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The Cage #1
The Cage
When Cora Mason wakes in a desert, she doesn’t know where she is or who put her there. As she explores, she finds an impossible mix of environments—tundra next to desert, farm next to jungle, and a strangely empty town cobbled together from different cultures, all watched over by eerie black windows. And she isn’t alone.
Four other teenagers have also been taken: a beautiful model, a tattooed smuggler, a secretive genius, and an army brat who seems to know too much about Cora’s past. None of them have a clue as to what happened, and all of them have secrets. As the unlikely group struggles for leadership, they slowly start to trust each other. But when their mysterious jailer appears—a handsome young guard called Cassian—they realize that their captivity is more terrifying than they could ever imagine: their captors aren’t from Earth. And they have taken the five teenagers for an otherworldly zoo—where the exhibits are humans.
Four other teenagers have also been taken: a beautiful model, a tattooed smuggler, a secretive genius, and an army brat who seems to know too much about Cora’s past. None of them have a clue as to what happened, and all of them have secrets. As the unlikely group struggles for leadership, they slowly start to trust each other. But when their mysterious jailer appears—a handsome young guard called Cassian—they realize that their captivity is more terrifying than they could ever imagine: their captors aren’t from Earth. And they have taken the five teenagers for an otherworldly zoo—where the exhibits are humans.
405 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 26, 2015
About the author
Megan Shepherd
24 books2,561 followersNew York Times bestselling author Megan Shepherd grew up in her family’s independent bookstore in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She is the author of several young adult and middle grade novels. She now lives and writes on a 125-year-old farm outside Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband, two cats, and an especially scruffy dog.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 991 reviews
May 29, 2015
(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss.)
“I also believe the infinity paradox is responsible for the headaches we’ve all been complaining about. Our minds can’t handle this much predictability.”
In short - Ugh. Just ugh.
This review will contain spoilers from here on… and it won't be pretty.
I didn’t like any of the characters in this book. Cora was irritating. She’s on an alien planet, in a ‘cage’ as she calls it, and she wants to escape. Well great! But where the heck do you think you’re going to go? Do you have a spaceship hidden in your knickers that we don’t know about? Know how to travel across space without one? Think the aliens might just leave you a map and some keys laying around or something? Come off it!
“Tomorrow,” Lucky said. “We’ll divide into teams, and start our escape.”
Then we had Nok, who took rule 3 – about procreating – very much to heart, and decided that she’d sleep with all three of the boys in her enclosure. Did she really not think they would find out? Did she not care which one ended up as the father of her baby? Obviously not. And then she claimed to love one of the boys! Really? Then why are you shagging his friend behind his back?
“You said you loved me too.” He didn’t recognise the hard edge in his voice. “You lied.”
Then we had the third girl, who was dead before the end of chapter 3. Lucky her, she obviously knew this book was going to be bad. Wish she’d warned me.
“You ever done this before?” Cora asked.
“Pulled a dead body out of the ocean? Can’t say I have.”
Then there were the boys, and I can’t say I liked any of them either. Lucky though was possibly the worst. Not only had he previously let Cora got to a juvenile detention centre for a crime she didn’t commit, he accepted payment to do it, let his mother’s killer walk free, and was then surprised that Cora was shocked by this news! I mean I’m sorry, but when you tell a girl that you’re the reason she went to Juvie, she’s not going to want to sleep with you anymore. Oh, and not believing a word she ways won’t get you far either.
“So I not only have to sleep with a guy I barely know, but he also happens to be the one who sent me to juvenile detention.”
So, the storyline. The bore-me-to-death storyline. Where to start?
• Cora sees a comic with a date which is two years in the future from when she was last on Earth. Oh no! 2 years have passed! Er, did you consider that maybe the aliens think the date is slightly different to what is accepted on Earth? Just a thought!
“Had they been gone from Earth for 2 years?”
• These aliens want them to complete puzzles and they are given tokens for it. What was the point of this? I think they used the tokens to buy stuff, but even so, I didn’t really see the point.
“Ten tokens?” He blinked too fast. “That doesn’t make sense. If anything, the game I solved was harder, but I only got one.”
• These kids are told that Earth is gone, and I can understand them wanting to see it with their own eyes, but even so, they’re going nowhere!
“Earth is gone.”
• There was a maze. Not kidding. Darn Mazerunner all over again.
“I think it’s a maze,” Lucky said.
“It can’t be a maze.”
• They cured her asthma. Ugh. Really? Because it’s that simple? I don’t believe it.
“I think whoever put us here cured my asthma.”
• We get talk of ghosts. We get some human remains. I am still bored.
“Yasmine’s ghost was here. He could feel her eyes.”
Anyway, I’m sick of thinking about this book, and I don’t care that it ended on a freaking cliff-hanger. I have so had enough of this dross.
4 out of 10
“I also believe the infinity paradox is responsible for the headaches we’ve all been complaining about. Our minds can’t handle this much predictability.”
In short - Ugh. Just ugh.
This review will contain spoilers from here on… and it won't be pretty.
I didn’t like any of the characters in this book. Cora was irritating. She’s on an alien planet, in a ‘cage’ as she calls it, and she wants to escape. Well great! But where the heck do you think you’re going to go? Do you have a spaceship hidden in your knickers that we don’t know about? Know how to travel across space without one? Think the aliens might just leave you a map and some keys laying around or something? Come off it!
“Tomorrow,” Lucky said. “We’ll divide into teams, and start our escape.”
Then we had Nok, who took rule 3 – about procreating – very much to heart, and decided that she’d sleep with all three of the boys in her enclosure. Did she really not think they would find out? Did she not care which one ended up as the father of her baby? Obviously not. And then she claimed to love one of the boys! Really? Then why are you shagging his friend behind his back?
“You said you loved me too.” He didn’t recognise the hard edge in his voice. “You lied.”
Then we had the third girl, who was dead before the end of chapter 3. Lucky her, she obviously knew this book was going to be bad. Wish she’d warned me.
“You ever done this before?” Cora asked.
“Pulled a dead body out of the ocean? Can’t say I have.”
Then there were the boys, and I can’t say I liked any of them either. Lucky though was possibly the worst. Not only had he previously let Cora got to a juvenile detention centre for a crime she didn’t commit, he accepted payment to do it, let his mother’s killer walk free, and was then surprised that Cora was shocked by this news! I mean I’m sorry, but when you tell a girl that you’re the reason she went to Juvie, she’s not going to want to sleep with you anymore. Oh, and not believing a word she ways won’t get you far either.
“So I not only have to sleep with a guy I barely know, but he also happens to be the one who sent me to juvenile detention.”
So, the storyline. The bore-me-to-death storyline. Where to start?
• Cora sees a comic with a date which is two years in the future from when she was last on Earth. Oh no! 2 years have passed! Er, did you consider that maybe the aliens think the date is slightly different to what is accepted on Earth? Just a thought!
“Had they been gone from Earth for 2 years?”
• These aliens want them to complete puzzles and they are given tokens for it. What was the point of this? I think they used the tokens to buy stuff, but even so, I didn’t really see the point.
“Ten tokens?” He blinked too fast. “That doesn’t make sense. If anything, the game I solved was harder, but I only got one.”
• These kids are told that Earth is gone, and I can understand them wanting to see it with their own eyes, but even so, they’re going nowhere!
“Earth is gone.”
• There was a maze. Not kidding. Darn Mazerunner all over again.
“I think it’s a maze,” Lucky said.
“It can’t be a maze.”
• They cured her asthma. Ugh. Really? Because it’s that simple? I don’t believe it.
“I think whoever put us here cured my asthma.”
• We get talk of ghosts. We get some human remains. I am still bored.
“Yasmine’s ghost was here. He could feel her eyes.”
Anyway, I’m sick of thinking about this book, and I don’t care that it ended on a freaking cliff-hanger. I have so had enough of this dross.
4 out of 10
April 3, 2020
I am truly surprised at how much I liked this book.
I had read so many negative reviews about it, that I started reading it thinking I wasn't going to like it, that it was going to be a waste of time; I couldn't have imagined how wrong I was.
Despite some shortcomings, this story is quite captivating and entertaining.
I loved how in the beginning, everything indicated , how expected that was and how a well made twist, an unexpecteded and very welcome one, changed that.
Romance is a very important part for me in a book. If a book doesn't have enough, if it is not fulfilling or is too cliche, I usually quickly loose interest on the story and consequently I don't continue with the series. With The Cage, I enjoyed the romance a lot and yet I loved that I was just as into the plot as I was into the romance. It's been a long time since a young-adult fantasy book made me appreciate and really enjoy its romance, and I can say the same about it's story.
I am glad I gave this book a chance, even if I only did it because I didn't know what to read, and I was felling warm and lazy on the grass beside the swimming pool.
I do recommend this book to young-fantasy readers.
I am excited to continue this series.
The Hunt (The Cage #2)
The Gauntlet (The Cage #3)
I had read so many negative reviews about it, that I started reading it thinking I wasn't going to like it, that it was going to be a waste of time; I couldn't have imagined how wrong I was.
Despite some shortcomings, this story is quite captivating and entertaining.
I loved how in the beginning, everything indicated , how expected that was and how a well made twist, an unexpecteded and very welcome one, changed that.
Romance is a very important part for me in a book. If a book doesn't have enough, if it is not fulfilling or is too cliche, I usually quickly loose interest on the story and consequently I don't continue with the series. With The Cage, I enjoyed the romance a lot and yet I loved that I was just as into the plot as I was into the romance. It's been a long time since a young-adult fantasy book made me appreciate and really enjoy its romance, and I can say the same about it's story.
I am glad I gave this book a chance, even if I only did it because I didn't know what to read, and I was felling warm and lazy on the grass beside the swimming pool.
I do recommend this book to young-fantasy readers.
I am excited to continue this series.
The Hunt (The Cage #2)
The Gauntlet (The Cage #3)
February 4, 2015
Everything considered, this is not a bad book at all - the writing is good and flows well, the world building is excellent, and the characters well developed - but I was kind of meh about a large portion of it.
My biggest complaint is how a big part or the book is spent bickering and pointlessly planning an escape. I mean, how do they expect to get back home? They're in some alien world for gods sake and Cora's plan is to make a run for it and hope for the best? It's like she never even takes this into question until way later when she makes up some half-ass plan that seems to be all about blind luck and a whole lot of guessing. I'm all for not giving up, for fighting despite the odds - and I applaud her take-no-crap attitude, I really do - but this directionless plan made the whole escape plot feel frivolous. She should have focused first on getting a decent understanding of where she even was before she thought of how to get home, and while this actually does happen a time or two spontaneously, she puts all her energy on making flimsy weapons (to beat aliens that have the strength of beasts!) and looking for the cage door that seems to be hidden even beyond human ability, with no idea of what would come next. Like, then what? Long story short, I feel like the book spent too much time wandering instead of progressing its real plot.
