Book Review: The Cage (The Cage #1) by Megan Sheperd

Title: The Cage (the Cage #1)
Author: Megan Sheperd
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: May 26, 2015
Pages: 400
Format: ARC
Source: ALA/Publisher
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction

       

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?

 

I don’t even know where to begin with this book! Let me start out by saying that it was utterly amazing. Just amazing. As I sit here trying to write this review, I keep having to pause and lay back in my comfy reading chair, in an attempt to calm all my thoughts and feelings about this book.

I have to say that I felt like I went into this book blind, and I am happy for that. The blurb on the back of the ARC is NOTHING like the blurb for the finished copy. This is all I got…”A beautiful and powerful otherworldly species has taken six teenagers captive in a human zoo-where they are the exhibits. Now, far from home and each harboring secrets about their pasts, the tenuous group must fight for leadership and a chance to return to Earth...if they can trust each other.” Just enough to whet the appetite, but not nearly enough to give you an idea of what to expect, and having finished the book, I am glad that I didn't know more than that going into it. It made my enjoyment of the book that much more intense.

When I first began reading this book, I felt as confused and disoriented as the characters did. I had no idea what was going on or what to expect. I mean, I didn't even have the smallest of clues where this book was going to lead me. The whole time I was reading the book I kept thinking to myself WTF? You can substitute what, where, when, and who for the W because I went through them all! You, as the reader, learn about the twisted world these six teenagers are forced into, just as the characters learn about it, and not a moment sooner. There is no way for you to anticipate anything that happens in this book, and the revelations just continue to get increasingly worse as the book progresses, only to end in a plot twist of epic proportions that you never, not once, see coming.

The Cage is written in the third person. As I have said in the past, I am not a fan of books written in the third person. However, when a book is as well written and captivating as this one is, then being written in the third person doesn't hinder me from connecting with the characters. Not only that, but the book contains six different POVs. Six! I thought for sure that this was going to detract from the storytelling because it would get too confusing. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how seamlessly Megan Sheperd was able to weave each POV together.

Though there are six POVs in this book, our main character is Cora. Through Cora’s eyes we truly get a glimpse into how perverse the world in which these teenagers find themselves caged in is. We also see the strength of her character, and ultimately why she was chosen.

Pre Order this book. Now. Or, on May 26th go directly to the bookstore, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Buy. This. Book.