Uncover A Gilded Cage (Chronicles Of An Urban Druid, #1) Scripted By Auburn Tempest Format Ebook

received a free copy of this book from Tantor audio, I voluntarily reviewed it.

I liked the idea of an Urban Druid and when I saw that this one was narrated by Rachel Dulude I jumped on the chance to listen to this one.
I can definitely recommend the audio version as the narrator did a great job with this.
Unfortunately something was missing to really push this story to astar for me,

A Gilded Cage is told from the point of view of Fiona, Fiona lives in Toronto with her family, She has a great life, but things are getting shaken up when a mysterious magical tattoo appears on her back and she jumps on the first place to Ireland after an invite from her just discovered grandparents.
What follows is the revelation that she is a druid and her discovering her powers and trying to figure out what to do next.


In general I liked the idea of the story and there are plenty of great and fun scenes.
I did feel that sometimes the story lacked a bit of a solid direction or a red line to where the story is going.
It mostly felt like a sum of multiple scenes related to her druidness, There is a bit at the end where there is a bad guy, but most of the story before that didn't really deal with it.
Nevertheless it was still entertaining, I also thought it was a bit full of popular culture references,

I liked Fiona well enough, although she felt a bit like the typical snarky and sassy urban fantasy protagonist.
She had her moments where I really liked her, but also parts where I just would've liked to connect to her a bit more.
There are a few scenes where she realized she did something wrong and I liked those.
As well as the few where she knows her path and stands her ground, I also liked how while she was new to all this druid stuff she did her best and learned as fast as she could.
I liked how much she cared for her family,

There are some interesting side characters, Fiona has a big family as well as some friends and then people she meets in Ireland and more.
I did struggle remembering which brother was who, she has a whole bunch of them and most of the time all I remembered was that the person talking was one of her brothers.
They don't have a enough page time and enough distinction for me to remember more than that.
There are two possible love interests, but it's really only a possible hint at this point and only at the end of the book Fiona is even thinking in that direction.
The rest of the book she's too busy with becoming a druid, I liked her bear, he has quite the personality and I liked Fiona's bond with him.


I am so glad I listened to the audio version of this one, Rachel Dulude did an awesome job narrating this one, All the Irish accents and words really brought that Irish feel to those characters and places.
I liked all the different voices and accents she did for the characters,

To summarize: I had a fun time listening to this one, It just was missing something for me to really push it up to astar, I liked the idea of an urban druid, although that's only introduced later in the book.
the plot feels a bit meandering and without clear direction at times, The start felt a bit slow as there is a lot Fiona has to learn, Fiona was likable enough, although I never liked her as much as I wanted to, She felt a bit like the typical snarky and sassy urban fantasy protagonist, I liked her care for her family and how she stood up for what she wanted and also was willing to admit her mistakes.
I really liked the narrator for this book and the way she did all the voices and accents.
I'm not entirely sure where I picked up the kindle edition of this book, but it gave me a discount on the audiobook, so what does that matter

I don't know exactly what to say about this book.
It had many things that I liked, and some things that irked me more on that below but generally, it

was enjoyable.
There were a bit too many male characters involved, I had trouble keeping them separate from each other, as they were mostly introduced in a bunch.


One of the things that irked me was how the author didn't seem to write action scenes.
In some cases, they skipped right over discussions and fights, and gave us a flashback of it instead of letting us experience it.
In other cases, they would ruin the flow of a scene by throwing in a ''shit.
And then everything blew up'', or something similar, It's OK if it's done once or twice, when it actually fit the scene, but it didn't here.
Every action sequence started with a ''and then things happened'', and then we're told what happened if we don't get a flashback in the next chapter.


The other thing that irked me isn't related to the writing or craft of a book, but more the subtle meaning of things said.
There was one scene, in a cellar, that felt thrown in so the author could state their opinion about ''snobby Europeans'' and how we ''don't allow worship of different religions'', which is just plain wrong.
It didn't feel like a story moment, but more like the author wanted to tell everybody about this view point.

As an European Norwegian, to be precises I can say that all religions and lifestyles are welcome.
Sure, there are some shitheads that don't respect diversity, but that's the minority, And yes, we're proud of our heritage, but so are the nonnative inhabitants of America, Why else would you all make such a fuss about where your ancestors came from
The point I'm trying to make, I think, is that there's nothing wrong with taking pride in your story, as long as you respect others wish to do the same, and I really didn't feel like the author did that.
At least not in a good way, It felt like a jab,

And I now realize I'm ranting about this, so I'll stop the review here, before I dig myself further into a hole of annoyance.

