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    The Cage
    The Cage
    The Cage
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Cage

    Written by Megan Shepherd

    Narrated by Barrie Kreinik

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    “Gripping and addictive—Shepherd has delivered again! A captivating mix of intrigue, deft twists, and complex questions, this is a must-read.”—Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, New York Times bestselling authors of These Broken Stars

    The Maze Runner meets Scott Westerfeld in this new series Kirkus Reviews calls “swoon-worthy and thrilling” about teens held captive in a human zoo by an otherworldly race. From Megan Shepherd, the acclaimed author of the Madman’s Daughter trilogy.

    When Cora Mason wakes in a desert, she doesn’t know where she is or who put her there. As she explores, she finds an impossible mix of environments—tundra next to desert, farm next to jungle, and a strangely empty town cobbled together from different cultures, all watched over by eerie black windows. And she isn’t alone.

    Four other teenagers have also been taken: a beautiful model, a tattooed smuggler, a secretive genius, and an army brat who seems to know too much about Cora’s past. None of them have a clue as to what happened, and all of them have secrets. As the unlikely group struggles for leadership, they slowly start to trust each other. But when their mysterious jailer appears—a handsome young guard called Cassian—they realize that their captivity is more terrifying than they could ever imagine: their captors aren’t from Earth. And they have taken the five teenagers for an otherworldly zoo—where the exhibits are humans.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMay 26, 2015
    ISBN9780062420947
    Author

    Megan Shepherd

    Megan Shepherd was "born" into the book world, growing up in her parents' independent bookstore in Western North Carolina. She is the author of THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER trilogy. When Megan is not writing, she can usually be found horseback riding, day dreaming at coffee shops, or hiking in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains.

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    Reviews for The Cage

    3.5/5

    58 ratings10 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Cora awakens to find herself in a habitat with some other teens her age. Her last memory is of riding with her brother to a resort to meet with their parents. All of the others have also been snatched from their lives and put in the habitat too. They are being experimented on by aliens called the Kindred. Cora soon meets the Caretaker - Cassian - who explains what is required of them and befriends Cora.The kids are paired up and Cora's partner is Lucky. He knew of Cora on Earth since she is a senator's daughter. But their relationship is closer than Cora can imagine. Cora has just spent 18 months in juvenile detention for manslaughter when she took the fall for her father's drunk driving which killed a woman - Lucky's mother. The experience has left her with claustrophobia and insomnia. It has also left her much stronger than she realizes.A lot of time is spent developing the setting which pits the kids against each other. The other kids are a bullied genius, a girl who was sold by her Thai parents into what turns out to be a London escort agency, and an Australian near-criminal. Added to the mix is another girl who has been with the aliens since she was a young child. The alien scientists are constantly testing them and putting pressure on them. They seem to be doing things to isolate Cora from the rest of the group and force her to turn to Cassian. Shades of Stockholm Syndrome!The story was an interesting psychological study. It clearly sets up sequels.
    • 5/5
      photographer joins polar bear expedition, terrifying, suspenseful, quick fun read
    • 4/5
      It was a little confusing at the beginning of the story, mostly because I hadn't read a whole lot about the book, so I didn't really know what to expect, though having read Megan Shepherd's work before, I wasn't too worried. As the story progressed, we get little glimpses of the characters and where they are coming from until we get a more complete picture towards the end of the story. Having all of the characters be from the various locations and backgrounds worked well in this story.It was a little hard to connect with Cora's plan to escape, as she really didn't have a "Plan", but just aimed to get out of the enclosure. On one hand that made sense as she really didn't know what to expect once they were out, but on the other had, it didn't work for me when she was going to run from one alien species to another without knowing anything about them. It would have seemed a little more likely if there was more information about the other species, or if she had more of a plan of what to do when she got to them.The ending to this was a little surprising. I wasn't completely shocked, but it was a different twist to go on for the next book. I will be watching for the next one just to see where she goes from here.
    • 4/5
      Fast paced story with some interesting twists, particularly in the last 50 pages!
    • 4/5
      "Taken, Trapped, Falling"... Wow this book was so good! I skipped eating again. LOL Everything Megan Shepherd has written I've absolutely loved. It's a lot different from her retelling series though but she nailed this one too. Basically, several teenagers wake-up in the desert with no idea how they got there or why...

