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Kiva’s only goal for the past 10 years was to reunite with her family and destroy the people responsible for ruining their lives. Now that she has finally escaped Zalindov, she’s not so sure she wants to follow a path of vengeance.
Kiva has been welcomed into the lives of the royal family and offered a new life full of possibility in the capital. But her siblings are still alive, and the years of hardship have changed them too.
Beyond the city walls, the rebels wait to bring down the royal family and whispers rise of a growing threat from the northern kingdoms. As secrets amass, Kiva must choose where her allegiance truly lies — with her family or her friends — before both sides of the battle turn against her and she loses everything.
The Gilded Cage builds on the drama of The Prison Healer — introducing Kiva to a world beyond Zalindov that is nothing like what she imagined or was taught to believe. The story continues to confront Kiva’s conflicting ideals and lies believed — and that concept should certainly be applauded. But readers who are not solidly in love with the story from book one may find themselves irritated by Kiva’s blind naïveté, the angry rebels’ unknown agency, and some of the more convenient, half-baked plot points.
Nevertheless, as with The Prison Healer, Lynette Noni succeeds in creating plot twists and compelling cliffhangers that are hard to forget. Despite this young adult fantasy book’s meandering start, the last quarter of the story is packed with plenty of angst-ridden action, guaranteed to leave true fans eager for book three.
Rated: Moderate. There are 2 uses of moderate profanity and 28 uses of mild language. While not as dark as book one, the story still features darker themes and a fair bit of blood and gore, including death, serious injuries, and attempted murder using magic. Kiva struggles with PTSD and memories of her past. Students of a healer’s academy study a cadaver who was murdered. Sexual content includes plenty of innuendos, insinuations, and jokes. A story revolving around children entering a brothel mentions seeing people in various states of undress, but no real detail is provided. Characters kiss. A character struggles with a drug addiction.
