I was excited for another Slavic-centered fantasy story, but I think To Cage a God was not the book for me. It had no glaring flaws, but it also did not have outstanding strengths. The worldbuilding was interesting, but the pacing was slow and, at times, disjointed; and I had a hard time caring about the characters outside of the obligatory 'ah, they are the main cast'.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

To Cage a God by Elizabeth May
⭐⭐⭐💫

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

This epic tale of magic, rebellion, and forbidden love had me hooked from start to finish.
In a world where ancient gods are bound to mortals, sisters Galina and Sera possess forbidden powers that make them living weapons. With their country teetering on the edge of war, they lead a rebellion against a tyrannical royal family possessed by destructive deities. As Sera reconnects with a former lover turned rebel leader, Galina infiltrates the palace and forms a dangerous bond with an isolated princess. Torn between her mission and unexpected desire, Galina must decide whether to expose the empire's lies or bring it crashing down.

"If you're a monster, then be a monster then. Show the world your teeth."

What you’ll find in To Cage a God:
✨Fantasy
✨Brutal deities
✨Espionage
✨Multi POV
✨Dual romance — one sapphic
✨A rebellion against an empire

If you're looking for an interesting audiobook that blends action, intrigue, and deep emotional connections, this one is a must-read!

I don't know why vague Russian retellings don't float my boat but it's sometimes hard to keep up with names and people when depending who is addressing you changes your name. But that is genuinely a me problem more than the book. The MF love story was lush. The FF love story was equally lush. I feel that the dragon gods could have been explained better and given more of a leading role than the politics taking the fore front. I believe this is the first in a series but it doesn't end on a cliff hanger so could be treated as a stand alone.

I may give this another go at some point in the future but the writing style annoyed me so much that I couldn’t connect with the story. Did not enjoy this and gave up halfway through.

To Cage a God is a gripping start to the "These Monstrous Gods" series. Elizabeth May's world, where gods are grafted into human bones, is as unique as it is captivating.

Sisters Galina and Sera, armed with forbidden powers, must lead a rebellion against a tyrannical empire. Sera reunites with her estranged lover, while Galina infiltrates the palace, where her growing feelings for a sharp-witted princess complicate her mission.

Highlights
1. Galina's internal conflict adds emotional layers.
2. The concept of grafted gods is fascinating.
3. Sofia Engstrand's performance enhances the story.
4. Fast-paced and full of twists.

While dense lore can be overwhelming, *To Cage a God* is a must-read for fantasy lovers.

This was a really interesting book! I always find books inspired by Slavic cultures to be so interesting and unique! I just wish we'd learned Moore about how the gods are trapped in human bodies but I'm sure that will come in future books!

"To Cage a God" dives into the complex theme of rebellion against a tyrannical regime. The story centers around Galina and Sera, sisters raised to be living weapons containing the power of caged gods. Tasked with overthrowing the cruel Alurea family who rule through devastating god-like power, the sisters find themselves on very different paths. On one side, Galina infiltrates the opulent palace, navigating courtly intrigue and a forbidden romance with a princess. Sera, on the other hand, joins the brutal rebellion movement.

Despite their contrasting approaches, both sisters grapple with the consequences of wielding immense power against a seemingly insurmountable enemy. The novel explores the moral gray areas of rebellion, the sacrifices it demands, and the potential for corruption within any revolution. "To Cage a God" challenges readers to consider the true costs of freedom and the lengths one might go to in the face of oppression.

Special thanks to NetGalley, @Bolindaaudio , and the editorial team for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC in audiobook format and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.

If you are interested in other of my book reviews, make sure to follow me on GoodReads! #ToCageaGod #NetGalley #LifeLongLearning

I really couldn’t get into this one - it seems like a great story that will lend itself to the written word much better than audio format.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for this review.

Apologies for my delay, I’ve had a very hectic few months.

Not really for me nor what I’d hoped it would be. Might adjust my expectations and try again.

