The Cage, by Megan Shepherd

Book 37 of 2015

The Cage, written by Megan Shepherd, is one of those books that just appeared online for me as I was book shopping as a “You May Enjoy…” suggestion. I’m always interested to see what books Amazon and Indigo recommend to me based on previous purchases, so I bought The Cage and it didn’t disappoint.

Following The 5th Wave‘s sci-fi route, mixed with a bit of The Maze Runner and Hunger Games-esque survival atmosphere, The Cage is about 6 characters who have been kidnapped and taken to another planet by aliens who have been monitoring them. The 6 teenagers have been put into an environment called ‘the Cage’ that has been created to feeling like their natural  habitat, Earth.

Cora Mason, smart, beautiful and daughter of a cowardly politician, is one of the teenagers who wakes up in the alien-made desert section of the Cage. She is immediately suspicious of everything and everyone around her, including the others who have been kidnapped. Cora’s a strong female lead who is relatable to readers, and I couldn’t help but cheer her on… even when she began falling for one of her captors.

Cora and her fellow hostages are told that there are three rules they must abide by, one of them being that they must procreate with one another to continue the human race. At first, everyone is mortified. But after being told that Earth no longer exists, Cora’s fellow hostages begin to side with the kidnappers. Most of the teens try to embrace being in their new environment and start abiding by all of the captors rules. Cora is left on her own to try to escape.

The Cage is book one in a three-part series, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the quick-paced read. Despite taking place in another galaxy, the book didn’t feel too Science-Fiction heavy, and was definitely a cross-genre novel. The character  development is quite good; each character has a unique back story (although I found one of the characters, Nok, has a story line that could have been explained better). My only real complaint is that it didn’t tie up any loose ends and leaves its readers with cliff hanger at the end. I much prefer a Hunger Games and Harry Potter series style of ending to each novel that wraps up a story, yet still leaves us wanting more.  This is a personal preference; I just like each book to feel quite independent.

While it’s annoying to have to wait until next year for the second book release, I would recommend giving book one shot! The Cage is a great story for lovers of YA, dystopian environments, mystery and Sci-Fi.