It felt immature in it's delivery at times. This latest fad/trend of 'romantasy' books seems to be killing a lot of really interesting fantasy books or worlds lately. It's almost like May was forced to add some sex scenes in just because they are 'hot' right now (lol). I have no idea if that's true, but if it was it would make perfect sense as her scenes felt unnecessary (except maybe one?) and tacked on at the last minute.
There is an ongoing theme of pain and violence. It that could have been intense but came off bland for me. May has amazing grimdark ideas for unique torture; but she never goes far enough in really describing things to make it feel real, dark and gritty. If you want to truly talk about eviscerating someone or burning them alive then you need to be willing to either gloss over it in all cases or get into the gritty details. Either embrace the dark and get into it in detail; or stay higher level and keep it quite palatable. The halfway commitment to descriptions felt awkward and out of place.
Additionally, one of our MC's (and one of the four or five POVs), appears to have a disease similar to my own affliction, fibromyalgia. At times I felt like May understood the sacrifices those of us with chronic pain disorders who suffer in order to 'be present' or 'do things' because others want us to. But at other times if it wasn't convenient for that character to be weakened (based on the plot needs) she seemed to push them too far; making some actions unrealistic based on the parameters set in the story. If you're thinking, realistic in fantasy, say what? I have a rule that I will accept all the rules of your fantasy world; but you then must live within them and be realistic about what is possible and what is not. People can only endure so much; I dislike magical regeneration not established early on. For me part of what makes a good fantasy novel great is the ability to connect the characters and their plights back to the readers own life.
May, at times, came close here to doing that; but ultimately failed too many times to use it to her advantage in advancing her characters and plot. Maybe May needed a pre-reader that has a debilitating disease and/or PTSD to read the book and provide comments? (as a sidenote if you want amazing fantasy with PTSD check out C. L. Polk's Witchmark).
Overall the weak points started to out-weigh the positive ones by the end. I might read book 2; but I won't be knocking down doors or pre-ordering. I'm sure To Cage a God will find some dire hard fans but I believe long time fantasy readers will find this more of a YA/Teen story that tried to get epic and grimdark; but ultimately fails to really invoke the sense of dread, pain, fear, and power that someone like Joe Abercrombie or Brandon Sanderson has mastered over the years. To Cage a God is perhaps a lesson in what is ‘dark’ for the fantasy genre. This may be intense for those new to grimdark fantasy; but it’s not near as dark as other entries in this niche genre.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
January 27, 2024
I am obsessed with this book!!
This is a NA romantasy with m/f knives-to-the-throat ex-lovers fighting over the future of a rebellion and f/f undercover spy and princess forbidden romance. There is sisterhood, disability rep, and both m/f and f/f smut in this Slavic inspired fantasy that has become one of my new favourite romantasy books!
The story follows two foster sisters, Galina and Sera, whose mother was executed by the emperor for being part of a rebellion four years ago. The sisters have lived in hiding ever since, concealing their secret that their mother trapped gods inside of them. Hosting a god is usually only possible for the royal family and royal courtiers (and is the only way to use magic), but their mother found a way to bind gods to her daughters artificially so they could use magic and help her rebellion.
When Sera's ex-lover (who now leads the rebellion) kills the emperor of their country and the neighbouring countries start to threaten war, Sera concocts a plan to fulfil their mother's dreams and remove the corrupt monarchy.
rep: sapphic romance, lesbian MCs, disabled MC who uses mobility aides
The story follows two main POVs (Sera and Galina) but also has three smaller POVs (belonging to the sisters' love interests and their friend/spy inside the royal palace). At the beginning, I was a little confused by the world building, but after I was grounded in the world this was so easy to read and I loved it!
This is the first book in a duology but it doesn't end on a cliff hanger and can be read as a self-contained book (although there is definitely a lot left to explore with the plot of book 2).
Thank you to Daphne Press and Black Crow PR for sending me a proof copy of this book!
This is a NA romantasy with m/f knives-to-the-throat ex-lovers fighting over the future of a rebellion and f/f undercover spy and princess forbidden romance. There is sisterhood, disability rep, and both m/f and f/f smut in this Slavic inspired fantasy that has become one of my new favourite romantasy books!
