A List of Cages

by Robin Roe

[Leah]

A List of Cages is one of those books that you’ll be thinking about long, long, long after you’ve finished reading. It’s the kind of book that you know you will never be able to fully do justice to – in reviews, on social media, telling your friends. It’s an immensely powerful read, that deals with many, many horrific things, things you would never expect in such a short novel, from the synopsis or the cover, but Robin Roe has done it all justice. It’s an astonishing debut novel.

This actually reads like a younger novel, especially Julian’s POV, but this is most definitely meant for more mature audiences, teenagers who can handle everything in the book, because it genuinely isn’t a pleasant read. There’s moments that made me happy inside, but they were always tempered by the other stuff, and it made me cringe. I was 15% into the novel and I knew I just wanted to keep Julian safe from everyone around him, because people can be real jerks. The people at school, mocking him for liking a book, at least he reads; I can’t stand bullying. In any form, and it just riled me up because it always happens to the ones who wouldn’t hurt flies. Julian seemed so much younger than fourteen (nearly fifteen) and I felt so protective towards him, I just wanted to shake everyone around him and ask them to stop being such horrible, awful human beings.

Then enter Adam, who is like an excitable puppy. He suffers from ADHD, can’t really stand being left in one place too long because he gets bored, but he was like a ray of blinding sunshine, after a horrible storm. He lit the book up, and the way he treated Julian made me want to cry all over again – it’s genuinely amazing what a little bit of kindness can achieve; to see Julian coming out of himself a bit more, talking to Adam, spending time with Adam and his friends, knowing what it’s like to have actual friends, it was just the most emotional heart-strings-pulling event ever. Their friendship, the kindness they show to each other (because it’s not one sided, Adam isn’t being Julian’s pity friend) it all just adds up to me being an emotional mess.

This was honestly such a hard read, but such an important read. I had no idea going in what was going to happen, no idea it would get so emotional, so hard to read, that I would literally want to pull my eyes out so I didn’t have to read any more. I was incredibly close to putting it in the freezer, Joey style. Robin Roe is an incredibly storyteller, and A List of Cages is an incredible, heart-breaking book.