I heard about this book from The Orangutan Librarian’s Monthly Monkey Mini Review, and it intrigued me enough that I hunted down a copy. And I have got to say, this book broke my heart so many times. I made the mistake of reading it in the mrt and I ended up tearing up for most of the ride.

A List of Cages is a dual-narrative book that centers around Julian and Adam. Julian used to be Adam’s foster brother but was taken away by his uncle. So when Adam finds out that Julian is now a freshman at his school, he’s ecstatic. But this Julian isn’t the bright, cheerful boy that he knows. Luckily, he’s assigned to accompany Julian to the school psychologist, which gives him lots of opportunities to get to reconnect with him.

For Julian, Adam’s sudden reappearance is a shock. Not to mention, his former foster brother is popular in school, whicn makes him even scarier. And what if his uncle finds out that they’re in contact?

So I have to say upfront that this book deals with child abuse. It’s not some big reveal that it’s happening and it’s impactful enough that I think anyone reading this book should know what they’re going into. And every time Julian got hurt, my heart broke for him. I totally understand why Adam was so worried about Julian throughout the book because I was worried about him as well.

What I loved about this book was really the bond between Julian and Adam. I don’t recall reading a book where there are two male protagonists who deal with issues that carry so much emotional baggage. I feel like I’ve read similar books (not that the titles come to mind), but the protagonists are always girls, perhaps because we tend to associate emotional things with girls. So it’s refreshing and encouraging to read a book where guys are the ones dealing with such issues.

And it’s not just Julian and Adam. Adam has this group of friends, and it was interesting to see how each of them interacted with Julian and learned to take them under his wing. It wasn’t kumbaya from the beginning, with at least one friend rather unhappy that Adam was bringing a kid around all the time, but I felt that the way the relationships developed were natural, and it was interesting to see both romantic and non-romantic relationships forming within the group. It felt like I was watching them grow up as well (especially Charlie, who is my third favourite character).

The only thing I didn’t like about the book was how they portrayed homeopathic remedies as effective. I’m biased in favour of science, so I definitely don’t buy that. Besides, if something is so diluted that it’s no longer poisonous, wouldn’t that mean it’s no longer effective as medicine either? Not to mention that I don’t want water to remember all the times it was pee. But I digress.

It’s still January, but I’m very sure this is going to be one of my favourite books of the year. I thought it handled the tricky subject of child abuse and its impact on not just the abused child, but the people around them very deftly, and I adored Julian, Adam, and the bond between them. I want to give both of them a hug.