Another, more minor complaint is with the romance. We've got an alien-human love triangle that just weirded me out. He watched her for years, for one, and I know he's an alien race so age comparison is weird, but his attraction to her gave me the heebie jeebies. I just could not root for that unless it was to try and manipulate herself into getting information or escaping, which I don't think it was. She clearly felt attracted to him (it.. whatever).
Aside from those complaints, however, the novel is a good one. Despite the slow-ish pace for the first part, it kept my interest and left me intrigued enough that I didn't want to put it down. The world building and sci-fi aspects were extremely well done and very interesting. I just wish we'd gotten more answers about earth, and seen more of "space life" (however you want to call it..). The species, the societies, their economy; they're just as disturbing as they are fascinating, but as trilogies are as of late, much of the world building is saved for the second book. The character building is another aspect to praise, especially considering the 3rd person tense that I often have difficulty with. Though focusing on Cora more than any other, the story is told with alternative point-of-views from the cage's 6 residents. Through each perspective, we learn who they really are and the lives they left behind, which was a great way to understand how they were coping with what was happening, some with more difficulty than others. Moreover, it showed us how this captivity and the cage's manipulations were changing them - which was not for the better!
The pacing may be unhurried at first, but the plot and its secrets are unraveled in a way that glues you to its pages - the more you learn, the more engrossed you get. The Cage is not without its flaws, but it's a decent start to what could be a thrilling series!
--
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.
For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads
My biggest complaint is how a big part or the book is spent bickering and pointlessly planning an escape. I mean, how do they expect to get back home? They're in some alien world for gods sake and Cora's plan is to make a run for it and hope for the best? It's like she never even takes this into question until way later when she makes up some half-ass plan that seems to be all about blind luck and a whole lot of guessing. I'm all for not giving up, for fighting despite the odds - and I applaud her take-no-crap attitude, I really do - but this directionless plan made the whole escape plot feel frivolous. She should have focused first on getting a decent understanding of where she even was before she thought of how to get home, and while this actually does happen a time or two spontaneously, she puts all her energy on making flimsy weapons (to beat aliens that have the strength of beasts!) and looking for the cage door that seems to be hidden even beyond human ability, with no idea of what would come next. Like, then what? Long story short, I feel like the book spent too much time wandering instead of progressing its real plot.
Another, more minor complaint is with the romance. We've got an alien-human love triangle that just weirded me out. He watched her for years, for one, and I know he's an alien race so age comparison is weird, but his attraction to her gave me the heebie jeebies. I just could not root for that unless it was to try and manipulate herself into getting information or escaping, which I don't think it was. She clearly felt attracted to him (it.. whatever).
Aside from those complaints, however, the novel is a good one. Despite the slow-ish pace for the first part, it kept my interest and left me intrigued enough that I didn't want to put it down. The world building and sci-fi aspects were extremely well done and very interesting. I just wish we'd gotten more answers about earth, and seen more of "space life" (however you want to call it..). The species, the societies, their economy; they're just as disturbing as they are fascinating, but as trilogies are as of late, much of the world building is saved for the second book. The character building is another aspect to praise, especially considering the 3rd person tense that I often have difficulty with. Though focusing on Cora more than any other, the story is told with alternative point-of-views from the cage's 6 residents. Through each perspective, we learn who they really are and the lives they left behind, which was a great way to understand how they were coping with what was happening, some with more difficulty than others. Moreover, it showed us how this captivity and the cage's manipulations were changing them - which was not for the better!
The pacing may be unhurried at first, but the plot and its secrets are unraveled in a way that glues you to its pages - the more you learn, the more engrossed you get. The Cage is not without its flaws, but it's a decent start to what could be a thrilling series!
--
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.
For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads
April 8, 2015
Gah, I'm not sure what to think about this book. One one hand, I feel like it's definitely unique and refreshing, partaking on a sci-fi idea and molding it into something new. On the other hand, it had a lot of things that made me raise my eyebrow, want to bang my head on a wall, and gouge my eyes out.
Let's get one thing straight, though: the writing is mad awesome. It's been a while since I've read such beautiful writing that reads like a sweet harmony, as if reading it is like listening to angelic music. I have heard of the author's writing prowess in reviews of her previous series The Madman's Daughter, but now I am a firm believer. The narration and how the words were connected and weaved to tell a story were enough to glue me to the pages, enough to make me suspend my disbelief about a group of teens being chosen by super intelligent extraterrestrial aliens to procreate in a controlled, alien-made, human-like "habitat" in the middle of literal space-nowhere.
A.K.A. Zoo.
An alien zoo. In space. For humans.
I know, I know; you're probably thinking, "Holy crapadoodle, that is kind of stretching it!" AND I WAS LIKE THAT AT FIRST, but after reading along and getting a taste of Shepherd's writing and how effectively she set up the atmosphere and the setting, it became really interesting and refreshing to the point that I kept reading just to find out what our band of unfortunate special teenagers will do to get out of their bizarre situation. The way the "habitat" was described - how it was a mash-up of different cultures and landscapes, how every direction always led back to the starting point, how their meals were a mix of different things (tuna with chocolate sauce? That's not even the least bit exciting!). It was just downright creepy. And the fact that you have aliens with dark, black eyes and metallic bronze skin looking at you at well concealed viewing panels? CREEPIER.
So, yes, big props to the writing and the atmosphere and how it made me want to check my windows in case there are aliens hiding behind that tree. I don't want to be abducted. NOT WHEN THERE ARE STILL SO MANY BOOKS TO READ.
Unfortunately, there were some things that made me raise an eyebrow. Let's talk about the romance. Heck, let's talk about that absolutely jarring love triangle: Cora, Lucky, and that mysterious alien who has admitted to watching her for a long time, Cassian. While I don't always find love triangles painful, this one was simply so... bizarre. First of all, it creeped me out that Cora kept saying Cassian had the most beautiful face she has ever seen (like an angel) despite the fact that 1.) he is an alien; 2.) he and his kind abducted her from her home planet and put her in an enclosure where they study every pixel of her; 3.) THEY FUCKING ABDUCTED HER; and 4.) HE IS A MOTHERFUCKING GODDAMN ALIEN, CORA. AN ALIEN WHO TREAT Y'ALL LIKE YOU'RE A BUNCHA EXPERIMENTS TO BE PRODDED AND EXAMINED.
I mean, the fact that she just kept saying how he was so beautiful pissed me off. I've generally had enough of love interests/potential love interests being beautiful. For me, it's not swoony at all. It's not romantic. And it makes me more spooked out than anything else, because what are the chances of me finding an incredibly hot and beautiful alien (who keeps looking at the MC's lips and can apparently speak bloody English AND GASP LOOKS LIKE A HUMAN WHAT ARE THE CHANCES EH) or even just a beautiful man and falling in love with each other? Answer: zero to none.
Unless I'm a YA heroine, apparently.
I also had an issue with some characterization that happened among the captives. While I applaud the diversity of the cast and the variety of their backgrounds, it really bothered me that their attitudes and personalities took a 180 degree somewhere in the middle of the book with very little transition. It's like they became from hero to psycho in a blink of an eye. I did like how their surroundings were changing them for the worse, but I wasn't a fan of how it was done. Some twists are revealed - shocking twists at that - and they easily accept it without any question or resistant or disbelief (at least not explicity shown). I mean, if I were told that all of a sudden that books were suddenly banned and all libraries were burnt down, I wouldn't simply go, "Oh, okay. Well, that's life. Whoopdeedoo." I would be FREAKING. THE. FRACK. OUT.
I think the best aspect about this book was its philosophical aspect and how it encouraged deep and thought-provoking discussion and discernment. The things that happen to our characters push and encourage us to think about our place in the world and what we do to our surroundings and to what we deem as "lesser species". We have animals locked up and bred in zoos and in captivity, and we often use animals as test subjects for medicine and other fields of scientific study, thinking it's for their good and for the betterment of everyone, but what happens when it's us in their shoes? What if someone does the same to us and uses the same reasons for doing so? What would we think of our captors, then? What would we think of ourselves once we finally get a dose of our own medicine? It's really interesting, and I feel like this book will really make us question how we treat animals in captivity and if we are handling them right.
All in all, I feel mixed about this book. There are so many good points, but the bad points weigh heavy upon me, too, and they did affect my reading experience somehow. But know this: I will read the sequel(s). The writing is enough to keep me going (it's so bloody beautiful) and I am interesting in knowing what's next. I would really appreciate it, though, if all mentions of romance are toned down a bit, because if I see a male love interest described as "beautiful" one more time, I might figuratively lose my shit.
Let's get one thing straight, though: the writing is mad awesome. It's been a while since I've read such beautiful writing that reads like a sweet harmony, as if reading it is like listening to angelic music. I have heard of the author's writing prowess in reviews of her previous series The Madman's Daughter, but now I am a firm believer. The narration and how the words were connected and weaved to tell a story were enough to glue me to the pages, enough to make me suspend my disbelief about a group of teens being chosen by super intelligent extraterrestrial aliens to procreate in a controlled, alien-made, human-like "habitat" in the middle of literal space-nowhere.
A.K.A. Zoo.
An alien zoo. In space. For humans.
I know, I know; you're probably thinking, "Holy crapadoodle, that is kind of stretching it!" AND I WAS LIKE THAT AT FIRST, but after reading along and getting a taste of Shepherd's writing and how effectively she set up the atmosphere and the setting, it became really interesting and refreshing to the point that I kept reading just to find out what our band of unfortunate special teenagers will do to get out of their bizarre situation. The way the "habitat" was described - how it was a mash-up of different cultures and landscapes, how every direction always led back to the starting point, how their meals were a mix of different things (tuna with chocolate sauce? That's not even the least bit exciting!). It was just downright creepy. And the fact that you have aliens with dark, black eyes and metallic bronze skin looking at you at well concealed viewing panels? CREEPIER.
So, yes, big props to the writing and the atmosphere and how it made me want to check my windows in case there are aliens hiding behind that tree. I don't want to be abducted. NOT WHEN THERE ARE STILL SO MANY BOOKS TO READ.