This book has restored my love for fantasy romance!
The fantasy elements were balanced perfectly with the romance elements, I was rooting for both couples and the dynamics between the couples were so different but done so well.

So the plot of this book is basically rebellion, to overthrow the tyrannical empress that has Godfire an extremely rare form of Godpower.
Now these Gods are actually Dragons from another world summoned and caged within a persons bones via witchcraft that allows them to use the dragons power.
However only nobility (Alurea) have this power, not ordinary people, of course leading to abuse of power and injustice.

There are 2 swoon worthy romances in this book, the m/f relationship is second chance and their stabby banter dynamic was entertaining and easy to root for because Vitalik was a boy obsessed and we love to see it!

~”I wont stop you from leaving me Sera. It’s not in my nature. But if I found you in another lifetime, I’d hold you in my arms until the Gods themselves tried to tear us apart”
~“I’ll always belong to you, until my last breath. In this life and the next.”

The f/f relationship was also built beautifully and its kind of forbidden romance, “im supposed to hate/kill you but”
But the way they cared for each other and felt safe and supported by each other was great.
Galina holding Vasilisa while she injected her medicine was such a tender scene.

The narrator did a great job differentiating between all the women with her tone and I could easily tell who was talking. The audiobook really helped me immerse myself into the story as well with the use of the words native to the world.

I will definitely be reading book 2!

Thank you to Netgalley for the audiobook ARC! To Cage a God has been on my radar, so I was really excited to get approved for an ARC. I really liked the narration and the audiobook was good quality. My main draw was the sapphic relationship, to be honest, so I will definitely share my thoughts on that.

Aside from the relationship, I knew literally nothing about this book before I started it. The two main characters, Sera and Galina, are sisters who had gods carved into their bones, which I thought was a really cool concept. The magic system was impressive and unique, and it really drew me in. I loved the connection between the sisters, and it felt like a really realistic relationship.

The world is Russian inspired, and the fantasy setting had a great atmosphere. I do think that some of the wider world-building was not as detailed as the immediate settings, and I kept forgetting about a lot of the more distant places and people.

We mostly see the POVs of the two sisters, but we see a bit from the respective love interests and some important side characters as well. I thought the disabled representation also was connected to magic in a really important way.

I definitely enjoyed the POVs at the palace the most, definitely because of the developing relationship between Galina and the princess (the sapphic tension just killed me!) but also because of Katya who I really loved and felt so much sympathy for.

I did enjoy Sera’s POV as well, but it took me a bit more time to warm up to her love interest. I think this is mostly because they have history prior to the books, and I often struggle to immediately connect with those kinds of relationships, so I needed to see them interact more before I could understand their connection.

The book is quite romance heavy, which I didn’t mind, but it did make the plot a bit lacking. This meant that it took me quite a while to listen to the audiobook because I didn’t feel compelled to keep picking it up. A lot of the plot points were just a bit generic, so I feel like the concept wasn’t fulfilled to the best potential.

The ending felt a bit rushed, and it left me not really knowing what the overall plot of the series is, as it kind of felt like a standalone. I think this is a duology, so I may continue at some point, but I don’t think it will be a priority. Overall, I have mixed thoughts about this one.

I loved Elizabeth's May The Falconer trilogy so I had such high expectations for this but it took me a month to finish listening to the audio ARC (not a great fan of the narrator). I just thought at time the story was a bit confusing and the pace too slow. I might still read the sequel just out of curiosity.

Great premise! Hard to follow in audiobook at times because it was so complicated. Really interesting magic system. I think I may have enjoyed it more reading it because it was so complex.

To Cage a God was Russian Empire inspired romance fantasy with rebels actions, emotional struggles and cutthroat political intrigues level. But the writing also gave us those type of story that starting with throw readers straight into the events. Very busy war events without much explanation about the worldbuilding, magic system or character background. I found out my self blank, confusing in earlier chapters to get strong ground and grasp into the plot story, the character, the lore, anything...

