Review: A List of Cages by Robin Roe

An advanced copy was provided to me by Disney-Hyperion and Netgalley for an honest review. 

Genre: Contemporary
Publication: January 10, 2017 by Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 320 Pages
Source: eARC
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Review | Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary
When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he's got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn't easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can't complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian--the foster brother he hasn't seen in five years.

Adam is ecstatic to be reunited. At first, Julian seems like the boy he once knew. He's still kind hearted. He still writes stories and loves picture books meant for little kids. But as they spend more time together, Adam realizes that Julian is keeping secrets, like where he hides during the middle of the day, and what's really going on inside his house. Adam is determined to help him, but his involvement could cost both boys their lives.

My Thoughts:
My heart is still reeling from this story. I didn't really know what to expect when I started this book, but what I got was a very impactful story that I won't soon forget. Once I did get into the story, I found that it did follow certain beats which were fairly predictable but the story itself is still very good and worth the read.

I loved the characters in this book, which is good because it is a character driven story. You just feel for Julian this entire book, his life so far has been tragic and your heart breaks for him. This book also covers a wide range of important topics, the main ones being mental illness, friendship and abuse. They are portrayed extremely well and you are really able to stand in both Julian's and Adam's shoes.

My only one main complaint is that I found it fairly predictable, it follows some pretty standard beats. I wasn't overly surprised by anything but that being said, I was never bored. I loved how the characters grew throughout the book and their view of the their situations changed. It felt natural and organic. All in all, I highly recommend this book. It covers some very important topics and I can see why so many people are excited about this book.

This book is released on January 10! Go check it out.