Unfortunately, there were some things that made me raise an eyebrow. Let's talk about the romance. Heck, let's talk about that absolutely jarring love triangle: Cora, Lucky, and that mysterious alien who has admitted to watching her for a long time, Cassian. While I don't always find love triangles painful, this one was simply so... bizarre. First of all, it creeped me out that Cora kept saying Cassian had the most beautiful face she has ever seen (like an angel) despite the fact that 1.) he is an alien; 2.) he and his kind abducted her from her home planet and put her in an enclosure where they study every pixel of her; 3.) THEY FUCKING ABDUCTED HER; and 4.) HE IS A MOTHERFUCKING GODDAMN ALIEN, CORA. AN ALIEN WHO TREAT Y'ALL LIKE YOU'RE A BUNCHA EXPERIMENTS TO BE PRODDED AND EXAMINED.
I mean, the fact that she just kept saying how he was so beautiful pissed me off. I've generally had enough of love interests/potential love interests being beautiful. For me, it's not swoony at all. It's not romantic. And it makes me more spooked out than anything else, because what are the chances of me finding an incredibly hot and beautiful alien (who keeps looking at the MC's lips and can apparently speak bloody English AND GASP LOOKS LIKE A HUMAN WHAT ARE THE CHANCES EH) or even just a beautiful man and falling in love with each other? Answer: zero to none.
Unless I'm a YA heroine, apparently.
I also had an issue with some characterization that happened among the captives. While I applaud the diversity of the cast and the variety of their backgrounds, it really bothered me that their attitudes and personalities took a 180 degree somewhere in the middle of the book with very little transition. It's like they became from hero to psycho in a blink of an eye. I did like how their surroundings were changing them for the worse, but I wasn't a fan of how it was done. Some twists are revealed - shocking twists at that - and they easily accept it without any question or resistant or disbelief (at least not explicity shown). I mean, if I were told that all of a sudden that books were suddenly banned and all libraries were burnt down, I wouldn't simply go, "Oh, okay. Well, that's life. Whoopdeedoo." I would be FREAKING. THE. FRACK. OUT.
I think the best aspect about this book was its philosophical aspect and how it encouraged deep and thought-provoking discussion and discernment. The things that happen to our characters push and encourage us to think about our place in the world and what we do to our surroundings and to what we deem as "lesser species". We have animals locked up and bred in zoos and in captivity, and we often use animals as test subjects for medicine and other fields of scientific study, thinking it's for their good and for the betterment of everyone, but what happens when it's us in their shoes? What if someone does the same to us and uses the same reasons for doing so? What would we think of our captors, then? What would we think of ourselves once we finally get a dose of our own medicine? It's really interesting, and I feel like this book will really make us question how we treat animals in captivity and if we are handling them right.
All in all, I feel mixed about this book. There are so many good points, but the bad points weigh heavy upon me, too, and they did affect my reading experience somehow. But know this: I will read the sequel(s). The writing is enough to keep me going (it's so bloody beautiful) and I am interesting in knowing what's next. I would really appreciate it, though, if all mentions of romance are toned down a bit, because if I see a male love interest described as "beautiful" one more time, I might figuratively lose my shit.
May 3, 2018
Rating may lower upon more reflection.
If you asked me what kind of sci-fi I like, this book would fit my criteria perfectly on paper. I LOVE stories about aliens discovering human emotions for the first time and learning what it means to be human. This story does that. But for whatever reason it hit a flat note for me.
I did enjoy that this wasn't an invasion story, but rather focused on why aliens would be interested in humans. But there was a focus on breeding that felt distasteful to me. There were mature topics being handled in what came off as juvenile ways. I didn't get a good feel for the secondary characters. I also think that I would have enjoyed this more if it were a standalone and we got the ending. There were repetitive scenes that could easily have been left out. As the first in a series, it definitely felt like build up.
I didn't like how often 'blind' was used as an insult. Phrases like 'was she blind?' 'she blindly trusted him,' 'they blindly went along with it,' etc, were very frequent.
Audiobook review: The narrator juggled multiple accents (the 6 main characters were from different countries) and voices excellently. I think she is very talented and made the listening experience enjoyable.
If you asked me what kind of sci-fi I like, this book would fit my criteria perfectly on paper. I LOVE stories about aliens discovering human emotions for the first time and learning what it means to be human. This story does that. But for whatever reason it hit a flat note for me.
I did enjoy that this wasn't an invasion story, but rather focused on why aliens would be interested in humans. But there was a focus on breeding that felt distasteful to me. There were mature topics being handled in what came off as juvenile ways. I didn't get a good feel for the secondary characters. I also think that I would have enjoyed this more if it were a standalone and we got the ending. There were repetitive scenes that could easily have been left out. As the first in a series, it definitely felt like build up.
I didn't like how often 'blind' was used as an insult. Phrases like 'was she blind?' 'she blindly trusted him,' 'they blindly went along with it,' etc, were very frequent.
Audiobook review: The narrator juggled multiple accents (the 6 main characters were from different countries) and voices excellently. I think she is very talented and made the listening experience enjoyable.
February 12, 2015
A brilliant, exciting tale of what it's like to be human, even when all hope is lost. Shepherd perfectly contrasts freedom and entrapment, humanity and alien nature, loss and love.
May 25, 2017
Zugegeben, das Buch hat definitiv seine Schwächen und die Charaktere sind bis zum Schluss allesamt sehr unrealistisch und unsympathisch geblieben, aber die Geschichte hat mich echt gepackt und ich bin super gespannt, wie es weitergeht 😏
October 12, 2020
Actual rating: 2,5
Full review to come.
Full review to come.
May 8, 2015
***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***
The Cage by Megan Shepherd
Book One of The Cage series
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: May 26, 2015
Rating: 3 stars
Source: ARC sent by the publisher
Summary (from Goodreads):
The Maze Runner meets Scott Westerfeld in this gripping new series about teens held captive in a human zoo by an otherworldly race. From Megan Shepherd, the acclaimed author of The Madman's Daughter trilogy.
When Cora Mason wakes in a desert, she doesn't know where she is or who put her there. As she explores, she finds an impossible mix of environments—tundra next to desert, farm next to jungle, and a strangely empty town cobbled together from different cultures—all watched over by eerie black windows. And she isn't alone.
Four other teenagers have also been taken: a beautiful model, a tattooed smuggler, a secretive genius, and an army brat who seems to know too much about Cora's past. None of them have a clue as to what happened, and all of them have secrets. As the unlikely group struggles for leadership, they slowly start to trust each other. But when their mysterious jailer—a handsome young guard called Cassian—appears, they realize that their captivity is more terrifying than they could ever imagine: Their captors aren't from Earth. And they have taken the five teenagers for an otherworldly zoo—where the exhibits are humans.
As a forbidden attraction develops between Cora and Cassian, she realizes that her best chance of escape might be in the arms of her own jailer—though that would mean leaving the others behind. Can Cora manage to save herself and her companions? And if so . . . what world lies beyond the walls of their cage?
What I Liked:
As I'm writing this review, I'm struggling to decide if I liked this book or not. It should be easy, right? To figure out if you (overall) felt positively towards a book, or negatively. I have no idea. I feel like I liked the science fiction, but could not connect with some of the characters, so I'm stuck. I have no idea how this review is going to go, so bear with me!
Cora and five other humans have been taken from their homes and plopped in a mysterious and unknown place. All of them wake up separately and have no idea how they got here or where they are. As they slowly find each other, they realize that they are in some sort of artificial environment - a cage. And one of the six of them is dead, though the five don't know how. They find out that they are being held by an advanced species that is not human. The Caretaker, Cassian, tells them the rules - live happily in this establishment, cooperate, and... procreate, by the end of twenty-one days. Cora refuses to believe that this is their new home - can she find a way out, without the help of the others?
We get to read from the perspectives of all five of the teenagers - Rolf, Nok, Cora, Lucky, and Leon. The sixth person (and third girl) is dead, from the beginning of the story. Each perspective is told in third person, which I actually really like. Too much first person in YA these days. I didn't like any of the teens' perspectives, to be honest (which is the biggest problem I had), but I kept reading.
I was intrigued from the start. To be honest, I didn't realize that this book is science fiction! I thought it was a medical thriller or something. But the cage is run by aliens, an advanced species that somewhat looks like humans - though not really. They're huge, with no irises or pupils, and mind powers. Like a sort of mind reading, for one. More like emotional reading, but you get what I'm saying. Cassian - the Caretaker - can feel exactly what the humans are feeling at all times, as can the other Mosca (I think that's what they're called? If I remember correctly).
The aliens want the humans to live in this establishment, peacefully and cooperatively, and procreate. Each one of them has been paired off - Cora and Lucky, Nok and Rolf, Leon and the dead girl (she wasn't supposed to die). Nok and Rolf hit it off pretty quickly. Leon is aggressive and doesn't get along with the group. Lucky actually knew Cora from before... there is a really dark past between them, though Cora has no idea. Lucky falls for Cora quickly, but Cora refuses to believe that that is what they are expected to do. She likes Lucky, but she doesn't want to love him or have sex with him (me either, no matter how cute he is. The situation is WEIRD).
I don't think I liked Cora, or any of the humans, to be honest. Maybe Mali, the replacement for Girl 3. I don't know if I liked Cassian, though he was interesting. He was very static, not a developing character, and he seemed flat to me. But I see why Shepherd has him as a leader type AND a love interest. Meh.
The romance - there's a love triangle brewing. Lucky is in love with Cora, though Cora does not seem to really have feelings for him. She DOES have feelings for Cassian (and vice versa, but he's their Caretaker... she wants to be as far from this place as possible. So I'm not sure how the romance will go.
Overall, I think the science fiction and the STORY were good... ish. The characters and I didn't really agree. But I'm interested in seeing where this series is going. It's a trilogy, which I find strange - how in the world is Shepherd going to stretch out this one?
What I Did Not Like:
Like I've been saying, I didn't really connect with any of the characters. I didn't like Cora. I get it, you don't want to stay in this freakish establishment. But I feel like she wasn't always rational. But then, I also understand that, because I don't know how rational I would be under the circumstances. Still, there was something that I really didn't like about Cora.
I definitely didn't like Nok or Rolf from the beginning. Both of them are odd characters from the start, and they evolve into sleazy people. Jeez, I wanted to punch both of them. Leon, not so much. I felt bad for him, more than anything else.
I wish Cassian were more of a three-dimensional person to me. He seemed one-dimensional and flat, and I feel like he had the potential to be a quietly villainous hero. I love forbidden romance between the villain and the female protagonist - but I feel like Cassian was too flat of a "villain", and a character in general.
