Firstly I would like to give a HUGE thankyou to susannevalenti for sending me this ARC. The book will be available on October 1st and you can buy the kindle edition on Amazon for only £1.99 (GBP) which is an INCREDIBLE price for the story this book holds ~ click the word ‘Amazon’ above for the link to the book. Chained is book #1 in the Cage of Lies saga which will contain 5 books (Chained, Linked, Broken, Bound and Free).

About The Author

Susanne Vanlenti is a dystopian / sci-fi author. Her day job is working with her family running a boarding cattery🐱 She is married and has four fur-babies; two cats and two dogs. She loves everything and anything from The Walking Dead to Game of Thrones to Made in Chelsea. “I love a story that draws me in, keeps me hooked and leaves me wanting more and hopefully that’s what I create.” (She does she really does!!!)

The Blurb

Terrified of the contamination and the creatures it has created, humanity hides behind The Wall. No one knows what lies beyond the wasteland. Maya has never thought much about what might still be out there, lurking in the forgotten places. But when she’s thrust into the unknown, she is forced to question everything she has ever been told. Not everyone outside died, some of them became something…else. As her heart is torn in two, every choice she makes is harder than the last. What she discovers will change her forever. She knows she will proberbly die, but Maya has seen enough death and she won’t let it have her without a fight. The cage of lies encases them and only the truth can set them free.

My Review

This book was my first ever ARC and I’m so grateful and lucky I got this book as my first ARC! I read this book in 3 sittings & 2 short bus journeys & I LOVED IT SO MUCH!!! I’m a HUGE fan of the dystopian genre after writing my own short story in this genre as part of my AS Level English Language coursework (thinking of maybe posting it on my blog if I get it edited a bit more, please let me know what you think in the comments) so if you are also a huge dystopian fan you will L-O-V-E this book!!! As always this review will be spoiler free so don’t worry & read ahead!!! The story is narrated and told from the prospective of the main character, 17 year old Maya. There is also snippets (short chapters) taken from the view of other characters but this is done very carefully and you can clearly tell who is speaking so their is no confusion which is a problem I’ve dealt with books I’ve read before so this was really good!! The story explores a world where humanity lives within ‘The Wall’ created by the ‘guardians’ and they live by the guardians rules in order to keep everyone safe (classic dystopian set up). Then there is the creepy creatures that also lurk outside the walls….if you thought that the make-believe beasts in the hunger games were bad then wait to you get a load of these!!! What I loved most about this book was how the pace within it was quick which made you want to keep on reading and reading (I literally sat for 5 hours today reading non stop to finish the book). I also loved the idea of The Wall and the ‘contamination’ threat that lurked on the other side of it which made it seem all that more interesting when you find out more about the guardians……(no spoilers so you have to go read to find out!!!) I also loved Maya as a narrator despite how bad she had it (for real she had it baddddd) she never stopped fighting and it made me kind of admire her for that. I also loveeeeddddd the way she went into so much detail describing things (there is some really good world building in this book which I loveeeeeee). I also LOVED Taylor & it made me pretty sad that he was only in the opening and ending of the book (he missed all the fun!!!) so if I could change anything it would be to have more of my boy Taylor in there. THE LOVE TRIANGLE MANNNN I honestly don’t know who to ship I loved Maylor at first but then Moal I DONT KNOWWWWWW…. But seriously this is my favourite dystopian read of the year so far and I honestly cannot WAIT for the next book!!!! I’m super excited to tell you all that I will be a part of launching the cover for book two so make sure you all check back in on the 5th of October to see 🙂

I recommend this book to EVERYONE and especially those who love dystopian 🙂

My Rating

For an epic kick ass dystopian novel that has become my favourite dystopian of the year I give this book… 5 /5 stars⭐️