The story follows two foster sisters, Galina and Sera, whose mother was executed by the emperor for being part of a rebellion four years ago. The sisters have lived in hiding ever since, concealing their secret that their mother trapped gods inside of them. Hosting a god is usually only possible for the royal family and royal courtiers (and is the only way to use magic), but their mother found a way to bind gods to her daughters artificially so they could use magic and help her rebellion.
When Sera's ex-lover (who now leads the rebellion) kills the emperor of their country and the neighbouring countries start to threaten war, Sera concocts a plan to fulfil their mother's dreams and remove the corrupt monarchy.
rep: sapphic romance, lesbian MCs, disabled MC who uses mobility aides
The story follows two main POVs (Sera and Galina) but also has three smaller POVs (belonging to the sisters' love interests and their friend/spy inside the royal palace). At the beginning, I was a little confused by the world building, but after I was grounded in the world this was so easy to read and I loved it!
This is the first book in a duology but it doesn't end on a cliff hanger and can be read as a self-contained book (although there is definitely a lot left to explore with the plot of book 2).
Thank you to Daphne Press and Black Crow PR for sending me a proof copy of this book!
January 12, 2024
DNF’ed 50% through
TLDR; All in all, while this book could’ve been interesting, instead it was literally just written like shit. 3/10 for interesting premise and ultimately terrible writing.
There is legitimately no other way to describe this book than just aggressively poorly written. While the plot and premise of the book are interesting, and not poorly executed, Elizabeth May’s technical ability to actually write is dense, blunt, and disconnected. Reading this book felt like wading through a nonsense sludge of events that should’ve worked really well together, but instead had no actual coherence to them. While a scene would make sense in isolation, it felt like there was no lead up to anything, no foreshadowing, no discussion of the after effects of an event. Instead everything in the story just… occurs, and then we move on from it. On top of which each event isn’t given the necessary time to percolate in the readers mind, instead made far too short. Combined with the lack of aftermath of anything, this leads to the book feeling incredibly disjointed.
Another issue I had with this book are the character. Firstly, there are too many POVs. Perhaps if the book had just featured the POV’s of the two sisters it would’ve been tighter, instead the book features ~5 POVs, and most of them feel unnecessary and add to the poorly written effect of the book as the author tries to explore an event from as many perspectives as possible. Secondly, the characters are poorly written. I cannot express how much I absolutely hate Vitaly, and how utterly and irrationally annoyed I felt reading any of his POVs. I hate this man and his weird, arguably misogynistic, way of talking about his “wife.” I wish he would die in a hole.
TLDR; All in all, while this book could’ve been interesting, instead it was literally just written like shit. 3/10 for interesting premise and ultimately terrible writing.
There is legitimately no other way to describe this book than just aggressively poorly written. While the plot and premise of the book are interesting, and not poorly executed, Elizabeth May’s technical ability to actually write is dense, blunt, and disconnected. Reading this book felt like wading through a nonsense sludge of events that should’ve worked really well together, but instead had no actual coherence to them. While a scene would make sense in isolation, it felt like there was no lead up to anything, no foreshadowing, no discussion of the after effects of an event. Instead everything in the story just… occurs, and then we move on from it. On top of which each event isn’t given the necessary time to percolate in the readers mind, instead made far too short. Combined with the lack of aftermath of anything, this leads to the book feeling incredibly disjointed.
Another issue I had with this book are the character. Firstly, there are too many POVs. Perhaps if the book had just featured the POV’s of the two sisters it would’ve been tighter, instead the book features ~5 POVs, and most of them feel unnecessary and add to the poorly written effect of the book as the author tries to explore an event from as many perspectives as possible. Secondly, the characters are poorly written. I cannot express how much I absolutely hate Vitaly, and how utterly and irrationally annoyed I felt reading any of his POVs. I hate this man and his weird, arguably misogynistic, way of talking about his “wife.” I wish he would die in a hole.
d-n-f
February 23, 2024look… the first 6% of this book wasn’t bad or anything, but it was just making me a little slumpy, so i’ve decided i’m not in the right mood for this one! i shall return - hopefully this doesn’t just sit on my netgalley unread shelf forever 😭
February 14, 2024
Disclaimer: I received a review copy for free via Netgalley, and am voluntarily leaving my honest thoughts. Many thanks to DAW for the opportunity!