The story progression is weird. We get a lot of information dumping about Cora's past and Lucky's past throughout the book, and to be honest, I skipped most of that. It didn't feel necessary, and it probably wasn't. I'm not sure what it was doing for the story or for the character development, but it wasn't doing anything for me.
The fighting and bickering REALLY detracted from the story. There is a point, not even halfway through the book, when everyone starts getting mad at Cora for no reason, and the fighting and verbal fighting gets ridiculous. I'm sure it's authentic (or maybe not, who knows) but I didn't like it. It REALLY made me mad, and I felt a lot of resentment towards certain characters and irritation towards the story. This goes on for most of the book. Ugh!
The ending is strange. It's predictable, down to the last page, for me. I'm curious as to how Shepherd is going to make this series a trilogy - I feel like it would be a good duology. Also I have a tooooon of questions, so I hope those will be answered in the next book(s).
Would I Recommend It:
Eh. No. It's not the most impressive science fiction novel. You all saw how meh I was about Shepherd's debut trilogy, right? Three stars all around? I feel like this series might end up along the same vein. At least the love triangle doesn't seem as idiotic as the love triangle in The Madman's Daughter trilogy. That needed to be cut out from page one. This POTENTIAL love triangle at least makes more sense (though I still don't like the idea of it).
Rating:
2.5 stars -> I guess I'm rounding up to 3 stars? 2.5 stars is a perfect rating for this book, but Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble don't do half-star ratings. Ugh! 3 stars it is. What a struggle.
The Cage by Megan Shepherd
Book One of The Cage series
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: May 26, 2015
Rating: 3 stars
Source: ARC sent by the publisher
Summary (from Goodreads):
The Maze Runner meets Scott Westerfeld in this gripping new series about teens held captive in a human zoo by an otherworldly race. From Megan Shepherd, the acclaimed author of The Madman's Daughter trilogy.
When Cora Mason wakes in a desert, she doesn't know where she is or who put her there. As she explores, she finds an impossible mix of environments—tundra next to desert, farm next to jungle, and a strangely empty town cobbled together from different cultures—all watched over by eerie black windows. And she isn't alone.
Four other teenagers have also been taken: a beautiful model, a tattooed smuggler, a secretive genius, and an army brat who seems to know too much about Cora's past. None of them have a clue as to what happened, and all of them have secrets. As the unlikely group struggles for leadership, they slowly start to trust each other. But when their mysterious jailer—a handsome young guard called Cassian—appears, they realize that their captivity is more terrifying than they could ever imagine: Their captors aren't from Earth. And they have taken the five teenagers for an otherworldly zoo—where the exhibits are humans.
As a forbidden attraction develops between Cora and Cassian, she realizes that her best chance of escape might be in the arms of her own jailer—though that would mean leaving the others behind. Can Cora manage to save herself and her companions? And if so . . . what world lies beyond the walls of their cage?
What I Liked:
As I'm writing this review, I'm struggling to decide if I liked this book or not. It should be easy, right? To figure out if you (overall) felt positively towards a book, or negatively. I have no idea. I feel like I liked the science fiction, but could not connect with some of the characters, so I'm stuck. I have no idea how this review is going to go, so bear with me!
Cora and five other humans have been taken from their homes and plopped in a mysterious and unknown place. All of them wake up separately and have no idea how they got here or where they are. As they slowly find each other, they realize that they are in some sort of artificial environment - a cage. And one of the six of them is dead, though the five don't know how. They find out that they are being held by an advanced species that is not human. The Caretaker, Cassian, tells them the rules - live happily in this establishment, cooperate, and... procreate, by the end of twenty-one days. Cora refuses to believe that this is their new home - can she find a way out, without the help of the others?
We get to read from the perspectives of all five of the teenagers - Rolf, Nok, Cora, Lucky, and Leon. The sixth person (and third girl) is dead, from the beginning of the story. Each perspective is told in third person, which I actually really like. Too much first person in YA these days. I didn't like any of the teens' perspectives, to be honest (which is the biggest problem I had), but I kept reading.
I was intrigued from the start. To be honest, I didn't realize that this book is science fiction! I thought it was a medical thriller or something. But the cage is run by aliens, an advanced species that somewhat looks like humans - though not really. They're huge, with no irises or pupils, and mind powers. Like a sort of mind reading, for one. More like emotional reading, but you get what I'm saying. Cassian - the Caretaker - can feel exactly what the humans are feeling at all times, as can the other Mosca (I think that's what they're called? If I remember correctly).
The aliens want the humans to live in this establishment, peacefully and cooperatively, and procreate. Each one of them has been paired off - Cora and Lucky, Nok and Rolf, Leon and the dead girl (she wasn't supposed to die). Nok and Rolf hit it off pretty quickly. Leon is aggressive and doesn't get along with the group. Lucky actually knew Cora from before... there is a really dark past between them, though Cora has no idea. Lucky falls for Cora quickly, but Cora refuses to believe that that is what they are expected to do. She likes Lucky, but she doesn't want to love him or have sex with him (me either, no matter how cute he is. The situation is WEIRD).
I don't think I liked Cora, or any of the humans, to be honest. Maybe Mali, the replacement for Girl 3. I don't know if I liked Cassian, though he was interesting. He was very static, not a developing character, and he seemed flat to me. But I see why Shepherd has him as a leader type AND a love interest. Meh.
The romance - there's a love triangle brewing. Lucky is in love with Cora, though Cora does not seem to really have feelings for him. She DOES have feelings for Cassian (and vice versa, but he's their Caretaker... she wants to be as far from this place as possible. So I'm not sure how the romance will go.
Overall, I think the science fiction and the STORY were good... ish. The characters and I didn't really agree. But I'm interested in seeing where this series is going. It's a trilogy, which I find strange - how in the world is Shepherd going to stretch out this one?
What I Did Not Like:
Like I've been saying, I didn't really connect with any of the characters. I didn't like Cora. I get it, you don't want to stay in this freakish establishment. But I feel like she wasn't always rational. But then, I also understand that, because I don't know how rational I would be under the circumstances. Still, there was something that I really didn't like about Cora.
I definitely didn't like Nok or Rolf from the beginning. Both of them are odd characters from the start, and they evolve into sleazy people. Jeez, I wanted to punch both of them. Leon, not so much. I felt bad for him, more than anything else.
I wish Cassian were more of a three-dimensional person to me. He seemed one-dimensional and flat, and I feel like he had the potential to be a quietly villainous hero. I love forbidden romance between the villain and the female protagonist - but I feel like Cassian was too flat of a "villain", and a character in general.
The story progression is weird. We get a lot of information dumping about Cora's past and Lucky's past throughout the book, and to be honest, I skipped most of that. It didn't feel necessary, and it probably wasn't. I'm not sure what it was doing for the story or for the character development, but it wasn't doing anything for me.
The fighting and bickering REALLY detracted from the story. There is a point, not even halfway through the book, when everyone starts getting mad at Cora for no reason, and the fighting and verbal fighting gets ridiculous. I'm sure it's authentic (or maybe not, who knows) but I didn't like it. It REALLY made me mad, and I felt a lot of resentment towards certain characters and irritation towards the story. This goes on for most of the book. Ugh!
The ending is strange. It's predictable, down to the last page, for me. I'm curious as to how Shepherd is going to make this series a trilogy - I feel like it would be a good duology. Also I have a tooooon of questions, so I hope those will be answered in the next book(s).
Would I Recommend It:
Eh. No. It's not the most impressive science fiction novel. You all saw how meh I was about Shepherd's debut trilogy, right? Three stars all around? I feel like this series might end up along the same vein. At least the love triangle doesn't seem as idiotic as the love triangle in The Madman's Daughter trilogy. That needed to be cut out from page one. This POTENTIAL love triangle at least makes more sense (though I still don't like the idea of it).
Rating:
2.5 stars -> I guess I'm rounding up to 3 stars? 2.5 stars is a perfect rating for this book, but Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble don't do half-star ratings. Ugh! 3 stars it is. What a struggle.
Read
April 22, 2015Megan Shepherd can do no wrong.
April 22, 2015
I loved this one! It definitely made a 9-hour flight go by quickly.
March 31, 2021
THE CAGE is such a unique story. What would you do if you woke up in a fake reality with 5 strangers? Cora wakes up in the desert with no recollection of how she got there. She meets a boy there named Lucky and together they find 4 more strangers. One is dead. Together they find out that they are being watched everywhere they go. Soon they are introduced to their captors, a race called Kindred. There are three rules; solve the physical and mental puzzles (that are everywhere in their environment), maintain good health, and engage in procreation actives. They have 21 days before they get replaced. There is no escape. The Kindred have everything under control.
This story is told in each human’s point of view. In this story the main character is Cora, who comes from a privileged past, but who somehow ended up in Juvenile detention. Then there is Lucky, who knows Cora from earth, he might have something to do with how she got into trouble. There is another girl named Nok, whose physical attractiveness lead her into a life of sexual manipulation. Rof, the smart one. He was bullied a lot on earth and harbors a lot of resentment. Then Leon, whose strength and crappy family lead him into a life of crime. The Kindred have psychic abilities and their hope seemed to be that the group would learn them somehow. Mali, a human we meet later. She could be so much help to the group but she is such a weird girl that she keeps things to herself.
The story really asks the question of who you can trust when you are surrounded by strangers. I liked how everyone was a suspect in a way. Yes, it was frustrating to see the group sort of implode and turn on each other, but that is reality sometimes. People just do what they want and think how they want and you can’t control it. Even in a controlled environment.
I liked Cora. Honestly, I didn’t buy everything about her backstory, but I liked her. I think her determination to get out of there was genuine. I did want her and Lucky to just hash it out and follow the rules, but I understood why she couldn’t. Most of her idea for escape were ludicrous but I liked how the group agreed (at least at first) to try together to get out of there and go home. Lucky was probably my favorite character. He was my obvious pick for leader and I think if Cora would have just trusted him more they could have been happy. I felt bad for Nok, but I liked her and Rof together. Rof was an arrogant ass. I wish we would have seen more from Leon. He acted crazy, but I bet he really has things worked out. The alien species was a big mystery throughout the story. Cassius, a Kindred known as “the caretaker”, was hard to figure out. This thing between Cassius and Cora made me keep reading this story.
I was so intrigued by the setting and world building. It was very well done. I liked how the environment kept changing so that the group would adapt. Although it really sucked for them. The environment had a city, desert, snow, woods, jungle and ocean. So it pretty much mimicked earth, but not in a way that makes sense. This world had my full attention and stretched my imagination. In contrast, we get to see how the Kindred live and how they use humans for entertainment. I can’t really say enough about how much I enjoyed the world building in this story.