The things mentioned aren't enough to keep me from continuing on with the series, for I'm very much in a mood for things that feel old, and despite this book being set in our time, the way it introduced Old World magic and traditions other than the thing mentioned above fullfils that need.
At least for now.

I think the only thing I'll finish with, is that I wish this book was longer, or split into two, so we could take part in more of the MC's training and how she handled the sudden change in her world.
It felt sudden and very superficial, and left something to be desired, Intrigue galore

Anderle and Tempest certainly dont disappoint with A Gilded Cage, in fact, they make you crave for more.
Fiona has a decision to make step up and take on the family heritage or walk away and let her Granda die.
However, she doesnt realise what taking on her family heritage fully entails and the ride of her life is just beginning.

Fantastic characters and storyline that made it a hard to put down until finished kind of book.
Now to sit patiently waiting for the next book in this series that has me seriously imagining what could possibly happen next! Loved it

I must say that Michael Anderle knows how to pick a coauthor! He always seems to blend effortlessly into their writing.
This story of an Irish family settled in Canada is a case in point, I couldnt tell you who wrote what, Fiona Cumhaill knows that her father is a good upright man, He is a police officer and every one of her brothers has taken the same path.
The family lost their mother at a young age and Fi stepped up into her place.
That didnt mean that she didnt have a rough and tumble with her five brothers but she was the only child who her Da didnt want joining the force.
The authors bring out the rough but good hearted traditional Irish, brawling family, The one constant is their love for each other, But one night Fi gets caught up in an abduction situation where she fights for a friend.
Then the strange things start to happen, Firstly, she acquires a Celtic tattoo which just appeared after the fight, Then she finds out that she has a grandfather and grandma in Ireland, who want to meet her.
Then she learns about her Druid heritage and not only her but her brothers also, There are mysteries to be solved and Fi is the one to step up, Looking forward to the next book! This is the first book in 'An Urban Druid' story series.


I wasn't able to find a book description for this one, . . so will try to summarize, Fionna is girl aroundthat lives in Toronto, Canada with her father and several siblings, whom all of are officers.
One night she is in an altercation and a tattoo starts appearing on her back, Wanting to know more about it, she ends up running to Ireland their home country to seek family to help explain what is going on.
While there she learns she is a druid, and of an important line, She does some training, then runs home to Canada, to try to prove she can be an urban druid.


That pretty much sums it up, The book reads about that fast as well, Like many other books I have read from Anderle, there is no thick and heavy plot to tediously read through and decipher to figure out what is happening, or going to happen.
There is not much of anything "deep" at all, Characters have very little of background, except when something has to be explained that was 'thought', or 'acted on' by a character.
No descriptions really of characters or the world around them, unless it is a pertinent detail tot he story.


I picked this one up as I do like druid stories, urban or otherwise, and thought maybe it would have a little twist in the story.
As stated before, I wasn't expecting a heavy story, and it does read nice and fast.
I did like the basic storyline, of how she finds out about being a druid, and some of the other stuff.
But at other times, I felt the story was being rushed, and they were trying to cram too many events into one book.
I don't know if it was for word count purposes, or actual detail that is going to be important later.
Some of the events were just, . . "What Why'd that happen Oh, for that, . . ". Like many of Anderle's books, everything happens to the main character, . . good or bad and they always win their way through it with minimal injury, or it miraculously or magically is healed.


I will admit that regardless how I feel about the writing technique, I did enjoy the story and will be watching for the next book in the series.
Too much

Dnf, In the beginning, I was really digging this story, Finally thought I found myself something different, intriguing and unique, While it is still very unique, the story snowballs down hill fast with overloading information crammed into the pages I've read so far.
Its to much. The read becomes complicated with everything under the sun, and yet, with everything going on around our H.
I was struggling to understand unanswered questions revolving around our H, her grandparents, and even the back alley mugger, who I shall call since I can't even recall his name at the moment.
The story takes on a boring quality, with our H learning her roots, and more about a mixture of this and that it seems.
The read just became mundane, .