3.5 rounded down. It took me a while to get into this, but once I was about 15% in, I was COMPLETELY sold for specific reasons (*cough* Vitaly's intro *cough* 😂) and ready to go along this journey. I enjoyed the ideas and worldbuilding here a lot, and while I appreciated the different POVs we are introduced, I kept finding myself wanting to get back to 2-3 specific ones.
I immediately was drawn in by Sera and Vitaly's dynamic and loved their arc here already. I also really enjoyed Galina's and Vasilisa's individual arcs and their romance as well. The romance was definitely the main draw and focus for me. The only reason it's a 3.5 is that while the book did get me out of a slump, I felt the writing style was a bit of a miss for me, as I feel like I could've been more invested in some of the characters if there wasn't so much going on perhaps? I also feel like the villain could've been a stronger character in the sense that I feel like she was more representative of her trope rather than being a person who embodies said trope.
Really enjoyed the god stuff here too and thought there were fun concepts. I am actually pretty excited to pick up book two though and can't wait to come back to this world in the sequel.
----
Full RTC. Enjoyed the relationship dynamics, writing style hiccupped for me a bit, but it got me through a slump at least. Really really love Sera and Vitaly. 🥹
3.5 rounded down. It took me a while to get into this, but once I was about 15% in, I was COMPLETELY sold for specific reasons (*cough* Vitaly's intro *cough* 😂) and ready to go along this journey. I enjoyed the ideas and worldbuilding here a lot, and while I appreciated the different POVs we are introduced, I kept finding myself wanting to get back to 2-3 specific ones.
I immediately was drawn in by Sera and Vitaly's dynamic and loved their arc here already. I also really enjoyed Galina's and Vasilisa's individual arcs and their romance as well. The romance was definitely the main draw and focus for me. The only reason it's a 3.5 is that while the book did get me out of a slump, I felt the writing style was a bit of a miss for me, as I feel like I could've been more invested in some of the characters if there wasn't so much going on perhaps? I also feel like the villain could've been a stronger character in the sense that I feel like she was more representative of her trope rather than being a person who embodies said trope.
Really enjoyed the god stuff here too and thought there were fun concepts. I am actually pretty excited to pick up book two though and can't wait to come back to this world in the sequel.
----
Full RTC. Enjoyed the relationship dynamics, writing style hiccupped for me a bit, but it got me through a slump at least. Really really love Sera and Vitaly. 🥹
June 19, 2024
Ever since I read the Falconer trilogy by Elizabeth May, I knew I would hype every fantasy up the author brings out, but even without trusting her to bring us an incredible story, the premise of the story alone had me screaming.
I mean dragon gods? Screaming. Setting inspired by Imperial Russia? Screaming. Not one, but two romance subplots? S-C-R-E-A-M-I-N-G.
Needless to say that I was counting down the days until I could put my hands on this book and devour it, and oh did I devour it.
To Cage A God perfectly captures the setting and weaves in the worldbuilding and magic system while placing its focus on the two sisters‘ story. And if there‘s one thing that makes me weak it‘s a sisterly bond. Sera and Galina had my heart from the very beginning and I was eager to follow them as they were seeing their plan through.
With them splitting up quite early in the book to follow through with their plans, we get to see several different aspects of the world, the people taking place in it, and obviously two very different romance subplots. Both filled with banter and angst, both having me flip those pages. And yet, so very different in their essence and dynamic.
Overall, I truly enjoyed the book and already can‘t wait to read its sequel. If you‘re a fan of dragons, Imperial-Russian-inspired worldbuilding, sister bonds, and a great balance of worldbuilding and romance, this book is for you.
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
I mean dragon gods? Screaming. Setting inspired by Imperial Russia? Screaming. Not one, but two romance subplots? S-C-R-E-A-M-I-N-G.
Needless to say that I was counting down the days until I could put my hands on this book and devour it, and oh did I devour it.
To Cage A God perfectly captures the setting and weaves in the worldbuilding and magic system while placing its focus on the two sisters‘ story. And if there‘s one thing that makes me weak it‘s a sisterly bond. Sera and Galina had my heart from the very beginning and I was eager to follow them as they were seeing their plan through.