Admittedly, there were some flaws with this story. I didn’t like how Cora was so secretive from the group. She had some really dumb ideas about escape, even after they realized they weren’t even on earth anymore. Cassius liking Cora the most didn’t make any sense to me. Also, the Kindred could read their thoughts and intentions, so how did they get anything past them. That was a giant plot hole that I had a hard time swallowing. But, this world and the set up were so amazing that I just decided to turn my brain off and go with it.
I will definitely be reading the sequel to this book, the book ended in a place where reading the next book is an inevitable certainty. Now that everything is set up I think (hope) things will just get better and bigger. I give this book 4 stars for how I feel about it, but it is probably more of a 3 star read in reality. However, since this is MY review…
March 30, 2016
An Electronic Advanced Reader Copy was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss for review.
Cora wakes up in a desert, with no knowledge of who put her there. Thinking the impossible, she ventures out only to meet a boy her age. Both have no memories of how they got there. As they explore the area, certain things don't make any sense. How different parts are different seasons, how the town square is a mash-up of different cultures and how the other three people who are also locked up are also hiding secrets of their own.
I found Cora to be the most realistic viewpoint considering how accepting the other characters were of how they ended up being locked up in a cage. But what I didn't like was how she's always talking about how gorgeous Cassian is. And how attracted she is to him with no real control over how she felt. But maybe that's why she did fall for him? I just found their eyes to be creepy to be honest, having no pupils? EEPS. The other characters tended to annoy me, but their various viewpoints were very interesting. Megan Shepherd deals with a bit of their back-story and that was quite informative as well.
I found the concept quite interesting, and a little unique, having humans taken in as an experiment. Only for it to go wrong. The puzzles they had to solve in order to get prizes that they would otherwise receive at home was also a neat concept. What I didn't really fully understand were the various alien species. I wanted more about their world, and I wanted the teens to venture out and escape, but maybe that's for another book?
I liked the book and the writing, but the focus on romance was just okay for me. I'm still interested in reading the sequel just to see if any or all the characters will be going back home to earth.
An interesting take on the kidnapped-by-an-alien story-line, "The Cage" will have you thinking of all the twists and turns because you'll be guessing who the Warden really is.
RATING 3/5
QUOTES
"Beauty had a way of masking something darker."
"When you lose fairness, you lose what makes us human."
"Sometimes mistakes are worth making."
"Humans. We were so cruel to each other, and to our planet."
"A smile can hide so much. A smile can hide a lie."
"It's a man's world. Controlling men is the only way to survive."
"Love wasn't just a combination of matching physical and personal criteria. It was something you couldn't put into words, just a certainty, a twist of fate, a spark."
Cora wakes up in a desert, with no knowledge of who put her there. Thinking the impossible, she ventures out only to meet a boy her age. Both have no memories of how they got there. As they explore the area, certain things don't make any sense. How different parts are different seasons, how the town square is a mash-up of different cultures and how the other three people who are also locked up are also hiding secrets of their own.
I found Cora to be the most realistic viewpoint considering how accepting the other characters were of how they ended up being locked up in a cage. But what I didn't like was how she's always talking about how gorgeous Cassian is. And how attracted she is to him with no real control over how she felt. But maybe that's why she did fall for him? I just found their eyes to be creepy to be honest, having no pupils? EEPS. The other characters tended to annoy me, but their various viewpoints were very interesting. Megan Shepherd deals with a bit of their back-story and that was quite informative as well.
I found the concept quite interesting, and a little unique, having humans taken in as an experiment. Only for it to go wrong. The puzzles they had to solve in order to get prizes that they would otherwise receive at home was also a neat concept. What I didn't really fully understand were the various alien species. I wanted more about their world, and I wanted the teens to venture out and escape, but maybe that's for another book?
I liked the book and the writing, but the focus on romance was just okay for me. I'm still interested in reading the sequel just to see if any or all the characters will be going back home to earth.
An interesting take on the kidnapped-by-an-alien story-line, "The Cage" will have you thinking of all the twists and turns because you'll be guessing who the Warden really is.
RATING 3/5
QUOTES
"Beauty had a way of masking something darker."
"When you lose fairness, you lose what makes us human."
"Sometimes mistakes are worth making."
"Humans. We were so cruel to each other, and to our planet."
"A smile can hide so much. A smile can hide a lie."
"It's a man's world. Controlling men is the only way to survive."
"Love wasn't just a combination of matching physical and personal criteria. It was something you couldn't put into words, just a certainty, a twist of fate, a spark."
May 31, 2015
Rating - 3.5
Take a seat children, I have a story to tell.
I am going to try and do my review in a different format this time. Might be a little easier for me.
So I picked this book up a couple days before the release, I do believe my local bookstore was getting sick of me. I was honestly stocking the store for when they got their deliveries and asking if they had it in yet. The Cage was one of my highly anticipated books of 2015.
The Good
- Cassian or "The Caretaker" I loved him throughout this whole book. His character was awesome.
- The setting/cage was so interesting, how all those different areas all mixed in together and how they melded and bent to cause everyone to always end up where they started.
- the idea of the book was unique and interesting
- the writing was beautiful, I flew through this book.
- ah the romance that built between Cora and Cassian. So much swooning.
- THAT TWIST, THAT GASP-TACULAR TWIST
Now the dreaded bad parts
- Everyone who had a POV in the book. Seriously, what the crap was Megan thinking with these characters. We have one very jealous, abusive type, one who sleeps with everyone and CORA OMG COULD YOU EVER LET CASSIAN SAY ANYTHING. I was so sick of the way that Cora would just CUT Cassian off every time he wanted to tell her the truth or anything. I wanted to slap her and be like CORA STFU AND LET THE MAN/ALIEN SPEAK DAMNIT!!!
- The escape plan or lack thereof. What was she going to do when she found the fail safe, really stupid Cora.
- Rolf and Nok, ridiculous. that is all
- REPRODUCE, if you have read this you know the ending WTF DID REPRODUCING HAVE TO DO WITH IT?!
- the puzzles and tokens, again what was the point?
- was the tundra not cold? A tiny summer dress and bare feet and not dying of hypothermia?
- WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG TO KISS?! Ok that is just something that made me upset haha
Overall I enjoyed the book, I did. I will be continuing on and I will probably be counting down the days too. I devoured this book and even with some tiny hiccups I couldn't stop reading it to figure out what was happening. I love Cassian.. need more Cassian. Can we have a book with Raffe from Angel Fall and Cassian.. Omg can I be in this book. *swoon*
Take a seat children, I have a story to tell.
I am going to try and do my review in a different format this time. Might be a little easier for me.
So I picked this book up a couple days before the release, I do believe my local bookstore was getting sick of me. I was honestly stocking the store for when they got their deliveries and asking if they had it in yet. The Cage was one of my highly anticipated books of 2015.
The Good
- Cassian or "The Caretaker" I loved him throughout this whole book. His character was awesome.
- The setting/cage was so interesting, how all those different areas all mixed in together and how they melded and bent to cause everyone to always end up where they started.
- the idea of the book was unique and interesting
- the writing was beautiful, I flew through this book.
- ah the romance that built between Cora and Cassian. So much swooning.
- THAT TWIST, THAT GASP-TACULAR TWIST
Now the dreaded bad parts
- Everyone who had a POV in the book. Seriously, what the crap was Megan thinking with these characters. We have one very jealous, abusive type, one who sleeps with everyone and CORA OMG COULD YOU EVER LET CASSIAN SAY ANYTHING. I was so sick of the way that Cora would just CUT Cassian off every time he wanted to tell her the truth or anything. I wanted to slap her and be like CORA STFU AND LET THE MAN/ALIEN SPEAK DAMNIT!!!
- The escape plan or lack thereof. What was she going to do when she found the fail safe, really stupid Cora.
- Rolf and Nok, ridiculous. that is all
- REPRODUCE, if you have read this you know the ending WTF DID REPRODUCING HAVE TO DO WITH IT?!
- the puzzles and tokens, again what was the point?
- was the tundra not cold? A tiny summer dress and bare feet and not dying of hypothermia?
- WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG TO KISS?! Ok that is just something that made me upset haha
Overall I enjoyed the book, I did. I will be continuing on and I will probably be counting down the days too. I devoured this book and even with some tiny hiccups I couldn't stop reading it to figure out what was happening. I love Cassian.. need more Cassian. Can we have a book with Raffe from Angel Fall and Cassian.. Omg can I be in this book. *swoon*
January 8, 2015
4.5 Stars
FREAKING FANTASTIC!!!
Things I loved:
* It was so interesting and different.
* ALIENS!
* There was a sort-of love triangle that I actually really liked.
* I could not put this sucker down. I was GLUUUUED to those pages. Until like 4am. Yikes.
* The ending had me CLAWING for more. But it was still a satisfying ending (not open-ended or annoyingly cliffhangery).
Things I didn't like:
* I didn't like Rolf's character development. I loved him at first but HATED him at the end.
* Sometimes Cora could do annoying/stupid things.
* I got annoyed how no one questioned one of the MASSIVE reveals ().
FREAKING FANTASTIC!!!
Things I loved:
* It was so interesting and different.
* ALIENS!
* There was a sort-of love triangle that I actually really liked.
* I could not put this sucker down. I was GLUUUUED to those pages. Until like 4am. Yikes.
* The ending had me CLAWING for more. But it was still a satisfying ending (not open-ended or annoyingly cliffhangery).
Things I didn't like:
* I didn't like Rolf's character development. I loved him at first but HATED him at the end.
* Sometimes Cora could do annoying/stupid things.
* I got annoyed how no one questioned one of the MASSIVE reveals ().
January 30, 2016
Today is the day of celebration. I knew this day will come and I waited and waited and waited. I finally met a book where love-triangle ruined the story. It was not just bad, it was catastrophic. I should be glorious and celebrate, but I don't want to, because I actually would've loved this book if not for this ruin of a romance.
Megan Shepherd knows how to write, she knows how to make you sympathize MCs, she knows how to intrigue and how to give you a mouth dropping cliffhanger. The concept of The cage intrigued me from the beginning. Here we have 6 narratives: Cora, Lucky, Nok, Rolf, Leon, Mali. They all were taken by some advanced alien race and were held by them in some kind of a very big enclosure, with different seasons changes.“I mean . . . it’s snowing fifty feet away, and here it’s seventy degrees. There’s a desert over that hill that goes on for miles. And I swear that sun hasn’t moved since I woke up hours ago.