      And that's all I'm going to say because I don't want to give it away. : ) It's really better if you just experience this one without any prior influence or knowledge going in. I will say though it's like a cross between Alive, The 5th Wave and Salt & Stone but if you get the book, don't even read the synopsis! : )
    • 2/5
      This book just didn't grab my attention. The premise was interesting and the setting okay, but the characters were all unlikeable and Cora, the main protagonist did some really stupid things. As for the 'love triangle' which included the alien jailor, that was totally unbelievable. I hope the sequel is better, but I won't be reading it to find out.
    • 2/5
      Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Lord of the Flies meets The Hunger Games in an extra-terrestrial experiment using human teenagers as the test subjects.Opening Sentence: There are certain things the mind cannot comprehend.The Review:There were elements to this story that reminded me first of Lord of the Flies and then The Hunger Games. LotF because that was a story of a group of children stuck on an island with no way back home. And how their separation from civilisation affects and changes them. The Hunger Games similarity was because this too was a story of alliance’s being made, children forced to make adult choices and savage-like behaviour towards the end. Plus, the entire concept of the cage and the kindred watching from outside and playing mind games by artificially altering the habitats reminded me of the dome and the gamekeepers of THG.There was one thing she had learned, living caught between human and the Kindred world. It didn’t matter what race you came from: there were good and bad among every species.There were parts of the story that I liked reading but this was mostly towards the end of the book because though it was an interesting concept, my attention started to wander towards the middle of the book. The build up to their planned escape was dragged out to the point that I thought, ‘if you’re going to die then hurry up and get on with it already!’But Lucky was wrong when he thought being here could be a fresh start. There were no fresh starts for caged birds. There was only as much freedom as their captors wished to give them.Lucky began winding me up because he was infatuated with Cora, yet he knew nothing about her, except the past that linked them both. I think his guilt created a connection that he wasn’t willing to let go of, and he could not see past it or how determined Cora was on escaping.Mali pushed back her fallen braid. “If we can escape this enclosure, I know the paths through the aggregate station. If you help me free Anya, then I will take you to the market and the Mosca. They help escaped humans sometimes. For the right price. Your hair will fetch a ship alone. Information is more expensive. A finger to know if Earth is still there. Maybe two.”She spoke so casually. Cora ran her thumb over her knuckles, feeling the hardness beneath flesh. “I’ll give them all ten fingers and ten toes, if that’s what it takes.”The last few chapters were quite entertaining, mainly because the story finally picked up speed and because of Cassian. I honestly loved his character and, no spoilers but, regardless of how the story panned out I still felt so sorry for him. The way he literally gave Cora the stars was cheesy but so sweet, especially since as an ‘alien’ he lacks the ability to feel, or so I was led to believe.Nok was the most irritating queen bee possible, and her continuous manipulation of the boys and tendency to resort to tears when things wouldn’t go her way was childish to say the least. She reminded me more of a spoiled little girl than a mature model and love really is blind if genius Rolf couldn’t see past her plans.Leon and Mali’s pairing disappointed me the most. Leon had such a strong initial reaction to Mali entering the cage, I actually felt like something big would happen, but then he sort of disappeared and that was it. I didn’t understand that and I kept waiting for him to return and for something to happen between the two seeing as he felt the bond too but it just didn’t happen.It might sound like I’m very critical of this story and I’m not overly impressed but I admit that I am intrigued. I want to know what happens in the next book because I know Cassian will have a stronger role and there will (hopefully) be some character developments but I’m not convinced if I would want to read it, given my mixed feelings for the first book in this series. We’ll just have to wait and find out.Notable Scene:“What are you waiting for?” she asked.“I am wondering if I am doing the right thing.” His voice was distant, as though he was speaking more to himself. “Perhaps I am making a mistake.”Cora stepped closer, letting the light play over her face, which she knew must look sunken and worn. “Sometimes mistakes are worth making.”The muscles in his neck constricted. His hand tightened and flexed at his side as he turned away from the light, and shadows ate at his features. “The ways in which human and Kindred think is so very different. Mistakes in our world are to be avoided at all cost, because they betray a lack of intelligence, just like lesser emotions. It is sometimes difficult to understand you when you say such things-that sometimes mistakes are worth making.”FTC Advisory: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins provided me with a copy of The Cage. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
    • 4/5