With them splitting up quite early in the book to follow through with their plans, we get to see several different aspects of the world, the people taking place in it, and obviously two very different romance subplots. Both filled with banter and angst, both having me flip those pages. And yet, so very different in their essence and dynamic.
Overall, I truly enjoyed the book and already can‘t wait to read its sequel. If you‘re a fan of dragons, Imperial-Russian-inspired worldbuilding, sister bonds, and a great balance of worldbuilding and romance, this book is for you.
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
November 13, 2024
4.5 stars
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review, and to the publisher for sending me a proof copy!
Oh but this was so good! This is the first Elizabeth May book I've read, but I am so excited to read more by her now. This was such a character-driven story and I completely fell in love with these characters. There's a second chance romance that I devoured, there's a forbidden romance I adored. The worldbuilding is intense but fascinating (dragon gods, hello!), the magic system is very interesting, the writing style made it so easy to read (could've finished it in one sitting if there weren't such a thing as work!). I would however, have loved a map - I don't know if the finished copies have a map, but my ARC copy didn't and I found all the different places very confusing to keep track of!
There's a beautiful sisterly love at its core, between Sera and Galina, and it made me quite emotional at times. There's also a singular character in Katya, the handmaiden to the empress, who is on her own for much of the story, and I felt so awful for her and what she was going through; I wish she had had more time with the other characters so that she hadn't felt so separated from them.
This book is dark, and features ableism and torture very prominently, so do bear that in mind when going into this; I wonder if this is where many of the bad reviews of this book are coming from? Because I do not understand all of these low ratings and DNFs; I had such a good time and would really recommend!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review, and to the publisher for sending me a proof copy!
Oh but this was so good! This is the first Elizabeth May book I've read, but I am so excited to read more by her now. This was such a character-driven story and I completely fell in love with these characters. There's a second chance romance that I devoured, there's a forbidden romance I adored. The worldbuilding is intense but fascinating (dragon gods, hello!), the magic system is very interesting, the writing style made it so easy to read (could've finished it in one sitting if there weren't such a thing as work!). I would however, have loved a map - I don't know if the finished copies have a map, but my ARC copy didn't and I found all the different places very confusing to keep track of!
There's a beautiful sisterly love at its core, between Sera and Galina, and it made me quite emotional at times. There's also a singular character in Katya, the handmaiden to the empress, who is on her own for much of the story, and I felt so awful for her and what she was going through; I wish she had had more time with the other characters so that she hadn't felt so separated from them.
This book is dark, and features ableism and torture very prominently, so do bear that in mind when going into this; I wonder if this is where many of the bad reviews of this book are coming from? Because I do not understand all of these low ratings and DNFs; I had such a good time and would really recommend!
May 20, 2025
Maybe 4.5 – a great fantasy novel.
January 4, 2024
Thank you to Daphne Press and Netgalley for providing an eARC to review!
It took me almost a month to finish this one and I almost DNF'd it a few times because I got so bored and the prose is dull. The beginning of the book feels both slow and rushed; slow because not much happens for most of the book, and rushed because the magic system isn't explained very clearly and the politics are very confusing. It's also unclear to me how the alureans end up with zmei inside of them, even though the process of caging a god in a commoner was explained about 3 times throughout the book.
There was just one character that I was interested in at first (Vitalik) and my enthusiasm died when the principle he lived by shattered instantly. It's not really enemies to lovers, it's just miscommunication (one of my least favorite tropes). I'm trying to keep this review spoiler-free, so all I can say is that if he stood by what he believed in, the story would've been a lot more interesting.
All the characters are immature and most of their choices are questionable, and the whole thing reads more like YA than Adult. The book is full of clichés and it's all very formulaic, unfortunately.
It took me almost a month to finish this one and I almost DNF'd it a few times because I got so bored and the prose is dull. The beginning of the book feels both slow and rushed; slow because not much happens for most of the book, and rushed because the magic system isn't explained very clearly and the politics are very confusing. It's also unclear to me how the alureans end up with zmei inside of them, even though the process of caging a god in a commoner was explained about 3 times throughout the book.
