Book Review: I Am The Cage by Allison Sweet Grant

I Am The Cage by Allison Sweet Grant opens with nineteen year old Elisabeth working and living in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. It's quiet and isolated and a place she can be anonymous. However, when the town has a massive snowstorm that shuts the entire town down, Elisabeth allows herself to seek out and accept help from the sheriff named Noah. When she starts to open up to Noah, Elisabeth realizes that she can't hide from her childhood trauma.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of I Am The Cage by Allison Sweet Grant. The synopsis was intriguing, so I was thrilled to be approved to read an early copy of this young adult novel.

This story was told from the perspective of the main character of Elisabeth, and it was told from the present day and flashbacks to the characters childhood of the pain she endured from a medical treatment. The alternating storylines were done exceptionally well, and I felt so bad for the character's younger self. There were themes of family, friends, and romance included in the story. If you're not a fan of romance, you don't have to worry about that part being over the top as it was very subtle. I enjoyed the story quite a bit, I found that it was drawn out more than it needed to be. Additionally, I kept waiting for more of a twist than what we received, so that was a bit disappointing.

As far as characters go, there are a limited amount of them throughout the story so it's easy to keep them all straight. Even though we get to know Elisabeth quite well through her flashbacks, I feel like we don't know her all that well in the present timeline. It's as if the author is keeping her at an arms length from the reader. When it comes to the sheriff, the author does a great job of dropping tidbits of his past throughout the story, but he still feels a bit two dimensional as does his brother who doesn't have much character development if any.

Exceptionally well-written, I Am The Cage by Allison Sweet Grant was a intriguing read that gives readers an insight to a specific medical treatment that leaves the audience feeling empathetic and hopefully more compassionate. Four out of five stars is what I rated this young adult novel.

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