Book Review: Cage of Deceit
Book Title: Cage of Deceit (Reign of Secrets #1)
Author: Jennifer Anne Davis
Purchase: Amazon
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Description from Goodreads:
Sixteen-year-old Allyssa appears to be the ideal princess of Emperion--she's beautiful, elegant, and refined. She spends her days locked in a suffocating cage, otherwise known as the royal court. But at night, Allyssa uses her secret persona--that of a vigilante--to hunt down criminals and help her people firsthand.
Unfortunately, her nightly escapades will have to wait because the citizens of Emperion may need saving from something much bigger than common criminals. War is encroaching on their kingdom and in order to protect her people, Allyssa may have to sacrifice her heart. Forced to entertain an alliance through marriage with a handsome prince from a neighboring kingdom, she finds herself feeling even more stifled than before. To make matters worse, the prince has stuck his nosy squire, Jarvik, to watch her every move.
Jarvik is infuriating, bossy and unfortunately, the only person she can turn to when she unveils a heinous plot. Together, the unlikely pair will have to work together to stop an enemy that everyone thought was long gone, one with the power to destroy her family and the people of Emperion. Now the cage Allyssa so longed to break free from might just be the one thing she has to fight to keep intact. In order to save her kingdom, she will have to sacrifice her freedom, her heart, and maybe even her life.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
So, I finished this book in a single sitting, somewhere between five and six hours. It ended on a big cliffhanger — which the author does warn you about right at the beginning — so I immediately dove into the sequel, proving just how effective, albeit occasionally annoying, cliffhangers can be. Davis’s writing style is very readable; the chapters fly by, the book isn’t particularly dense, and the action is really consistent. The characters are enjoyable and believable, with the story feeling historically accurate in regards to day-to-day life and court politics — this is, after all, high fantasy.
That being said, after the first chapter, the book gets off to a slow, predictable start and while eventually the action picks up, the predictable plot is along for the entire ride. It shares some similar themes and explorations as the Throne of Glass series. Overall, the plot is nothing new: two kingdoms at war, good guys versus bad guys, subverting the damsel-in-distress trope, big secrets coming to light left and right. But honestly, all that familiarity is exactly what I was looking for and I’m definitely a satisfied customer.
Allyssa is a fantastic heroine and protagonist. She’s precocious and intelligent, wise and mature beyond her sixteen years, as I would expect for a future monarch raised with the best tutors and advisors, along with caring parents, and a relatively stable reign up until this point. She demands gender equality and holds herself to a high standard, especially where defense is concerned, so that she never has to rely on someone else for safety. While she’d really like to marry for love — or at least, marry for the potential of love — she’s also willing to put her personal feelings aside and do what’s right for her kingdom. I really admire Allyssa’s leadership abilities and the way she seems to know herself so well, especially at such a young age. At one point, Jarvik asks Allyssa what she’s looking for in a potential husband and her answer is just so thoughtful, it throws even Jarvik off-guard.
Speaking of the prince’s squire, Jarvik is unfathomably hostile. However, I greatly enjoyed his verbal sparring matches with Allyssa. And he’s shown to be a formidable swordsmen, well-versed in his country’s politics, and fiercely protective. Prince Odar, on the other hand, is a handsome, lazy oaf — how I imagine Bloodline’s Adrian if he never met Sydney, the love of his life. Luckily for us readers, Allyssa lets Odar know just how not interested she is in him right to his face and it’s glorious.
Jarvik’s immediate disgust with Allyssa was comical in its bizarreness and irrationality. We’re talking a severe reaction along the lines of Eduard visibly gagging alongside strawberry-shampooer Bella Swan the first time the legendary vampire and doe-eyed damsel-in-distress met. Like, what is this recurring YA element? I find this so, so weird. Allyssa, for her part, reacts like, What the frak, dude?! In pretty much every interaction with Jarvik, she comes out the bigger person, even though he’s always saying otherwise. Jarvik, what is your actual problem?
I absolutely adored the family dynamic between Allyssa and her parents, King Darmik and Queen Rema. The three are so loving and supportive of each other. Their family seems to be built around open communication, individual autonomy, and inner strength. Rarely do we see monarchs who let their heirs decide their own fates, particularly where political marriages are concerned. But Darmik and Rema choose to trust Allyssa’s judgement. Additionally, Darmik empowers Allyssa with fighting and defensive skills, while Rema counsels Allyssa on becoming a wise strategist who puts her people first. This family single-handedly kicks the patriarchy’s butt.
Toward the end of the book, I became frustrated by how long it took to reveal the “twist,” especially since the author created so many opportunities for the reveal. Scenes that were intended to build suspense — “You’re going to hate me when you learn the truth…” — really just came across as unnecessarily melodramatic. However, I ultimately understood where the characters were coming from and felt that their actions aligned with the amount of information they had and their inexperience when it came to courting.
Overall, I thought this was a delightful, solid start to a series. Davis does a great job showing instead of telling. She creates a believable world, compelling characters, and a satisfying action-packed adventure. You can tell Davis is setting up a lot of moving pieces for the rest of the series to come, and while some of these machinations are transparent, I’m still looking forward to seeing Allyssa’s journey unfold. This definitely feels like a world and a cast of characters worth investing in. I would recommend for fans of the Steel and Fire series, The Queen’s Rising, and The Red Queen.