There was just one character that I was interested in at first (Vitalik) and my enthusiasm died when the principle he lived by shattered instantly. It's not really enemies to lovers, it's just miscommunication (one of my least favorite tropes). I'm trying to keep this review spoiler-free, so all I can say is that if he stood by what he believed in, the story would've been a lot more interesting.
All the characters are immature and most of their choices are questionable, and the whole thing reads more like YA than Adult. The book is full of clichés and it's all very formulaic, unfortunately.
March 15, 2024
For how fast paced this book was I wanted to dnf so bad from boredom.
Characters: 1/5
Plot: 1.5/5
Rep: 4/5
Spice: 1/5
Galina and Sera are adopted commoner sisters with gods living inside of them. Sera's mother caged the gods into them when they were children even though only royalty is supposed to get a "dragon." Their only goal is to overthrow the current regime and free the people from the tyrant queen.
I didn't care about any of the characters, probably because their back stories are just glossed over. The book is all telling and no showing. There are tons of plot holes and nothing is planned out. The sisters just throw themselves into the middle of everything and then follow through on nothing.
Galina was supposed to be trying to find a way to kill the queen, but she just spent the whole book making googly eyes at the princess, Vasilisa. For trying to be a slow burn enemies to lovers relationship it was insta-love at its worst. Vasilisa hates her mom which is completely understandable, but I don't think it's reason enough to immediately forgive Galina for hiding her true intentions the whole book. There was no tension between the two at all. It was very surface level and lust to love.
Meanwhile, Sera and Vitaly's relationship is just a mess. It's pure miscommunication and Vitaly has to be one of the weakest MCs I've ever read. He hates everyone unless Sera tells him not to. They're back and forth the whole book even though they have the same goals. The relationship has no depth because all we get are brief flashbacks of them meeting, and then her monologue about how she married him even though shes been keeping secrets from him the whole time and she can't be around him now. Why marry him in the first place if you couldn't trust him?!?
Everything is resolved quickly at the end except for the fact that no one stopped to think about the war going on, and how they just left their whole country defenseless.
Characters: 1/5
Plot: 1.5/5
Rep: 4/5
Spice: 1/5
Galina and Sera are adopted commoner sisters with gods living inside of them. Sera's mother caged the gods into them when they were children even though only royalty is supposed to get a "dragon." Their only goal is to overthrow the current regime and free the people from the tyrant queen.
I didn't care about any of the characters, probably because their back stories are just glossed over. The book is all telling and no showing. There are tons of plot holes and nothing is planned out. The sisters just throw themselves into the middle of everything and then follow through on nothing.
Galina was supposed to be trying to find a way to kill the queen, but she just spent the whole book making googly eyes at the princess, Vasilisa. For trying to be a slow burn enemies to lovers relationship it was insta-love at its worst. Vasilisa hates her mom which is completely understandable, but I don't think it's reason enough to immediately forgive Galina for hiding her true intentions the whole book. There was no tension between the two at all. It was very surface level and lust to love.
Meanwhile, Sera and Vitaly's relationship is just a mess. It's pure miscommunication and Vitaly has to be one of the weakest MCs I've ever read. He hates everyone unless Sera tells him not to. They're back and forth the whole book even though they have the same goals. The relationship has no depth because all we get are brief flashbacks of them meeting, and then her monologue about how she married him even though shes been keeping secrets from him the whole time and she can't be around him now. Why marry him in the first place if you couldn't trust him?!?
Everything is resolved quickly at the end except for the fact that no one stopped to think about the war going on, and how they just left their whole country defenseless.
January 8, 2024
Rebellion. Revenge. Royalty.
In this tale May gives us anger, romance and sacrifice, told simply but fluidly. It is an adult novel, so prepare for spice and swearing, but is as readable as a YA - fairly linear and not excessively complex.
Two sisters contain gods… the result of dark experiments, they are set to destroy the empire that broke their own families and bring down the unjust regime that leaves the commoners in poverty whilst those blessed with power do as they please. But what - and who - will they sacrifice to achieve their aims?
