To Cage A God by Elizabeth May

Book Blurb
To cage a god is divine. To be divine is to rule. To rule is to destroy.

Using ancient secrets, Galina and Sera’s mother grafted gods into their bones. Bound to brutal deities and granted forbidden power no commoner has held in a thousand years, the sisters have been raised as living weapons. Now, the time has come for them to overthrow an empire―no matter the cost.

With their mother gone and their country on the brink of war, it falls to the sisters to take the helm of the rebellion and end the cruel reign of a royal family possessed by destructive gods. Because when the ruling alurea invade, they conquer with fire and blood. And when they clash, common folk burn.

Forced into a desperate plan, Sera reunites with her estranged lover who now leads the rebellion, while Galina infiltrates the palace. In this world of deception and danger, her only refuge is an isolated princess whose whip-smart tongue and sharp gaze threaten to uncover Galina’s secret. Torn between desire and duty, Galina must make a choice: work together to expose the lies of the empire―or bring it all down.

My Review
To Cage A God is a fantasy read that has it’s roots in Slav Folklore. The continent of Sundry is ruled by nobles who have deities caged within them, unwillingly. This gives the nobles imemse power, the power to destroy all who get in their way, and a power that has incited a rebellion. Sera and Galina were experimented on by their mother who managed to graft gods into their bodies, wanting to use them as weapons against the ruling class without considering the consequences. The time has come for Galina to use her powers in order to overthrow the Empress, but it’s not that easy with a smart and sassy princess and Sera reconnects with her rogue of an ex. There are thrills aplenty in this wonderful tale of survival, danger and romance.

To Cage A God is told from from multiple points of view giving different insights into the characters and their roles in the book. Sera and Galina are foster sisters and their close bond comes from the horrific experiments their mother put them through. Whilst Galina can use and talk to her deity, Sera has to cut herself to appease her dragon, leaving her in pain: both are damaged by their mother’s actions. I loved their bond, putting themselves in danger to help the other, with their full trust in each other. Both sisters have the same flaw, their heart. Sera has been seperated from her ex Vitaly for over four years, but now he is back in her life as leader of the resistance, and charmer of both her and her dragon. For Galina its the witty and caustic princess Vasilia who is a recluse due to health problems. It was encouraging and exciting to see a character with a disability be self confident and strong, to be in a physically exciting relationship and take control of her life. To Cage A God is full of strong female characters and none more so than Katy, Sera’s spy in the Empresses Palace. Katya is treated cruelly at times, as a footstool, made to wear bells, and is seen as a commodity. Her bravery and resilience shine through as the sisters are only hope of survival.

Elizabeth May has created not only wonderful female characters, but an exciting and imaginative setting based on Slav folklore. The idea of gods being caged is fascinating, frightening and opens a lot of opportunities for Elizabeth May. Of course there is good versus evil, how the power of the deities are used, whether for destruction and torture or to protect those you love. The plot was fast paced, full of adventure, danger, action and a touch of violence and amorous encounters. I loved the wit, humour and sparing between Galina and Vasilia and Sera and Vitaly, it added light and humour to the story and brought a smile to my face. I also thought that the inclusion of Slav language added an authenticity to the relationships between the characters. I liked the open ending, poised ready to set us up for the next installment in this series.

I found reading To Cage A God to be a compelling and immersive experience. The characters were fascinating, all had faced adversity but showed how together they could overcome adversity. An exciting plot, full of adventure and action kept my attention throught out. Beautifully written, richly imagined, this is a breathtaking read.

I would like to thank Daphne Press and Black Crow PR for sending me this book to review in return for my honest review.