“What was inside of me could not be destroyed.”

Synopsis

A bitter, mysterious author. A young and naive journalist. A tragic past, a dark secret, and an unforgettable tale of passion and love.WARNING: The Silver Cage is intended for mature readers; it contains graphic sensuality and strong themes including suicide, sexual identity, and self-harm.

---

Anonymous is a pseudonymous international bestseller. The Silver Cord, a companion novel to The Silver Cage, will be released in the first half of 2018.

Review

Sucker-punch.

“What was inside of me could not be destroyed.”

5 shocked stars minimum

Blank page syndrome here…
Where do I begin?
How do I write something that would be meaningful after having been punched in the face?

Let’s begin with part of the author’s acknowledgements as they are key to understanding the suffering, the unjustness and the rage you can find between these pages:

“I also, very non-ironically, need to thank the people who made me feel as dark and isolated as Cal often feels in The Silver Cage. I could not have written this book without your influence. You taught me how devastating hate can be, and you taught me almost everything I know about forgiveness.”

This book was the one to send me over the edge and see “LGBTQ” literature for what it is: love stories. Pure and simple. No gay no lesbian no…I don’t want to label them M/M or F/F or… anymore because it’s just love.
Gone my preconceived ideas about the genre.
They have been reduced to ashes by Red Feather Lakes lightning.

Caleb is the famous recluse and mysterious author.
He is handsome, charismatic and very imposing to young and naïve gamer/blogger/journalist Michael.

I won’t say much about the plot. Michael is hired to write Caleb’s portrait. Caleb has not published anything for years now. He is mysterious. Closed off. Sometimes aggressive with Michael.
What terrible secret is he hiding?
That’s it for the plot.

This story is about being trapped by your beliefs and upbringing.
It’s about wearing a mask your own life. Feeling like wearing clothes you outgrew decades ago.
It’s about the fear of being rejected would people really get to know you.
About guilt. So much guilt it nearly drives you insane.
About redemption that you crave but believe you don’t deserve
… and would probably never come.

I could describe the characters and tell you that Caleb was like a dark predator. A wild animal prowling, circling innocent preys. But behind the façade is someone who lost everything. A brilliant mind forced into silence. A human being slowly dying inside.

“Cal lived in his silver cage, though his heart had outgrown it years ago.”

Michael was his polar opposite. Usually smart and relatively confidet he is impressed by Caleb. Uncertain. Like a newborn fawn. Fascinated. Under his influence. Yet he’ll get his bearing. He has his own path to travel.

It’s a powerful and tragic story. Filled with incredible amounts of suffering. Yet it’s written in such fashion that it feels just real. Not overdone. Not exaggerated.
I felt like looking in a rearview mirror. All the events are described precisely but you have a distance, a numbness between you and the past.
Sometimes you have to wait a long time. Sometimes you’ll need to go in therapy and follow some inner journey. Then you will be able to tell the truth, all the truth without being overwhelmed. You just tell.

I’d like to end this somewhat cryptic review by telling you that Suanne liqueur wanted to smash her kindle against a wall. My friend Jennifer had not recovered 24 hours after having read the last word. Then we had theories about who wrote the book. She thought it was Michael. I feel it is Cal.
Knowing all these reactions I braced for it but I still ended knocked out. WTH???

So read this at your own risk.

Have you read this one? Or any book that turned your world upside-down?

Thanks for reading!

Sophie