They all in some kind of experiment and were chosen specifically (hello little white mouses) and need to follow the rules in oder to survive.“Why us?” Lucky asked.
The Caretaker’s black eyes shifted among them. “You each display valuable attributes. Strength. Morality. Beauty. You are, in your own ways, paragons of your species.”“We have three rules we require you to follow,” the Caretaker continued, oblivious of her fear, “which are for your own benefit and that of your species. The first is to solve the enrichment puzzles. This will strengthen your physical and mental conditioning. The second rule is to maintain your health by eating the food we provide for you, getting ample sleep, and cooperating in routine health assessments. The third rule is to ensure the continuation of your species by engaging in procreative activities.”
Uh-huh, procreative activities. You can see now, that they are all coupled according to their compatibility and soon they will have to start making babies or say goodbye to their lives. Cruel, manipulative, cold - this is all the words to describe the aliens (this race calls The Kindred) and let alone, that they are also do not look like humans (they resemble human form but still they are a lot different)A NEW FIGURE—A MAN—STOOD next to the cherry tree. He had to be close to seven feet tall. Something about his black uniform suggested a soldier, though Cora had never seen clothes like his before. They fit closely to the muscles of his arms and chest and moved with him so seamlessly that they were almost liquid cloth—except for the row of knots down one side. He wore a utility band slung across his chest, which glistened with equipment that looked far more advanced than the prototypes her father invested in. He carried himself as stiffly as a soldier in an army recruiting ad, with buzzed hair and the straight back of a warrior—except for a few key differences. His impressive height. His skin, which was somewhere in between the color of copper and bronze and reflected the sunlight like metal. And his eyes.
They had no irises. No whites. They were entirely black.
All this makes the Cage really interesting. Yes, it is not perfect, but every time I wanted to cry "Stupid." or "Don't believe this shit", author gave me a reasonable explanation and I was like "Hm, it is more complicated than I thought. I like it." I did not feel fooled by this explanations, they widened my perception of the world around and added little by little more information to create a complete picture. In other words, there wasn't one explanation about why things the way they are, there wasn't one opinion and it made story and MCs more complex and interesting to follow.
All of the above would've made a perfect picture for me if it wasn't for a romance. To believe in feelings between heroine and the alien was incredible for me, not because that is not possible: I read plenty of books about it, but in this case because of the way the aliens are, the romance was terrible. How can she love someone cold, inhuman, who presents experiments on you, for whom you are a subject and then fingers click and we are suppose to believe? Believe in what, that though this creature is terrifying he is also beautiful, that his clinical interest in you made your knees melt not in fear but in desire? And what is about this constant mention of a beauty without mentioning personality?Breath slipped from her. His was the face from her dreams. The most beautiful creature she had ever seen...
Then I got to know you. You weren’t anything like your dad. You were his victim. And my victim. And dammit—you were pretty. Even more pretty in person than on TV.
I did not feel love from either alien or human boy. The love triangle felt wrong and unnecessary: the human boy was just a destruction from romance between Cora and alien (Cassian) and the strange romance between Cora and Cassian were unrealistic and made my stomach twist not in a pleasant way. And moreover, closer to the end of the book the romance between Cora and Cassian out of the blue became heated and alien started to resemble humans. What the heck?
She kissed him back, showing him how a kiss was meant to be, though she hardly knew either. He learned fast. His people might not kiss, but she could tell by his heart thumping under her hand that he enjoyed it, that he responded to it the same way humans did. Quick breath. Radiating warmth. Hands running over every inch of her back, arms, waist, like he had imagined this all in his head a thousand times. Everywhere he touched her rippled in goose bumps. He wasn’t careful and gentle with her, not like Lucky had been. He knew she wouldn’t break.
It might look hot, but it won't once you read the book and seen the paradox yourself.
All in all, this book was good and could've been better without romance but as a thriller with strong characters and well-written twists. But today's fashion for romance in YA spoiled everything. Now we'll have star-crossed lovers in the next book and will forget about all the creepiness this romance was before? I don't think so. But I have to admit, romance aside, I want to know what's going to happen next. If you can stomach a very bad love triangle and enjoy the story, you should definitely read this book. As for me, I will wait too and see how the author will solve the tangle she created.
August 23, 2020
The Cage opens up with Cora Mason waking up in a desert, with no idea as to how she got there. When she explores her surroundings, and discovers other people, she finds a mix of environments right next to each other: a farm next to a jungle, a tundra next to a desert. When their jailer, a guard called Cassian, appears, the group realise that they are no longer on Earth, and have been put in a zoo, where the exhibits are humans.
This book took me a little bit to get into, mostly because it was so fast paced. Normally, I love fast paced books but the pace in this was a little too fast, if that even makes sense? I’m used to slow unravelling mysteries, where the clues are revealed bit by bit, and it’s so agonising and frustrating because you want all the answers. But in The Cage, by page 60-70, the characters all discover that they have been taken by aliens and that they are on another planet. That felt so quick to me. I mean, I expected it to take a while for them to figure out where they were, and even longer than that for one of the aliens to appear and actually interact with them. Despite the quick pace, I found myself quickly absorbed into the story and could not put the book down. I tried to predict where the plot was going and what was actually going to happen but I couldn’t, and I way off the mark anyway. But I had a really big interest in the story, and I did not see the ending coming.
When I first read the synopsis of this book, I rolled my eyes at the part that mentioned that Cora was falling for her captor. I was like, here we go again, this is going to be such a bad romance to read about. But I was pleasantly surprised. From the minute Cassian appears and introduces himself to the group, there was a certain pull that Cora felt, so much so that I felt it as well. And I thought that there’s no way this is going to be a genuine romance, because isn’t that like stockholm syndrome because he’s her captor? But my god, the romance developed so slowly, it was amazing. Cassian is by far one of the most interesting characters in this entire series and the way that he interacted with Cora was really interesting to read about, especially because there is so much tension in all of the scenes they had together, and it all culminated in that scene where they kiss which was… perfect, in every single way. You’d think, after having read a few books where some sort of betrayal happens at the end that I would have seen the ending of this book coming, but I absolutely didn’t. I was shocked just like Cora was and the way that the ending came about and how it was executed was just so clever.
Overall, although it took some time to adjust to the fast pace of this book, The Cage was an enjoyable first book, with a really gripping romance, that promises more good things to come in the later instalments.
“There was one thing she had learned, living caught between the human and the Kindred world. It didn’t matter what race you came from: there were good and bad among every species.”
This book took me a little bit to get into, mostly because it was so fast paced. Normally, I love fast paced books but the pace in this was a little too fast, if that even makes sense? I’m used to slow unravelling mysteries, where the clues are revealed bit by bit, and it’s so agonising and frustrating because you want all the answers. But in The Cage, by page 60-70, the characters all discover that they have been taken by aliens and that they are on another planet. That felt so quick to me. I mean, I expected it to take a while for them to figure out where they were, and even longer than that for one of the aliens to appear and actually interact with them. Despite the quick pace, I found myself quickly absorbed into the story and could not put the book down. I tried to predict where the plot was going and what was actually going to happen but I couldn’t, and I way off the mark anyway. But I had a really big interest in the story, and I did not see the ending coming.
“This was what had changed, and it was so devastatingly simple: she had become a person to him; he had become a person to her. Human, Kindred—it didn’t matter. It was just her, and him, standing in the sea.”
When I first read the synopsis of this book, I rolled my eyes at the part that mentioned that Cora was falling for her captor. I was like, here we go again, this is going to be such a bad romance to read about. But I was pleasantly surprised. From the minute Cassian appears and introduces himself to the group, there was a certain pull that Cora felt, so much so that I felt it as well. And I thought that there’s no way this is going to be a genuine romance, because isn’t that like stockholm syndrome because he’s her captor? But my god, the romance developed so slowly, it was amazing. Cassian is by far one of the most interesting characters in this entire series and the way that he interacted with Cora was really interesting to read about, especially because there is so much tension in all of the scenes they had together, and it all culminated in that scene where they kiss which was… perfect, in every single way. You’d think, after having read a few books where some sort of betrayal happens at the end that I would have seen the ending of this book coming, but I absolutely didn’t. I was shocked just like Cora was and the way that the ending came about and how it was executed was just so clever.
“Why do you want to stay here so badly?” Cora snapped.
“It isn’t about staying here,” he said. “It’s about staying alive.”
Overall, although it took some time to adjust to the fast pace of this book, The Cage was an enjoyable first book, with a really gripping romance, that promises more good things to come in the later instalments.
November 13, 2015
So promising.
So disappointing.
Megan has a tendency for inconsistency and terrible romance. I love her plot ideas. I like her engaging writing-style, but she fails to deliver the complete package.
EDIT
http://thedailyprophecy.blogspot.nl/2...
Shepherd’s previous series, The madman’s daughter, had its up and downs. I loved her writing, so I had hope for this book. It started as a promising story, but it went downhill and ended up being nothing special.
Cora wakes up in the middle of a dessert. She has no memory of what has happened and her new environment is confusing. She teams up with a guy, Lucky, and soon they stumble on a group of other cliche people. They have no idea what is going on, but there are puzzles spread through the village and they are rewarded with coins. Slowly they start to unravel the meaning behind their imprisonment.
The idea of people being studied by others in a world designed for them was fascinating. It’s a shame that the animals in this zoo aren’t that interesting. Starting with Cora, the girl with trust issues, which doesn’t make her very popular. She is captivated by Cassian’s good looks and in those moments she seems to forget he is the enemy. I liked her spirit and how she kept fighting against the rules, but she was also pretty naive and bad at maintaining relationships with important people. I could understand her frustrations, because the others were just plain stupid, but it would have been smarter to keep them close.
There is also Lucky, who has a severe case of possessiveness over Cora when he finds out what their main goal is. He started out okay, but soon turned into a creep. He completely lost his mind and I didn't care about his fate. I also hope the author doesn't turn him into one of the love-interests, because that romance is even more doomed to fail than the other option. There are also some other teenagers, but to be honest, I forget their names (that is how impressive they are)
The story is inconsistent. Cassian and Cora was just a big fat no. I did like the writing-style and the idea, but it failed to deliver. The ending was okay, but the overall story isn’t good enough for me. I think it’s time for me to say goodbye to Shepherd’s work. We just don’t click.
So disappointing.
Megan has a tendency for inconsistency and terrible romance. I love her plot ideas. I like her engaging writing-style, but she fails to deliver the complete package.