The book also one of the rare type that the audiobook isnt deliver the story as smooth as I want. It more confusing than helper to understand the story better. I appreciate the narrator efforts to keep the Russian accent to make readers feel the atmosphere. But the emotional narrative felt so loud, confusing with names, peoples, places and very fast pace filled with struggles. I am felt confuse so many time and must cross check the ebook version.

The premise really good and I really want to love this book. Some moment of romances is really good but lack chemistry and less flesh out. I just want better, slower and smoother information sharing during storytelling, narrative and banters

Thank you to Netgalley and DAW Books and Bolinda Audio for providing copy of this ebook. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Expecting Publication : 20 February 2024

This one missed the mark a bit for me, whilst I think the narrator did an amazing job, the story fell a little bit flat for me

I found that there wasn't much world building or explanation of the magic system itself to begin with, which left me wondering if I’d zoned out and had to keep checking myself. As the story went on, it did get better, I liked that there were multiple POVs added along the way.

The romance side of the story, whilst nice in places, I found that I wasn’t really invested in them.

Not a terrible book, but not as enjoyable as others I’ve read and listened to.

I LOVED this book! I found it a little bit slow to start but it picked up a few chapters in and I couldn’t put it down! The main characters were interesting and I loved the developing relationship between Galina and Princess Vasilisa, and I was delighted with how the story ended. Such an enjoyable book and I would definitely recommend this to any fantasy fans!

This book wanted to be a lot of things bur didn't deliver. It all felt surface level, from the characters to the plot to the setting, a mish mash of other books which left me uninterested sadly halfway through.
I wanted so much to love it. Narrator did a good job however.

thank you so much to the publishers and Netgalley for this audiobook!

i think the narrator was amazing and did an amazing job. i had no issues following the story and i could easily get immersed in the book. i will definitely be looking at what other books they have narrated.

now in relation to the book itself, i think the plot was very straightforward and the overall premise was quite interesting, but sadly some of it fell flat for me. as much as i wanted to enjoy this, i was confused for a lot of it and i couldn't figure out why and then i realised that it's because there wasn't much world building or explanation of the magic system itself initially. you learn more as you go along and i think it definitely gets more interesting as you go because you get more POVs which i quite liked.
there were nice moments for the romance side but overall i was kind of disinterested for both of the relationships.

i will be reading the next book because i am curious and it had a pretty good ending.

I DNF'd this book about 54 pages in. I wasn't enjoying the writing style, I didn't really know what was going on, and that was just with 2 characters. I'm aware more are introduced as the story goes on. I had a friend get to page 180 and say the same thing, there's no world building, there's no explanation of the magic and she had no clue what was going on. Which is a shame because the cover is beautiful. Narrator was good though.

“To Cage a God” is a Russian Empire-inspired fantasy romance, where the delicate balance between power, rebellion, and divine beings, shape the destiny of its characters. The narrative centres around Galina and Sera two young women harbouring powerful gods inside, who are rescued from a burning village at a young age and thrust into a world of political intrigue and mystical forces. 

From the outset, readers are plunged into a whirlwind of information, a deluge of names, places, and concepts that unfortunately do not have a lot of explanation. The Gods within Sera and Galina hold the potential to alter the very fabric of the Empires. Yet, despite the allure of this premise, the initial lack of context makes for a confusing read, leaving readers grappling with the identities of the characters and the significance of their actions.


Against the backdrop of a society divided between the privileged Alluria nobles and oppressed commoners, the story unfolds in the capital city of Dulsk. Here, readers witness the machinations of power and the struggles of everyday life, where commoners are subject to the whims of their aristocratic overlords, including oppressive laws and mandatory donations.
Interwoven with these political dynamics are the romances that drive the narrative forward. Galina finds herself entangled with Vasilia, while Sera grapples with her complicated feelings for Vitally.


Despite its intriguing premise and richly imagined world, there is just far too much information thrown at the reader at the outset, giving a sense of constantly needing to catch up with the plot.

The narrator did a great job and had a lovely voice, making it an immersive experience.