But I owe a post. Again. Ugh. I keep MEANING to write, but somehow the days fly by without my actually doing it. Still, I am overdue, so here’s a short bit of blurb-ness to keep my fingers in… (I have a handful of *real* reviews due, and promise they’ll be here soon, but I don’t know exactly what the parameters of this particular “soon” will look like… Still, I’m on it, I promise. Eventually. When life cooperates.)
Gilded Cage by Vic James
Oh, I liked this one… Dystopian future, with strong family elements and a really cool (and freaky) paranormal/extra-natural element I found intriguing and horrifying at the same time. There’s some first-class storytelling going on here, with more than a dash of morality tale for good measure. There are two segments of society – one has Skill (i.e., supernatural powers that range from the silly to the nigh-on omnipotent) and the other has ten years of slavery to that Skill… How individuals and families manage this ten years varies wildly – almost as wildly as the Skilled themselves. This first installment describes the intersection of two families, the Skilled Jardines and the unSkilled Hadleys. and the world will never be the same after their lives become entwined…
How’s THAT for a set-up – good, right? So’s the book. The story is quite as sharp and alluring as my hyperbole suggests. There’s some spot-on family and coming-of-age drama, and some glorious insights into the human condition that are presented in clear, crisp writing that enriches the underlying story while simultaneously making the reader occasionally pause, double-back, and reread until the full weight of the insights are realized. It’s a marvelous piece of storytelling… I’m delighted there will be more books.
AND, if the great storytelling wasn’t enough, when I Tweeted about my review, I got a response from the author herself, calling out a line from the review and thanking me! How’s THAT for cool?? ๐
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