EDIT
http://thedailyprophecy.blogspot.nl/2...
Shepherd’s previous series, The madman’s daughter, had its up and downs. I loved her writing, so I had hope for this book. It started as a promising story, but it went downhill and ended up being nothing special.
Cora wakes up in the middle of a dessert. She has no memory of what has happened and her new environment is confusing. She teams up with a guy, Lucky, and soon they stumble on a group of other cliche people. They have no idea what is going on, but there are puzzles spread through the village and they are rewarded with coins. Slowly they start to unravel the meaning behind their imprisonment.
The idea of people being studied by others in a world designed for them was fascinating. It’s a shame that the animals in this zoo aren’t that interesting. Starting with Cora, the girl with trust issues, which doesn’t make her very popular. She is captivated by Cassian’s good looks and in those moments she seems to forget he is the enemy. I liked her spirit and how she kept fighting against the rules, but she was also pretty naive and bad at maintaining relationships with important people. I could understand her frustrations, because the others were just plain stupid, but it would have been smarter to keep them close.
There is also Lucky, who has a severe case of possessiveness over Cora when he finds out what their main goal is. He started out okay, but soon turned into a creep. He completely lost his mind and I didn't care about his fate. I also hope the author doesn't turn him into one of the love-interests, because that romance is even more doomed to fail than the other option. There are also some other teenagers, but to be honest, I forget their names (that is how impressive they are)
The story is inconsistent. Cassian and Cora was just a big fat no. I did like the writing-style and the idea, but it failed to deliver. The ending was okay, but the overall story isn’t good enough for me. I think it’s time for me to say goodbye to Shepherd’s work. We just don’t click.
June 28, 2015
Initial reaction: 2.5 stars overall, I liked the setup and really liked the beginning, but it dragged its heels far too many times and force fed the relationships far too much for me to really like it more than what I did. I want to follow the series, though.
Full review:
This is another YA sci-fi/dystopian series I've picked up in the past year where the premise had a ton of potential for the set-up, but the way it executed left me feeling exhausted and uber annoyed by the time I finished it. Pretty much the way I felt about Victoria Aveyard's "Red Queen" I could say I felt about Megan Shepard's "The Cage". Yet, I still want to see where this series goes.
I'll tell you what I loved about this book: the premise (five teens trapped in a human zoo while being experimented on by an alien race, the Kindred), the multicultural characters (each of them is from a different part of the world, from Earth), the potential for the worldbuilding, and the overarching plot aim and food for thought it provides.
To tell you what I hated: lack of character development/growth, forced instalove/instalust, and the overarching sluggish pacing (which in part was due to the jumping POVs, but as far as events...there wasn't a lot of urgency and investment considering the circumstances).
The setup this book provides for "The Cage" is pretty nice. I was so pumped starting this work considering Cora, Lucky, and three other teens (Rok, Leon, and Rolf) wake up in this strange environment where they're subject to experimentation by a race called the Kindred. The being presiding over them is Cassian, set to ensure their survival since the teens were chosen for some superior abilities they share among the human race, though they must follow certain regulations within 21 days time (cooperate, stay healthy, and...reproduce. *cringes*).
What makes this book intriguing to me is that humans are the ones subjected to experimentation in a futuristic, clinical environment where their captivity leads them to slowly degenerating paranoia and desperation. I liked that aim, but the execution of this story frustrated me so much for the promise of the premise.
For the instalove - I wasn't buying it at all. Granted, I liked Cora's persistent personality and aim to escape, but her fawning and over-reliance over Cassian was just too much and overemphasized/overfocused. Lucky's one-track mind over his lust for Cora made him passive and a static character when you consider his role in the overarching novel. (Plus the motivations he had for liking Cora and his knowing her before their captivity was hard enough to swallow for rationale). I liked the intent of the teens progressively turning against each other, but the way it was done wasn't really believable.
And I saw the twist at the end of the novel coming far too soon. For the nature of the betrayals that occur in this novel, some of them were intriguing though the sloppiness of their execution really ruined the potential impact they could've had. Such was the nature of all of the purported betrayals in this novel, but none so blunt as the final one. Still, the potential this story has to go in some interesting directions makes me want to continue and see where this goes.
I'm probably being more forgiving of this book than I would normally be, but it has me on the fence for a fantastic premise and potential directions with what are so far very threadbare and lackluster characters. I'm hoping the next book is an improvement, but we'll see.
Overall score: 2.5/5 stars.
Full review:
This is another YA sci-fi/dystopian series I've picked up in the past year where the premise had a ton of potential for the set-up, but the way it executed left me feeling exhausted and uber annoyed by the time I finished it. Pretty much the way I felt about Victoria Aveyard's "Red Queen" I could say I felt about Megan Shepard's "The Cage". Yet, I still want to see where this series goes.
I'll tell you what I loved about this book: the premise (five teens trapped in a human zoo while being experimented on by an alien race, the Kindred), the multicultural characters (each of them is from a different part of the world, from Earth), the potential for the worldbuilding, and the overarching plot aim and food for thought it provides.
To tell you what I hated: lack of character development/growth, forced instalove/instalust, and the overarching sluggish pacing (which in part was due to the jumping POVs, but as far as events...there wasn't a lot of urgency and investment considering the circumstances).
The setup this book provides for "The Cage" is pretty nice. I was so pumped starting this work considering Cora, Lucky, and three other teens (Rok, Leon, and Rolf) wake up in this strange environment where they're subject to experimentation by a race called the Kindred. The being presiding over them is Cassian, set to ensure their survival since the teens were chosen for some superior abilities they share among the human race, though they must follow certain regulations within 21 days time (cooperate, stay healthy, and...reproduce. *cringes*).
What makes this book intriguing to me is that humans are the ones subjected to experimentation in a futuristic, clinical environment where their captivity leads them to slowly degenerating paranoia and desperation. I liked that aim, but the execution of this story frustrated me so much for the promise of the premise.
For the instalove - I wasn't buying it at all. Granted, I liked Cora's persistent personality and aim to escape, but her fawning and over-reliance over Cassian was just too much and overemphasized/overfocused. Lucky's one-track mind over his lust for Cora made him passive and a static character when you consider his role in the overarching novel. (Plus the motivations he had for liking Cora and his knowing her before their captivity was hard enough to swallow for rationale). I liked the intent of the teens progressively turning against each other, but the way it was done wasn't really believable.
And I saw the twist at the end of the novel coming far too soon. For the nature of the betrayals that occur in this novel, some of them were intriguing though the sloppiness of their execution really ruined the potential impact they could've had. Such was the nature of all of the purported betrayals in this novel, but none so blunt as the final one. Still, the potential this story has to go in some interesting directions makes me want to continue and see where this goes.
I'm probably being more forgiving of this book than I would normally be, but it has me on the fence for a fantastic premise and potential directions with what are so far very threadbare and lackluster characters. I'm hoping the next book is an improvement, but we'll see.
Overall score: 2.5/5 stars.
May 5, 2015
This a cover that is sure to catch the eye and draw you in, The Cage truly has a unique premises.
To say I liked this would be, well it wouldn't quite be enough and maybe more than enough all at the same time.
This was oddly alluring and I don't even know why exactly other than I was intrigued by the gorgeous cover and the promise of an original read that would keep me on my toes.
Constantly wondering if their captures were telling the truth or not about Earth and of course wondering whether the captees were all they seemed to be, The Cage truly did deliver in the are of unique and the strange.
Told in multiple point of views this book was interesting to say the least. While riddled with strife, forbidden romance, questions, danger, and always filled with the unknown, it was quite the read. Never quite believable but always on the verge of leaving you scratching your head and wondering, what if?
This is one of those stories that is hard to either like or dislike simply because it leaves you feeling unsure of how you feel after finishing it.
It won't be one I will forget reading but it won't be one I will ever remember in great detail having read either.
Overall, this was an okay read with an interesting premises, an open ending, and one that left me unsure of everything.
Fans of the genre and those looking for something out there will want to pick this one up simple so they can say that now, they have seen and read, it all.
To say I liked this would be, well it wouldn't quite be enough and maybe more than enough all at the same time.
This was oddly alluring and I don't even know why exactly other than I was intrigued by the gorgeous cover and the promise of an original read that would keep me on my toes.
Constantly wondering if their captures were telling the truth or not about Earth and of course wondering whether the captees were all they seemed to be, The Cage truly did deliver in the are of unique and the strange.
Told in multiple point of views this book was interesting to say the least. While riddled with strife, forbidden romance, questions, danger, and always filled with the unknown, it was quite the read. Never quite believable but always on the verge of leaving you scratching your head and wondering, what if?
This is one of those stories that is hard to either like or dislike simply because it leaves you feeling unsure of how you feel after finishing it.
It won't be one I will forget reading but it won't be one I will ever remember in great detail having read either.
Overall, this was an okay read with an interesting premises, an open ending, and one that left me unsure of everything.
Fans of the genre and those looking for something out there will want to pick this one up simple so they can say that now, they have seen and read, it all.
December 4, 2015
Wat een tof boek zeg! Lees hier mijn recensie:
http://nerdygeekyfanboy.com/recensie/...
http://nerdygeekyfanboy.com/recensie/...
September 16, 2016
Ich bin absolut begeistert von dieser Geschichte, eine geniale Mischung aus Maze Runner, Panem und noch einen Buch, das würde allerdings zu viel spoilern.
Ich bin jedenfalls absolut begeistert und möchte mehr!!!
Ich bin jedenfalls absolut begeistert und möchte mehr!!!
May 11, 2015
Remember
that post from a few weeks ago, about whether you review with your head or your heart
? Keep that in mind, because this one is really not coming from my head, or any logical place. For a logical breakdown, I am sending you over to
Kirsty-Marie @ Studio Reads, because her review
has logic and explains how she feels, and I agree with a lot of what she says.
My review? Well.... I really, really liked this book. It was addicting to me, really. At first I wasn't sure about it, because it is seriously an alien race abducting teens and putting them in a human, earth-like zoo. That sounds odd, obviously. And at first, I suppose it was, but since I was quite curious, the oddness was a good thing. Each of the characters had very different backstories and perspectives as well, which definitely added to my interest and the mystery in general.
But then some characters started making some very questionable decisions, and I felt like maybe it was going to delve too far into unbelievability territory. I mean, a few were even starting to be fine with being in a human zoo. As I read, though, I realized that a lot of these strange choices may have had to do with the psychological torment that these characters are facing. They're basically completely unsure who they can trust, and this includes among themselves. That aspect fascinated me to no end, and led to a lot of turmoil within the group. Also, I am pretty sure certain group members are completely insane which absolutely added to the intrigue.
