Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - To Cage a God

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To Cage a God by Elizabeth May

7 reviews

kpturner90's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book is a bit of a twist on your classic fairytale princess love story. I love the characters and their commitment to making the world a better place no matter how dangerous it may be. They see the unfairness and cruelty done to the people and are determined to do what it takes to make things right at any cost. The fierce protectiveness these characters have for each other is the type of loyalty everyone should have from at least one person in their lives, and these characters have it from many- sisters, friends, and lovers. They will do anything to protect and save one another. The romance aspect adds a nice touch without overpowering the main story that's being told. The couples are well-matched, and you can't help but love seeing them together. This book was relatively slow-paced, particularly in the beginning and middle, but picked up closer to the end. I'm not a big fan of slower-paced novels, but it's to be expected from the first book in a series because it needs to take the time for world-building so the story can be told in a way that pulls you in. Overall, I enjoyed this book well enough, and although it isn't one of my favorites, it has the makings of possibly becoming a favorite series. I am excited to see what happens next, and can't wait for the next book!

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bucketsjen's review

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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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kayla_moerman's review against another edition

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I did not like the writing style one bit. It had passages of text where it would give amazing description and detail to ‘show’ the characters situations and perspectives and the way their experiences have shaped them but then immediately undercut itself by ‘telling’ us exactly the same thing.
I'm not against a book telling us details that could else be inferred other ways, and overall from what I gathered of the themes bring explored, I feel optimistic that it would be quite nuanced and thoughtful in the concepts and topics introduce at the beginning. However I do fret for the execution as it felt like the author was almost working too hard to try and get her point across and didn't get a good balance between the showing and telling aspect of the book.
Saying that, the magic system sounded really cool and the upfront consequences and mechanisms the characters used to control the Gods grafted to their bones were interesting, though I wouldn't necessarily call it original. I did like the characters themselves a lot though because they were both very complex and immediately fleshed out by their inner dialogue and the banter between them. Once again, however, I felt it was overwritten in that despite this amazing display of showing the characters interact it would always tell us how they interacted too.

This is just a personal gripe for me as I'm very much a sucker for specific writing styles that have a certain flow to them. I don’t think the book was bad, what I read of it sounded good! But I just couldn't read it without losing concentration because I need slightly more vague writing to stay attentive.

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booksalacarte's review

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adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

To cage a god- 2.75⭐️ 3.5🌶️

Adult fantasy

Sapphic

30yo characters

Multi POV

Morally grey characters

Hidden identity

Dragons

Mythical beasts

Russian influence

Revolution

Alcoholism rep

Ptsd rep

Chronic illness/disability rep

Tw: self harm/cutting, suicide, murder, gore, death, emotional abuse, alcoholism, eugenics

I love the premise of this story! Commoners have unwilling dragon gods caged inside of them, something reserved for royalty, for a rebellion.

The entry into this story was abrupt, making it hard to connect to the main characters because we were dropped into the very middle of most of the character’s stories. but I just found it hard to feel caught up. I even was a kid fascinated by the Russian Revolution and the last tzar of Russia… and so much of the plot mirrored those true events.

The characters were flushed out well, for the most part. And the banter was good.

I found the magic system to be really interesting in how different magic manifested depending on which dragon god was caught.

The pacing wasn’t great, with the abrupt and slow start and rushed ending.

The spicy scenes didn’t feel as natural as I prefer. The timing of these scene was really NOT great.

Thank You Netgalley and DAW Books for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

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natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

An exquisitely thrilling Fantasy Romance that’s set in a lush, yet ruthless (Imperial Russian-esque) world full of god wielding rebels, tyrannical rulers and high stakes political tension that I couldn’t get enough of!

As someone quite new to Elizabeth May’s work (this being the first of her books I’ve ever read) I was really impressed with the deeply emotional, character-driven narrative and adored the intriguing magic system (Dragon Gods magically removed from their own realm and forced into the bodies of humans, so said humans can harness their powers)—though I was hoping to delve a little more into the lore surrounding each the dragon-esque gods.

The second chance romance between Sera and her estranged husband, Vitaly more than made up for it, however, thanks to the slow-burn, and swoon-worthy intensity of their enemies to lovers style dynamics. Galina’s romance with the Villainous Empress’s daughter, Princess Vasilisa, was also incredibly delicious as well. But, it was the bond of sisterhood and trust both Galina and Sera place in one another that really captivated me.

I loved exploring their shared experiences and the emotional journey that sees them survive such unrelenting cruelty at the hands of the Empire’s ruling classes—as well as their own rebel leader mother, who had sought to weaponise them for her own gain (before her capture and execution four years prior.)

I do admit, I was a little surprised by just how many POVs we got to explore (I had assumed it was gonna be a dual POV story between sisters Galina and Sera.) But actually, really enjoyed exploring all five of our POV characters, delving into their motivations, secrets, struggles and choice which lead each of them to that spectacularly satisfying (and rather pacy) conclusion.

Overall, a magic and romance filled romp teeming with gods, complex family dynamics and endearing, morally grey characters that’s perfect for both Romantasy lovers and fans of Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow & Bone series. Though I do suggest checking TWs beforehand.

Also, a huge thank you to Daphne Press and Blackcrow PR for the Proof

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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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lovefromhannah's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Move aside Throne of Glass, Elizabeth May is in town.

To Cage A God combines high fantasy with all of your dark romantasy desires. Told in multiple perspectives, it combines deities and political fantasy as our characters gear up to begin their rebellion against their oppressors. The characters are written well and flip tropes on their heads from the beginning (the quiet protagonist doesn't cower away and the louder character is more than their snarky one-liners and has layers to their character). It is clear that May took great care when creating these characters and the world.

I've seen criticism of the title being misleading. However, without giving too much away, the 'caging gods' aspect is a fresh take on the deity trope. I hope you give this novel the chance it deserves.

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thank you to the publisher for gifting me a free arc. all opinions and words are my own.

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