Featuring:
- villainous queen, just ugh, the worst
- dragon spirits
- chronic pain/illness
- F/F and F/M romance
- loads of stabbing. like, so much
- drug use
- A really unhinged baker, possibly my fave
3.5 rounded up
In this tale May gives us anger, romance and sacrifice, told simply but fluidly. It is an adult novel, so prepare for spice and swearing, but is as readable as a YA - fairly linear and not excessively complex.
Two sisters contain gods… the result of dark experiments, they are set to destroy the empire that broke their own families and bring down the unjust regime that leaves the commoners in poverty whilst those blessed with power do as they please. But what - and who - will they sacrifice to achieve their aims?
Featuring:
- villainous queen, just ugh, the worst
- dragon spirits
- chronic pain/illness
- F/F and F/M romance
- loads of stabbing. like, so much
- drug use
- A really unhinged baker, possibly my fave
3.5 rounded up
March 27, 2024
Das Buch war einfach super langweilig. Ich mochte keinen der Charaktere, außer Vasilisa, aber das wars auch schon. Es passiert ewig lange nix, dann kommt ein bisschen Action, aber trotzdem zu wenig. Für mich war das ein totaler Reinfall. Das Ende war ok, aber jetzt auch nicht super spannend oder so, es war halt da.
Want to read
March 24, 2023i heard ‘shadow and bone meets monstress’ and i was sold
March 10, 2024
russia?????oh hell NO!!! #russiaisatheroriststate
December 12, 2023
This was beautifully unique.
In this book there are 5 POV’s, but we mainly follow two foster sisters, Sera and Galina. We follow them on their journey to save their kingdom with the help of the horrible and amazing power etched into their bones (as well as some amazing allies… and enemies).
This book was truly unique. I really enjoyed the magic system. I’ve read something similar before, but it was executed completely different. The writing was great and the characters likable. I actually enjoyed all 5 POV’s, which is incredibly rare. Of course, I had my favorites, but I still enjoyed them all.
I was a bit hesitant toward one half of the romance at first. Mostly because I prefer meeting a love interest from the beginning and following as the mc falls in love. This was not the case, which I did not think I was going to enjoy, but it was truly incredible. (I would LOVE to get a prequel to this book, btw. It would truly be amazing to follow their relationship from the beginning) The chemistry and banter was great and their relationship really helped build on the story.
———
“You do have a husband,” Anna reminded her. “But I suppose he’ll be less than thrilled when he finds out we destroyed his explosives stockpile.”
Sera rolled her eyes. “The man’s deranged. He’ll probably think I’m flirting with him.”
———
I really loved him, as well. (He was whipped, my dude, as well as a bit insane). I was scared for a bit… but he turned out to be as great as I could have hoped. I love him. He was a bit morally grey (lol), but who doesn’t love that?
———
“My mortality begins and ends with you. It’s always been that way. Always will be.”
———
I enjoyed the other side of the romance as well. It was refreshing to see two people find peace in each other in such a way. I would have liked to have read some more about them. I don’t think their relationship was properly shown. I would hope that we get more of them in the next book.
A big thanks to NetGalley and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
In this book there are 5 POV’s, but we mainly follow two foster sisters, Sera and Galina. We follow them on their journey to save their kingdom with the help of the horrible and amazing power etched into their bones (as well as some amazing allies… and enemies).
This book was truly unique. I really enjoyed the magic system. I’ve read something similar before, but it was executed completely different. The writing was great and the characters likable. I actually enjoyed all 5 POV’s, which is incredibly rare. Of course, I had my favorites, but I still enjoyed them all.
I was a bit hesitant toward one half of the romance at first. Mostly because I prefer meeting a love interest from the beginning and following as the mc falls in love. This was not the case, which I did not think I was going to enjoy, but it was truly incredible. (I would LOVE to get a prequel to this book, btw. It would truly be amazing to follow their relationship from the beginning) The chemistry and banter was great and their relationship really helped build on the story.
———
“You do have a husband,” Anna reminded her. “But I suppose he’ll be less than thrilled when he finds out we destroyed his explosives stockpile.”
Sera rolled her eyes. “The man’s deranged. He’ll probably think I’m flirting with him.”
———
I really loved him, as well. (He was whipped, my dude, as well as a bit insane). I was scared for a bit… but he turned out to be as great as I could have hoped. I love him. He was a bit morally grey (lol), but who doesn’t love that?
