Take a photo of a barcode or cover
wordsbychiara 's review for:
To Cage a God
by Elizabeth May
Spice: 2
TO CAGE A GOD is the first book in an electrifying NA romantasy series where dragons—the zmei—are gods trapped within mortals’ bodies (as in literally trapped within people’s bones) and two sisters are responsible for ushering a rebellion within an Imperial Russia-inspired world. This was also one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and it delivered on all points.
The whole concept behind the worldbuilding of the gods trapped within human bodies is one of the most fascinating I’ve ever read. In origin, the zmei were summoned from their different plane/dimension and trapped within human vessels through a complicated procedure. Through years, the alurea—the noble class—are the descendants of those first bonded mortals and supposedly the only ones that are in possession of a god. What they don’t know is that two commoners, Galina and Sera, are also bonded to dragons, which allows the two sisters to enact their plan to infiltrate the Empress’s court. What I liked about the magic was that having the gods trapped inside mortals does have consequences in one way or another, and you see this especially through Sera and Vasilisa.
I enjoyed the characters immensely. There are five POV chapters, four of which are of the characters linked to two different romance arcs, and then there’s Katya, who romantically stands on her own but whose chapters give us the most interesting insight on the ruthless Empress. Especially when one compares what we see through Katya’s eyes and what we see through Princess Vasilisa’s recollection of her mother when she was younger. Now, because when there’s a fictional red flag I see pretty shades of pink, my favorite character was Vitaly, the leader of the faithless movement against the alurea. This man will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals, no matter the consequences, but he will one hundred percent let Sera walk over him if she asked. She’s the one person where his morality makes a shaky return, and this makes him all the more attractive. I also have a soft spot for Sera’s curmudgeon dragon.
The ending was well executed and leaves me simultaneously satisfied and curious for the next book.
Thank you to the author and Daphne Press for gifting me an ARC!
TO CAGE A GOD is the first book in an electrifying NA romantasy series where dragons—the zmei—are gods trapped within mortals’ bodies (as in literally trapped within people’s bones) and two sisters are responsible for ushering a rebellion within an Imperial Russia-inspired world. This was also one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and it delivered on all points.
The whole concept behind the worldbuilding of the gods trapped within human bodies is one of the most fascinating I’ve ever read. In origin, the zmei were summoned from their different plane/dimension and trapped within human vessels through a complicated procedure. Through years, the alurea—the noble class—are the descendants of those first bonded mortals and supposedly the only ones that are in possession of a god. What they don’t know is that two commoners, Galina and Sera, are also bonded to dragons, which allows the two sisters to enact their plan to infiltrate the Empress’s court. What I liked about the magic was that having the gods trapped inside mortals does have consequences in one way or another, and you see this especially through Sera and Vasilisa.
I enjoyed the characters immensely. There are five POV chapters, four of which are of the characters linked to two different romance arcs, and then there’s Katya, who romantically stands on her own but whose chapters give us the most interesting insight on the ruthless Empress. Especially when one compares what we see through Katya’s eyes and what we see through Princess Vasilisa’s recollection of her mother when she was younger. Now, because when there’s a fictional red flag I see pretty shades of pink, my favorite character was Vitaly, the leader of the faithless movement against the alurea. This man will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals, no matter the consequences, but he will one hundred percent let Sera walk over him if she asked. She’s the one person where his morality makes a shaky return, and this makes him all the more attractive. I also have a soft spot for Sera’s curmudgeon dragon.
The ending was well executed and leaves me simultaneously satisfied and curious for the next book.
Thank you to the author and Daphne Press for gifting me an ARC!