To Cage a God by Elizabeth May
Published by Daphne Press
Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: British Authors, Mental Health Representation, Queer Characters, Sapphic Characters, Assassin Characters, Deity Characters, Magic Users, Outlaw Characters, Royalty Characters, Chronic Illness, Mobility Aids, Trauma, Action, Adventure, Dark Fantasy, Dystopian Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Romantasy, Fire Magic, Frost Magic, Various Magic
Series: These Monstrous Gods #1
My Rating:
Published on: 20th February 2024
Pages: 448
Disability Representation: Addiction Recovery, Chronic illness, Chronic Pain, Fictional Condition, Mobility aid, PTSD, Self-Harm, Suicidal Ideation, Trauma, Wheelchair User.
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Forbidden Planet / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones / BookBeat Audio
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Join the rebellion to burn down a cruel tyrant in this heartracing new fantasy duology, perfect for fans of Shadow and Bone and The Wolf and the Woodsman.

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.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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With a cover with a rune-inscribed skeleton and a dragon peeking out between the ribs, I could hardly pass up To Cage a God by Elizabeth May.

This multi-narrative high fantasy novel follows the story of two orphaned girls who are tied together by horrific circumstances. Ruled by the alurea, a class who have captured the immense power of the gods in their bodies, the Faithless rebel against their oppression and brutality in any way they can. But how do you fight the power of the gods? You become a god.

Sera and Galina’s mother, Irina, the late leader of the Faithless, uncovered the ancient research that first gave the alurea their power. Through experimentation, they found that it only worked on children. Irina didn’t hesitate to experiment on her daughter Sera; however, she made a mistake, leaving Sera with a violent and angry god trapped inside her that is only placated with blood. Convincing an orphaned girl to take up her cause, Irina succeeded with Galina, filling her with the power of godfire, the very power that the Empress had used to massacre her village. The power that left scars on her body.

Now adults, the two sisters have been in hiding for many years, their mother long dead, executed by the Empress. When the new rebel leader assassinates the Emperor, their current home is attacked by a rival kingdom, sparking war again. This time, the sisters decide not to flee into hiding. When war happens, the commoners are the ones who end up suffering the most, and they are the only ones who have the power to stop the alurea once and for all.

But it means implementing a dangerous plan that puts Galina right under the Empress’ nose, where she could be exposed at any moment. Likewise, returning to their old home brings Sera face to face with the new leader of the Faithless, who is intent on blowing every alurea to pieces, including Galina. He just so happens to be her ex-lover.

As both women play a game of cat and mouse with danger, the stakes couldn’t be higher as the Empress raises the stakes, trying to root out the Faithless, and she doesn’t care how many commoners get hurt in the process.

I’ve seen several reviews suggesting that To Cage a God is nothing more than a retelling of Russian history. While the book definitely does take inspiration from Slavic cultures, I can’t remember seeing anything by the author to suggest that intention, nor am I familiar enough with Russian history to comment on it. What I will say is that I came here for the fantasy.

The world-building is wonderfully refreshing. It’s gloriously dark and is everything that the cover promised, wrapped up with complicated and realistic characters that spoke to me. Characters with divine powers, channelling the powers of the gods, is nothing new; however, having a god trapped inside their rune-inscribed bones? That is some dark creativity that stands out to me.

It took a while for some of them to get to me, specifically Sera and Vitaly. In contrast, Galina, Anya and Katya got there pretty quickly, and Vasilisa stole my heart from the first moment. I didn’t just adore her because she was a disabled character; it was her wicked streak and sarcasm that flew in the face of decorum. I was not expecting her in any way, and deeply appreciated the chronic pain representation that was very accurate, and the eugenics storyline.

A rather nasty review of To Cage a God reduced it to a bunch of stereotypes, and to be frank, some reviewers need to learn the difference between stereotypes and archetypes. As with all fantasy books, this one has familiar archetypes. These characters are not stereotypical, and in particular, I found the relationships to be the opposite of stereotypical. Sera and Vitaly’s relationship troubled me at first, as it appeared to be quite toxic, and there are certainly some moments that are not healthy. However, no relationship is perfect, and it’s always nice to see that portrayed in a book.

This is a solid four and a half stars for me, and the only reason it’s not higher for me is that it’s just a wee bit dark for me. This is a very trauma-heavy book, and that’s not a bad thing; May handles it sensitively and not as a plot device (unlike other books I’ve read). It just was a bit darker than I like my fantasy, especially as someone with PTSD. Be sure to check the content warnings for this one.

About Elizabeth May

Elizabeth May is the Sunday Times bestselling author of To Cage a God, the Seven Devils duology (co-written with Laura Lam), The Falconer series, and romance novels under the pseudonym Katrina Kendrick. She is Californian by birth and Scottish by choice, and holds a Ph.D. from the University of St Andrews. She currently resides on an 18th-century farm in the Scottish countryside with her husband, three cats, and a lively hive of honeybees that live inside the wall of her old farmhouse.

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Thanks for reading my book review for To Cage a God by Elizabeth May. To Cage a God is out on February 20th 2024 and is available to pre-order from any of the links in this review.

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