Book Details
Title: To Cage a God
Author: Elizabeth May
Publisher: DAW Books
Publication Date: February 20, 2024
Genre(s): Adult, LGBT, Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 384
Bookshop Purchase Link: https://bookshop.org/a/67041/9780756418816
Title: To Cage a God
Author: Elizabeth May
Publisher: DAW Books
Publication Date: February 20, 2024
Genre(s): Adult, LGBT, Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 384
Bookshop Purchase Link: https://bookshop.org/a/67041/9780756418816
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Reading Details
Finish Date: December 2023
Format: Physical
Representation: Sapphic, Person w/ degenerative illness
Trigger/Content Warnings: Violence, death, blood, burning, ableism, abuse
Finish Date: December 2023
Format: Physical
Representation: Sapphic, Person w/ degenerative illness
Trigger/Content Warnings: Violence, death, blood, burning, ableism, abuse
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Rating: 5
Favorite Quote/Scene:
"I've decided you're always welcome in my bedchamber.Anytime, day or night."
Review:
I am very thankful to DAW Books for sending me an advance copy of this book to read and review. My opinions are my own and have not been influenced by this. I’ve not read a book by Elizabeth May before, so I had a little bit of hesitance going into this book. Fantasy can be hit-or-miss with me, especially when I don’t know the author’s writing style. But the plot sounded really interesting so I was more than happy to give it a shot. I am very happy that I did.
This book was brimming with everything that I love. There was romance and amazing world-building. The characters have various motivations and problems and their actions are consistent with what they believe. There are dragons and villains with complex backstories. The story was brimming with action and chaos in the best sort of way. There was even a hint of a “fated mates” sort of romance.
The characters in this book are probably the strongest part of May’s writing. Each character has a very distinctive personality and at times that personality clashes with some of the other characters. They mainly act in accordance with their beliefs unless given good reason not to. The bond between Sera and Galina is beautifully written. The two sisters have struggled through life together for years and that has built an almost unshakeable bond between them. They would raze the world to the ground if it meant protecting each other.
The side characters are also very…interesting. I can’t say they are all likeable because I have a strained relationship with Vitaly, but they are all definitely interesting. I absolutely adore Katya and I find Vitaly to be compelling because of his thought processes. But Princess Vasilisa is probably my favorite! She suffers from a degenerative illness due to being bonded with her dragon and her mother isn’t willing to help her. Vasilisa has a lot of complex thoughts and feelings regarding her illness that I don’t think I can succinctly explain, so I’m trying not to make blanket statements. But I love that Vasilisa tries to help. She has her plants and she will do what she can.
The romance in this book isn’t necessarily the main focus. Both Sera and Galina have romantic interests who fit their personalities. I wish the romance had been a bit more thoroughly fleshed out, but that’s mainly due to my own love of Galina’s romance. The romance we did get was good though. The characters were given time to bond (or re-bond, in Sera’s case) and get to know each other.
One of the more interesting parts of this book to me were the POV chapters. The book is written in third person POV, but the chapters are labeled to let you know who the main character you are following during that chapter is. I quite like when that’s part of a book. It just works very well for me, especially because Elizabeth May didn’t just focus on the main two characters but three of the side characters as well. It allowed additional depth to May’s worldbuilding and character development without feeling like a cop-out. No one was given a chapter just because they needed additional development, all of the chapters added to the story.
I really enjoyed the world-building in this book, especially when it involved learning more about the history of some of the side characters. May creates a sprawling country that is both beautiful and harsh. The opulence of the Empress’s castle is set against memories of children scrounging for food on the street. The author doesn’t necessarily take a deep dive into the history of the world, but there’s little snippets of information given at times. Political discussions, memories from the characters, information they’ve learned throughout their life. It isn’t a world where you need to know everything that happened in its past, but you’re given the information that allows the current circumstances to make sense.
I had only one minor issue with this book and that was the languages. I really enjoyed the random snippets of Zverti and I loved that it was done it italics. I just wish there had been more of an indicator when regular dialogue also had the characters speaking in Zverti too. It’s a minor issue, but I was never positive of when they would switch to and from Zverti.