Then there's the romance, which when I first heard of it, my answer was basically:
Because there is a human boy who at first, our main character Cora has affections for. Not deep ones, mind you, since they kind of just met and were thrown in a zoo, but he is the one she thinks she can trust the most, and likes the most. Enter Cassian, the Robot/Oscar Statue that is the caretaker of the humans. He seems to be protective over Cora, but is he trustworthy? Who cares, because Cora's got a case of the swoons! Okay, from the sound of it... it's a lot of nope. But. I can't even help it, by the end, I shipped them, and I don't even mind admitting it.
This is basically what I loved about this book, condensed:
Insanely unique plot and worldbuilding.
Very complex characters and fabulous psychological questions were raised.
Quite thought provoking and exciting, which to me, is the best of both worlds.
I liked the romance, even though everyone else likely things it's creepy.
Bottom Line: I adored, and I need the next book immediately. Please and thank you.
**Copy provided for review**
This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight
My review? Well.... I really, really liked this book. It was addicting to me, really. At first I wasn't sure about it, because it is seriously an alien race abducting teens and putting them in a human, earth-like zoo. That sounds odd, obviously. And at first, I suppose it was, but since I was quite curious, the oddness was a good thing. Each of the characters had very different backstories and perspectives as well, which definitely added to my interest and the mystery in general.
But then some characters started making some very questionable decisions, and I felt like maybe it was going to delve too far into unbelievability territory. I mean, a few were even starting to be fine with being in a human zoo. As I read, though, I realized that a lot of these strange choices may have had to do with the psychological torment that these characters are facing. They're basically completely unsure who they can trust, and this includes among themselves. That aspect fascinated me to no end, and led to a lot of turmoil within the group. Also, I am pretty sure certain group members are completely insane which absolutely added to the intrigue.
Then there's the romance, which when I first heard of it, my answer was basically:
Because there is a human boy who at first, our main character Cora has affections for. Not deep ones, mind you, since they kind of just met and were thrown in a zoo, but he is the one she thinks she can trust the most, and likes the most. Enter Cassian, the Robot/Oscar Statue that is the caretaker of the humans. He seems to be protective over Cora, but is he trustworthy? Who cares, because Cora's got a case of the swoons! Okay, from the sound of it... it's a lot of nope. But. I can't even help it, by the end, I shipped them, and I don't even mind admitting it.
This is basically what I loved about this book, condensed:
Insanely unique plot and worldbuilding.
Very complex characters and fabulous psychological questions were raised.
Quite thought provoking and exciting, which to me, is the best of both worlds.
I liked the romance, even though everyone else likely things it's creepy.
Bottom Line: I adored, and I need the next book immediately. Please and thank you.
**Copy provided for review**
This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight
May 31, 2015
Well that was fun.
The Cage by Megan Shepherd is the story of a young girl who awakens and finds herself in a strange place, surrounded by 5 other young adults. They've been kidnapped by an alien race known as the Kindred and they are in a kind of a habitat under 24 hour observation. (Which reminds me of that Star Trek episode where the crew was being watched by those black and white people, but I digress). The kids are told that they need to follow three simple rules: 1)They must solve enrichment puzzles. 2)They must maintain their health. 3)They must procreate within 21 days. Yup, that last one is one doozy.
The book has an intriguing premise. Put together 3 boys and 3 girls carefully selected for each other based on an alien's view of what criteria is important (mostly genetic selection). Then watch and see what happens. At first, the teens play along. The puzzles are entertaining and they are rewarded with tokens with which they buy candy and other stuff. The habitat is fascinating - there is a jungle, a desert, an ocean, snow covered mountains, and a small town. But nothing is as it seems.
Cora is a pretty feisty character. She's been through a lot, having spent 18 months in a detention facility for a crime she did not commit. Cora's sole goal is to find a way to escape from her captors and get back to Earth. I liked Cora - she seemed to be the only one looking for a way out, despite the threats from the Kindred.
The Cage is well written and it will keep you reading through the night.
Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperTeen for a review copy of this book.
The Cage by Megan Shepherd is the story of a young girl who awakens and finds herself in a strange place, surrounded by 5 other young adults. They've been kidnapped by an alien race known as the Kindred and they are in a kind of a habitat under 24 hour observation. (Which reminds me of that Star Trek episode where the crew was being watched by those black and white people, but I digress). The kids are told that they need to follow three simple rules: 1)They must solve enrichment puzzles. 2)They must maintain their health. 3)They must procreate within 21 days. Yup, that last one is one doozy.
The book has an intriguing premise. Put together 3 boys and 3 girls carefully selected for each other based on an alien's view of what criteria is important (mostly genetic selection). Then watch and see what happens. At first, the teens play along. The puzzles are entertaining and they are rewarded with tokens with which they buy candy and other stuff. The habitat is fascinating - there is a jungle, a desert, an ocean, snow covered mountains, and a small town. But nothing is as it seems.
Cora is a pretty feisty character. She's been through a lot, having spent 18 months in a detention facility for a crime she did not commit. Cora's sole goal is to find a way to escape from her captors and get back to Earth. I liked Cora - she seemed to be the only one looking for a way out, despite the threats from the Kindred.
The Cage is well written and it will keep you reading through the night.
Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperTeen for a review copy of this book.
Read
August 13, 2018Hab das Buch jetzt abgebrochen! Finds einfach nicht wirklich gut und will meine Zeit damit nicht verschwenden.. Schade, hatte mich so darauf gefreut!
August 6, 2017
Tof plot met onverwachte wendingen, maar ik heb echt een hekel aan special snowflake Cora - en aangezien het grootste gedeelte van het boek uit haar perspectief geschreven is.. en de romantiek was ook enorm cheesy! Geen topboek wat mij betreft, maar aangezien ik het vervolg in huis heb zal ik wel verder lezen.
Mijn complete recensie lees je op Oog op de Toekomst.
Mijn complete recensie lees je op Oog op de Toekomst.
August 11, 2015
The Cage is a good read. But it had the potential to have been a great one - if only it wasn't struck by a severe case of ridiculous instalove.
People fall into the same routines of thinking day after day: toss an apple and it falls to the ground. Pick a flower and it withers. Fall asleep and wake the next morning.16-year-old Cora and four other teenagers wake up with no idea where they are or how they got there. As they slowly begin to trust each other, they realize that their situation is more desperate than it first appeared: not only are they not on Earth anymore, but they're the main exhibit of a twisted alien zoo. A zoo full of humans.
But this? This was like dropping an apple and having it fall toward the sun.
The five teenagers that are brought to this alien planet are all stereotypes to the extreme. There's the flawless model, the generic nerd, the tattooed rebel, and the "nice guy" who knows more than he seems. And, unfortunately, there is really not much more development to the character's than that. They're simply stereotypes - nothing more, nothing less; and that made it so hard to connect to them because they felt so contrived and fake.
The story's main flaw is the instalove that occurs between Cora, the beautiful, special protagonist, and Cassian, the "gorgeous" alien kidnapper. Without even truly getting to know her, Cassian starts obviously favoring Cora: he gives her more food and more rewards than any of the other four teens. And Cora, even though he kidnapped her and despite the fact that she barely knows him, supposedly loves him for that.
If you can get past the instalove, however, the story truly is very atmospheric. The world Shepard sets up - even though the history and world-building behind it might not be the strongest - is seriously atmospheric and just downright creepy at times.
A decent novel that I'd definitely recommend - especially to The Fifth Wave fans, but, unfortunately, not anything completely mindblowing.
September 9, 2015
*2.75 stars..*
I had really high hopes for this book since I loved The Madman's Daughter by Megan but unfortunately it was pretty disappointing for me. The premise sounded really promising but the execution and the characters I wasn't a huge fan of.
This book could have been suspenseful and mysterious but instead it was just kinda irritating and annoying. All the teenagers in this novel did was sit around doing basically nothing. The only character who didn't irritate me was Cora, I actually read her POV and kinda just skimmed everyone else's because I found the others to be very flat and boring. I also didn't mind Mali either, she was actually an interesting character but unfortunately she doesn't get many chapters.
The Cage had so much potential-the world building wasn't so bad, a little confusing and a few things unanswered but I'm pretty sure this a series so that's not a huge issue but for me the characters in this just made it so boring for me. They were trapped in a cage on a planet that's not earth, and they didn't care? All they did was sit around, fighting and arguing with each other. Even the 'puzzles' they had to figure out were so easy when they could've been expanded on and made so much more complicated.
The last 50 pages or so did capture my attention, I must admit. There was a plot twist I didn't really see coming and the book left off in a cliffhanger that does make me intrigued to read the sequel, just to see how it's resolved!
Overall, this isn't a bad book. The series has promise and potential, it could still turn out to be a good Sci-Fi and I'm intrigued to read the sequel just because of the way this one ended!
I had really high hopes for this book since I loved The Madman's Daughter by Megan but unfortunately it was pretty disappointing for me. The premise sounded really promising but the execution and the characters I wasn't a huge fan of.
This book could have been suspenseful and mysterious but instead it was just kinda irritating and annoying. All the teenagers in this novel did was sit around doing basically nothing. The only character who didn't irritate me was Cora, I actually read her POV and kinda just skimmed everyone else's because I found the others to be very flat and boring. I also didn't mind Mali either, she was actually an interesting character but unfortunately she doesn't get many chapters.
The Cage had so much potential-the world building wasn't so bad, a little confusing and a few things unanswered but I'm pretty sure this a series so that's not a huge issue but for me the characters in this just made it so boring for me. They were trapped in a cage on a planet that's not earth, and they didn't care? All they did was sit around, fighting and arguing with each other. Even the 'puzzles' they had to figure out were so easy when they could've been expanded on and made so much more complicated.
The last 50 pages or so did capture my attention, I must admit. There was a plot twist I didn't really see coming and the book left off in a cliffhanger that does make me intrigued to read the sequel, just to see how it's resolved!
Overall, this isn't a bad book. The series has promise and potential, it could still turn out to be a good Sci-Fi and I'm intrigued to read the sequel just because of the way this one ended!
February 22, 2015
Unique and utterly captivating, The Cage was everything I was hoping for and more. Book two, please!
July 15, 2016
Geweldig! Soms had het wat spannender gemogen maar voor de rest was het top! Dit verhaal is zo origineel en ik had nooit verwacht dat ik dit zo leuk zou vinden! Ik begin zo snel mogelijk in deel 2!
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