Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - To Cage a God

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To Cage a God by Elizabeth May

4 reviews

bucketsjen's review

adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Imperial Russia Era inspired fantasy, where nobles get their power from dragon-gods caged in their bones and a commoner insurgency struggles against the corrupt ruling class. The commoners can't seem to get a good win but things are about to change - a couple decades ago, a rebel researcher with bad ethics discovered how to bind gods to two sisters, who are now grown and are out to take down the whole system... well, if they can figure out the final formula to max out their powers, avoid being caught out as traitors, and escape being accidentally killed by the god-hating rebellion.

This book was good but not overly complicated. The bad guys are bad, it's easy to root for the good guys (even the supposedly "morally gray" ex), and the characters are kinda more "presented" than developed, especially in the beginning. But it was engaging, the world is interesting, the prose is lovely, the two romances are great even if they aren't surprising (

one has a vicious ex who can't stop blowing things up while the other is a raging sapphic who's trying to not fall for the princess-heir

). While there are on-page hookups, this isn't a smutty book and nothing is very detailed; the emphasis is more on how the characters feel about each other than about what they physically do).

It's part of a duology, the second isn't out yet - but this book stands as a complete story. I can see what plots the second book would probably have, but the author brought everything to a satisfying and finished conclusion for this book, so I'm happy.

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gen_wolfhailstorm's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Thank you to Black Crow PR and Daphne Press for sending me a hardback copy for the book tour. All opinions remain 100% genuine.

I absolutely, whole heartedly adored this novel immensely.

May's writing in this is absolutely exquisite! I hadn't realised I had read another book by her. It was a duo author book, called Seven Devils and it was just okay to me (I think I would enjoy it more now having loved more sci fi recently), but I couldn't help but note that the contrast to her current fantasy writing is just so sharp. She definitely won me around in this beautifully rebellious novel.

The multi pov was rich and diverse, the characters so dimensional & I loved to love them & (even better imo) loved to 𝕝𝕠𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖 them! Isadora was a particular favourite villain and I felt so swoony over Vitaly's criminal charm and Vasilia's ice cold, carefully crafted emotions.

The atmosphere & landscape demonstrated in To Cage a God was so vivid and descriptive, that I felt like I had been transported there. Every time I picked it back up, I felt like I was flying through the pages. The story was just so moreish.

The cultures, queer representation and themes of oppression and rebellion and the overal overthrowing of a corrupt hieracy felt so prevalent and empowering.

The tantalising & forbidden romance that Galina was battling through was a particular favourite character/relationship development. It was so addictive and made me all giddy and excitable for it all! The spice in this was unexpected. May did not shy away from those scenes and they were so good.

Another favourite character/relationship development was the sisterly bond between Galina and Sera. This relationship was beautiful to read and felt so fraught with shared trauma and experience. The love that bound them together was amazing.

There's so many different types of relationships in this story, that links the multiple perspectives, and I was appreciative of how complex and realistic each relationship felt. They were all necessary to the building of individual characters as well as carrying the story through and creating drive, ambition and bond between characters. It also strengthened my attachment to the book as a reader as I had to know what would happen to everyone.

Then there's the magic - it's so unique! Literally caging these dragon-like gods in the vessel of a human body and the price one pays for that? Ugh, absolutely fantastic. I loved the magic system and the study of the potions and medicines that Sera and Vasilia conducted, respectfully. Some of the godpower felt a bit overpowered but to explore that, I would love to learn even more about the gods and their dimension, what they can do and what their limits are. Does this become weaker once their bonded to a mortal? More of the lore from their perspective would be awesome.

Overall, I loved every moment of this book. I can't wait for the sequel.

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adancewithbooks's review

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dark medium-paced

3.0

Thank you to Daphne Press and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.

Mostly I was drawn to read this book by this author. I have known about Elizabeth May for a while but have not read many of her books. I read the Seven Devils duology she co-wrote with someone else and one under her Kendrick penname. But I wanted to read something else too. To Cage a God didn't quite live up to the expectation.

To Cage a God is set in a Russian inspired world. The two sisters, Galina and Sera, have been in hiding with the gods that inhabit their bodies. But when the emperor is assasinated by the rebellion they were once apart of, it makes them step out of the shadows with a plan of their own to overthrow the empire.

For the most part the book was entertaining to read. It took me a little but I did start warming up to both Galina and Sera. Especially Galina started rough with us. We meet her when she is nursing a hangover from one of her alcohol binges. But when Sera comes to her with a new plan, you see her starting to stand up again, even if she initially fights it. You see a very damaged young lady who is actually pretty strong on the inside. I also really appreciated the relationship that Galina and Sera had. They are not biological sisters. Both were adopted by their mother and were used to put Gods in them. But for them, that sister bond is very real. I never felt any animosity between the two for anything that happened. Just support. And I loved that.

However I struggled a bit with other aspects of the book. The worldbuilding for instance. The royals are born with a god in them and it is what makes them the ruling power. There is apparently a big history of that. Our two main characters had a god put in them when they were children. Their mother found some book about that. It is just there but it is not build up. There are no details though you would think that be important. There are no details, no names and very limited interactions with the gods. They are suppose to be this thing, but they aren't really present. They could have just as well have had powers of their own because I'm not sure what the added point was of these gods. Even if this is to come in the future books, there needed to be more here to hook the reader. It was a really interesting idea but the execution really let it down.

As far as the story goes, I can see why there was a rebellion. The royals really weren't very nice people and they treated the people pretty bad. But for something like this, a rebellion, an entire city, there were not enough characters. It felt so incredibly tiny and limited. We were on the outside of the palace but all that this really served for were the romantic interactions between Sera and her guy. The city, the people, the rebellion. None of that was build up.

To Cage a God is for the most part an entertaining read, even more so if you like a good bit of romance. I do not feel compelled however to wait/pick up the next book. This plot is wrapped up and it has not left me curious about anything else.

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devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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