———
“My mortality begins and ends with you. It’s always been that way. Always will be.”
———
I enjoyed the other side of the romance as well. It was refreshing to see two people find peace in each other in such a way. I would have liked to have read some more about them. I don’t think their relationship was properly shown. I would hope that we get more of them in the next book.
A big thanks to NetGalley and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
December 17, 2024
Même lorsqu’il m’arrive d’avoir des coups de cœur, je ne suis jamais vraiment d’accord sur le fait qu’ils soient irréprochables. Ici, je frôle le coup de cœur MAIS je n’ai rien de négatif à dire ici.
Elizabeth May a fait un travail fantastique avec ce roman. S’il y a un lexique et une langue ancestrale propre au livre, ce qui est déjà brillant, elle a une plume happante.
J’avoue avoir eu du mal à accrocher en lisant les premiers chapitres… mais ne serait-ce pas un indice révélateur d’une très bonne suite ? Une fois les quelques premiers chapitres passés, impossible de lâcher ce bouquin.
L’intrigue elle, était dingue. On est sur une intrigue principale politique défaillante avec une notion de pouvoir très chaotique et un peuple à l’agonie. Sera et Galina sont des alurea, leur mère leur a greffé des dieux dans leurs os, et des dieux dragons enfermés dans des corps humains ? Un vrai régal en terme de plot.
Si l’intrigue est déjà folle, les personnages le sont encore +. Le plan de Sera est calculé au millimètre près mais malheureusement… elle ne peut pas prévoir ce qu’elle ne contrôle pas. C’est un personnage bad-ass avec un penchant pour la fabrication de bombes, je l’ai adoré. C’est sans compter Vitalik, l’antagoniste parfait qui ajoute une touche d’humour à cet univers si sombre auquel il participe activement. Un duo parfait dans ce genre d’histoire. Galina elle, est le personnage le plus fort à mes yeux et pourtant également le plus fragile. Je pense que ça sera le personnage préféré de tout le monde pour son courage et sa résilience. Personnellement, j’ai eu un gros faible pour Vasilisa qui est je pense, mon double en terme de cynisme. J’ai vraiment apprécié tous les personnages de ce premier tome, sans oublier Katya, réelle martyre de l’impératrice.
En bref, c’est une fantasy où complots, alliances et forces obscures seront vos camarades de voyage avec un petit 15-20% de romance à ne pas négliger.
Elizabeth May a fait un travail fantastique avec ce roman. S’il y a un lexique et une langue ancestrale propre au livre, ce qui est déjà brillant, elle a une plume happante.
J’avoue avoir eu du mal à accrocher en lisant les premiers chapitres… mais ne serait-ce pas un indice révélateur d’une très bonne suite ? Une fois les quelques premiers chapitres passés, impossible de lâcher ce bouquin.
L’intrigue elle, était dingue. On est sur une intrigue principale politique défaillante avec une notion de pouvoir très chaotique et un peuple à l’agonie. Sera et Galina sont des alurea, leur mère leur a greffé des dieux dans leurs os, et des dieux dragons enfermés dans des corps humains ? Un vrai régal en terme de plot.
Si l’intrigue est déjà folle, les personnages le sont encore +. Le plan de Sera est calculé au millimètre près mais malheureusement… elle ne peut pas prévoir ce qu’elle ne contrôle pas. C’est un personnage bad-ass avec un penchant pour la fabrication de bombes, je l’ai adoré. C’est sans compter Vitalik, l’antagoniste parfait qui ajoute une touche d’humour à cet univers si sombre auquel il participe activement. Un duo parfait dans ce genre d’histoire. Galina elle, est le personnage le plus fort à mes yeux et pourtant également le plus fragile. Je pense que ça sera le personnage préféré de tout le monde pour son courage et sa résilience. Personnellement, j’ai eu un gros faible pour Vasilisa qui est je pense, mon double en terme de cynisme. J’ai vraiment apprécié tous les personnages de ce premier tome, sans oublier Katya, réelle martyre de l’impératrice.
En bref, c’est une fantasy où complots, alliances et forces obscures seront vos camarades de voyage avec un petit 15-20% de romance à ne pas négliger.
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