The Verdant Cage by Jess Lourey – Book Review

Book Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian

Spice: Mild

Summary:

Noah’s Valley is an egalitarian community where each House has a different responsibility. Separated from the outside world by a wall covered in green vines, Noah’s Valley is a place of peace and harmony, or so its residents thought. Rose Allgood, a 17-year-old raised in the Apothecary House, is about to marry Gryphon Tzu of the Guardian House as arranged by the Bookkeeper of the Valley. But just before the ceremony, her mother is murdered, and her brother is blamed.

Suddenly Rose is separated from her family and placed in the care of the Tzu house. The Tzu house is a maze of tensions, but Rose is focused on trying to find her mother’s real murderer to clear her brother’s name. As she follows the clues, Rose will find that her quiet life of following the Valley’s rules won’t save her from the machinations of those in power, and that their idyllic community isn’t what everyone thought it was.

Reaction:

The Verdant Cage is an exciting, fast-paced dystopian novel about a girl who must challenge everything she believes to try to find her mother’s killer, rescue her brother, and save her society. I really enjoyed the way the world-building was integrated with the narrative, the FMC was consistent, relatable and had great character development, and the twists were surprising. I was hooked by the fast-paced nature and the underlying power dynamics of Noah’s Valley.

I loved the beginning of the book. It started with the plot right away, but established Noah’s Valley in a way that was so integrated, it didn’t slow anything down. That momentum stayed consistent the rest of the novel. While I appreciated the fast pace, at times I thought it might be a bit too quick, not allowing enough time for the FMC to stop and think about her experiences which could have helped emphasize the themes in this dystopian novel, like corrupt leadership, or what is legal vs. ethical. I really enjoyed the twists, I didn’t see them coming at all, but the ending was very chaotic and there wasn’t a satisfying conclusion to any of the plotlines in my opinion, which was a big let down after the beginning of the novel was so strong.

I thought the setting was one of this novel’s strong points. It’s reminiscent of other popular dystopian novels where people are split into functions, but the premise and the rules were unique enough to differentiate it in my opinion. There are lots of politics underpinning the actions in the book. Even if Rose wasn’t directly participating, she was greatly impacted by them. I loved the way societal norms of the colony were introduced through Rose’s thoughts and reactions to events in the moment rather than a long-winded explanation up front. I do wish the revelations about the community towards the end of the book had been better integrated into the conclusions and themes of the novel.

I liked the FMC, Rose. I really connected with certain aspects of her character like how events in her youth made her think she had to follow the laws to a T, and her feelings on how that isolated her from others. She was definitely an unreliable narrator; she was constantly switching up who she trusted, which made it hard for me to keep track of who was who in Noah’s Valley. The MMC, Gryphon, was a very conflicted character: he wanted to do right by society, but he also wanted his father’s love, and those two wants were in constant opposition. He’s a good parallel to Rose who also was conflicted about how to do the right thing, and both their characters have good development as they attempt to answer that question. As for the supporting characters, I thought there were too many that weren’t distinct enough in their characterization. It took me forever to establish who was loyal to who and what their motivations were for those minor characters, even though they were important to the plot.

I enjoyed the romance in this book. Rose and Gryphon are kind of thrown together since their marriage is arranged, but I loved the idea that they used to be friends as children, then drifted apart. Their relationship is very typical of YA in that there’s a lot of drama from misunderstanding and miscommunication, but I thought the course of the relationship was realistic for their circumstances while still being swoon-worthy occasionally.

While I wished the ending had been more conclusive, I enjoyed the book overall. It’s in the same vein as those popular YA dystopian novels that came before, such as Divergent or the Hunger Games, but I think there are certain elements that could bring a totally different social commentary if they are continued in a follow-up book, which I would look forward to reading since there are so many unanswered questions at the end of the novel.

Thanks to Entangled Publishing for an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.

What I enjoyed:

·       Rose established her own morals outside of the laws of her society. She starts out small, but gets more confident as time goes on, which was one of the things I enjoyed about her character.

·       The way the world-building was tied in so effortlessly with the plot. Someone who’s not a reader of intricate worlds could read this book with ease.

·       I truly didn’t see any of the twists coming, which was exciting!

What I didn't enjoy:

·       The messages and themes seemed clear at the beginning of the book, but I felt they got lost a bit in favor of the plot at the end because I didn’t walk away with any strong notion of what it was trying to say about society, which is a hallmark of the dystopian genre.