      I wanted to read The Cage because it sounded like a new take on the fantasy/dystopia genre, with the teens being captive by another species. I liked the sound of the forbidden romance aspect, that is always something that gets my attention. And plus the cover is stunning and as shallow as I know that sounds, that is always a big plus. I liked Cora, one of the main characters right away. Even though we find out that she has been in a detention center, accused of manslaughter, she just seemed like a normal person. I wanted to find out what was going on, and in the next chapter we meet Lucky, who obviously knows pieces to that past. But they are together, with killer headaches, in a strange terrain where its snowy, desert, and ocean all in walking distance of one another. They are in strange clothes and have no idea how they ended up there. And to top it off, they are faced with a dead body that neither knows anything about. With the taste of who the characters are, the strange place they've shown up, the hints of the mystery in their past, the first few chapters were certainly enough to have me hooked. Cora was on her way to the mountains with her parents and brother, both of which she seems to cherish, but Lucky thinks of them differently. All I know is that his mom is dead and Lucky is angry with her dad, and he feels a lot of guilt for something. But that can't even be their first priority. Its the dead girl, shelter, and figuring out their new reality. It was interesting to get to know the secondary characters, the Caretaker aka Cassian with whom we see the forbidden budding romance with Cora, seeing his soft spot for her, and trying to figure out his motivations, as well as the numerous agendas and other humans they have set up. Nok, the other living girl and Rolf and Leon all have different pasts, strengths and weaknesses, and its neat when they are working together. But they can't help but doubt one another and wonder if the others are somehow a plant or working against them. The love triangle was kinda weird, with the forbidden romance and then the connection and somewhat chemistry with her and Lucky. I hope that it goes one way or the other sooner rather than later though. Cora was very strong and determined. She was also always thinking of others even after they'd hurt her, or even if she made sacrifices for them. She wouldn't accept the cage, and didn't want to accept that earth could be gone for good. She wanted to escape and she fought the whole time for that. There were a lot of twists and surprises at the end, and I almost predicted a few things, but most blind sided me. I will be continuing the series, and can't wait to find out what happens next. Bottom Line: Fast paced with a unique premise.
    • 5/5
      I got a copy of this book through Edelweiss to review. I was a huge fan of Shepherd’s Madman’s Daughter trilogy and was excited to read something new by her. This book is completely different from the Madman’s Daughter, but was just as enjoyable.Cora wakes up to find herself in a strange desert and quickly realizes that she is one of a group of teens that has woken up to find themselves in a strange sort of world surrounded by black windows. Soon they meet the Caretaker (Cassian) an alien being who explains that they are have put in a habitat for their own good and only have to follow three rules. The Caretaker seems cold to everyone but Cora, he seems to have a strange affinity for her. Cora is determined to break out and go home, but what the Caretaker reveals changes everything Cora knows.This was a very well done young adult sci-fi thriller. The story was incredibly gripping and hard to put down. It started a bit slow, but once the story got going I couldn't stop reading. The story reminds a bit of a Survivor-type scenario but the characters aren't fighting each other...instead they are expected to co-exist and make a new society for themselves.The relationship that develops between Cora and the Caretaker, Cassian, is interesting and absolutely engrossing. It was very well done and completely unpredictable. Both Cora and Cassian are incredibly well done characters and were very engaging to read about.The side characters weren’t quite as well done. We do hear from their points of view quite a bit, but I never engaged with them like I did with Cora and Cassian. As the story continues Cora discovers that there are a lot of issues going on outside of their struggles in their habitat. The universe is a very different place from what Cora expected it to be. Although this is a very different type of story from the Madman’s Daughter there are a lot of familiar elements here. Shepherd has a wonderfully lyrical writing style that is easy to read. She also continues to push at the boundaries of what is comfortable; some things in this story are bizarre, grotesque, and they brush up against my boundaries of what is comfortable to read (but never cross them). So that’s just a warning to those who found the Madman’s Daughter to be too disturbing; this book pushes those same types of boundaries.Overall I really loved this book a lot, I wasn't sure what to expect but I ended up loving it. There is some excellent world-building here, a little bit of sci-fi thriller, a wonderful mystery, and some excellent characters. It’s a creative idea and I am very curious to see where the story ends up going. I would definitely recommend to those who enjoy YA science fiction and to those who enjoyed Shepherd’s previous series. This series is a lot different than the Madman’s Daughter, but it still has Shepherd’s unique blend of lyrical writing and scenes that push just a bit too far into the weird and odd corners of the world. I can’t wait to see what book 2 holds.
    • 3/5
      Fun entertaining premise. Some teens are abducted by aliens and cage in a habitat for the enjoyment and education of the aliens. So the story is about the reactions of these teens. I like it but it has a little too much teen angst.