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A review by aquinntessential
The Gilded Cage by Lynette Noni
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
I have a lot to say about this book. Which is hilarious given that absolutely nothing of value happened. This could quite literally have been summed up in an email.
The characters are so 2D they make squares look exciting. Kiva is unbelievably stupid and has all the complexity of an adult counting to 3. The whole point was for her to be torn between two sides. From the start she knew she didn’t want tohelp rebels so it was just pointless. The ‘pivotal’ decision moment is NOT pivotal and just ugh.
And Jaren. Who tf even is he? Like I’m sorry but why tf does he keepkissing her neck or ear when they’ve had like no romance. And in my option the author is deliberately focusing on making him a ‘book boyfriend’ that it just means he’s so painfully flat. Where’s his quirks? Where’s his wants outside of Kiva? And no, ruling the kingdom does not count. Give me at least an inkling of personality.
Even a character as fiery as whatever her sister was called (I should remember considering I finished this book 2 mins ago) should have been well developed. And wasn’t.
And now that Kiva is out of prison you have a whole new world that the author could have built. And didn’t.
I didn’t really like the first book but was hoping the second would be good after the reveal but was instantly disappointed.
The only good things about these books so have been the endings. And if a book has to rely on the last pages to hook a reader then clearly it wasn’t well-built.
I will say I do like the way author sometimes describes things, usually using less conventional descriptions. I wish had an example but I fear going back into the epub will make me need to seek help.
The characters are so 2D they make squares look exciting. Kiva is unbelievably stupid and has all the complexity of an adult counting to 3. The whole point was for her to be torn between two sides. From the start she knew she didn’t want to
And Jaren. Who tf even is he? Like I’m sorry but why tf does he keep
Even a character as fiery as whatever her sister was called (I should remember considering I finished this book 2 mins ago) should have been well developed. And wasn’t.
And now that Kiva is out of prison you have a whole new world that the author could have built. And didn’t.
I didn’t really like the first book but was hoping the second would be good after the reveal but was instantly disappointed.
The only good things about these books so have been the endings. And if a book has to rely on the last pages to hook a reader then clearly it wasn’t well-built.
I will say I do like the way author sometimes describes things, usually using less conventional descriptions. I wish had an example but I fear going back into the epub will make me need to seek help.