This book was teeming with amazing characters and beautiful world-building. The world Elizabeth May created was one that I would love to see in a movie. I wouldn’t want to live there, but I think it would be gorgeous to see it illustrated and put to screen. The characters shone in this book. Elizabeth May gave them personalities and beliefs that befitted the trauma that they had experienced throughout their life. The characters have distinctive voices and the actions they take match their belief systems really well. I thought that this book was stunningly well-written. It had me on edge several times and I constantly found myself reading just one more chapter to determine what was going to happen. I am already very excited for the next book (according to the blurb this is the first in a new duology) and I cannot wait to get more information about the sequel!
Favorite Quote/Scene:
"I've decided you're always welcome in my bedchamber.Anytime, day or night."
Review:
I am very thankful to DAW Books for sending me an advance copy of this book to read and review. My opinions are my own and have not been influenced by this. I’ve not read a book by Elizabeth May before, so I had a little bit of hesitance going into this book. Fantasy can be hit-or-miss with me, especially when I don’t know the author’s writing style. But the plot sounded really interesting so I was more than happy to give it a shot. I am very happy that I did.
This book was brimming with everything that I love. There was romance and amazing world-building. The characters have various motivations and problems and their actions are consistent with what they believe. There are dragons and villains with complex backstories. The story was brimming with action and chaos in the best sort of way. There was even a hint of a “fated mates” sort of romance.
The characters in this book are probably the strongest part of May’s writing. Each character has a very distinctive personality and at times that personality clashes with some of the other characters. They mainly act in accordance with their beliefs unless given good reason not to. The bond between Sera and Galina is beautifully written. The two sisters have struggled through life together for years and that has built an almost unshakeable bond between them. They would raze the world to the ground if it meant protecting each other.
The side characters are also very…interesting. I can’t say they are all likeable because I have a strained relationship with Vitaly, but they are all definitely interesting. I absolutely adore Katya and I find Vitaly to be compelling because of his thought processes. But Princess Vasilisa is probably my favorite! She suffers from a degenerative illness due to being bonded with her dragon and her mother isn’t willing to help her. Vasilisa has a lot of complex thoughts and feelings regarding her illness that I don’t think I can succinctly explain, so I’m trying not to make blanket statements. But I love that Vasilisa tries to help. She has her plants and she will do what she can.
The romance in this book isn’t necessarily the main focus. Both Sera and Galina have romantic interests who fit their personalities. I wish the romance had been a bit more thoroughly fleshed out, but that’s mainly due to my own love of Galina’s romance. The romance we did get was good though. The characters were given time to bond (or re-bond, in Sera’s case) and get to know each other.
One of the more interesting parts of this book to me were the POV chapters. The book is written in third person POV, but the chapters are labeled to let you know who the main character you are following during that chapter is. I quite like when that’s part of a book. It just works very well for me, especially because Elizabeth May didn’t just focus on the main two characters but three of the side characters as well. It allowed additional depth to May’s worldbuilding and character development without feeling like a cop-out. No one was given a chapter just because they needed additional development, all of the chapters added to the story.
I really enjoyed the world-building in this book, especially when it involved learning more about the history of some of the side characters. May creates a sprawling country that is both beautiful and harsh. The opulence of the Empress’s castle is set against memories of children scrounging for food on the street. The author doesn’t necessarily take a deep dive into the history of the world, but there’s little snippets of information given at times. Political discussions, memories from the characters, information they’ve learned throughout their life. It isn’t a world where you need to know everything that happened in its past, but you’re given the information that allows the current circumstances to make sense.
I had only one minor issue with this book and that was the languages. I really enjoyed the random snippets of Zverti and I loved that it was done it italics. I just wish there had been more of an indicator when regular dialogue also had the characters speaking in Zverti too. It’s a minor issue, but I was never positive of when they would switch to and from Zverti.
This book was teeming with amazing characters and beautiful world-building. The world Elizabeth May created was one that I would love to see in a movie. I wouldn’t want to live there, but I think it would be gorgeous to see it illustrated and put to screen. The characters shone in this book. Elizabeth May gave them personalities and beliefs that befitted the trauma that they had experienced throughout their life. The characters have distinctive voices and the actions they take match their belief systems really well. I thought that this book was stunningly well-written. It had me on edge several times and I constantly found myself reading just one more chapter to determine what was going to happen. I am already very excited for the next book (according to the blurb this is the first in a new duology) and I cannot wait to get more information about the sequel!
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