It has been a long time since I have had to put down a book due to the strong emotions and heavy topics covered, and I have read a lot of books in my day. More recently, however, that changed. “A List of Cages” by Robin Roe changed me and my outlook on not only myself but also everyone around me. 

“A List of Cages” is an incredibly touching novel that can be described as nothing short of emotional. It took me less than a day to read it because of how truly addictive each chapter was. 

The plot of this novel is focused on Julian Harlow, a 14-year-old orphaned boy living with his distant uncle, Russell, and Adam Blake, a happy-go-lucky high school senior. When Adam is tasked by the school psychologist to track down Julian, he soon discovers it is his old foster brother. This novel follows both boys in a journey of self-discovery as they combat the harsh lives ahead of them.

One of my former teachers recommended this book to me back in August, and only recently did I get around to actually reading it. If I am being entirely honest, I was not too thrilled about the idea of this book. Of all of the books I have read, my least favorites have been the deeper ones dealing with mental illness and loss, typically due to the author using cookie-cutter character arcs and only scratching the surface on the impact of mental illness and the effects it can have on a person. 

But I gave this book the benefit of the doubt and read it anyway against my own judgment. I am thrilled that I actually did. I could not put “A List of Cages” down once I started. I was engrossed in these fictional characters and the all-too-real lives they lived. 

The main character, Julian, found little solace in his life. The little bit of refuge he could obtain was in the smaller things in life, like recalling memories of his parents, more specifically talking about the stars in the night sky with his father. When he was a child and could not sleep due to nightmares, Julian’s late father would often calm him down by asking him how many stars are in the sky tonight. Julian would answer based on how good his day was, it is a trope Roe played off of for the whole book, even closing out the book with Julian saying “ten million stars.”

That little trope stuck with me for some reason, most likely due to how it reveals the true emotions of an otherwise static character who was afraid to show emotion. “A List of Cages” is packed to the brim with little details uncovering a character’s functionality, which is something I greatly appreciate about this book. 

The biggest thing that stood out to me about this book is the characters themselves. Each character is written with such humane qualities, almost making me forget I was reading a fictional book. Something I noticed as the plot progressed was that these fictional characters remind me of people I know in real life.

Hardships aside, each character has certain qualities about them that remind me of some of the people I am closest to, and I think that is what allowed me to get so invested in this story. There is something about fictional characters that resemble some of your best friends going through trying times that can almost break a person. Sure, it is all fictional, but the scenarios Roe orchestrates come across as painfully realistic and can feel like reality.

As far as “A List of Cages” and mental illness goes, Roe handles the touchy subject better than most young adult authors I have come across. Roe describes the constant hassle that a person who faces mental illness deals with on an accurately detailed daily basis. Things like not wanting to open up to people, avoiding people altogether, not eating, not sleeping, and apologizing for every little thing are discussed thoroughly throughout the novel.

Mental illness is a trope authors try to exploit, especially YA authors that wish to target a specific young audience. Those authors will describe mental illness as simply a character being upset for a few days then finding true love and all things are suddenly sunshine and rainbows. Mental illness is not sunshine and rainbows — it is not something to be romanticized. Normalized? Most definitely, but that is not the intention the authors have when writing their novels with a depressed protagonist.

Thankfully for everyone’s sake, Roe not only handles the subject with care, but she also explains the recovery process. The author acknowledges that mental illness is not something that can be cured overnight, rather something that takes time and patience. Roe also shows how recovery is not a straight line to victory. It is a mountainous struggle that results in frequent relapses, but that does not make the character any less human.

If there is one thing I wish for readers to take away from this novel, it is to not judge people so quickly based on how they present themselves. You never know what a person may endure at home, or if they even have a place that they can truly call home. There is one specific line Roe wrote that resonated something within me — ”Hate ricochets, but kindness does too.”

All of the gross, harsh realities expressed in this novel make it enjoyable for me. An author that is not afraid to back down from sensitive subjects yet still manages to handle them with extreme care is something I admire, and Roe does just that.