There’s no magic more powerful than the human spirit. This is a truly dark vision of what Britain could become when power is held only by a select few. Unfortunately, things don’t quite go to plan… The eldest daughter, Abi, has planned it out so that they can all, hopefully, complete their slave days together and in one piece. The story follows one family as they begin their slave days at the country estate of one of the most powerful Gifted families, the Jardines.

Those Gifted with magical power are in charge and everyone else is expected to spend ten years of their lives doing their ‘slave days’ in servitude to the Gifted.

In the Britain of the Gilded Cage your destiny is decided by birth. Apparently, the author Vic James, jokingly compared it to Downtown Abbey in a post Harry Potter Britain where Voldemort won. Gilded Cage completely blew me away with the darkness, beauty of language and twisty, fascinating characters. For those books that you completely fall in love with it’s hard to find the words…so you end up just pushing the book at people at screaming ‘READ IT NOW!’ It is sometimes easier to write reviews for books that fall into the medium range as you can think about what you liked and disliked. 15am) or shortly afterwards, I will be listening to and meeting the wonderful author Vic James. (If you’re reading this close to the original publication date and time (April 14th 9. I am ashamed that it has taken me so long to write this review but the main problem was that I simply loved it so much that it is hard to know what to say except – READ IT NOW! If you read no more of this review, no problem – just go out and read this book now! They will all discover whether any magic is more powerful than the human spirit. But their destinies entwine when one family enters the service of the other. The families have only one thing in common: Each has three children. In its glittering milieu move the all-powerful Jardines and the everyday Hadleys. This is the darkly decadent world of Gilded Cage. Do them young, and you’ll never get over them. Do those years when you’re old, and you’ll never get through them.

If you’re not one of the ultimate one-percenters-the magical elite-you owe them ten years of service.

In modern-day Britain, magic users control everything: wealth, politics, power-and you.

Gilded Cage by Vic James