To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast

Here is a summary with spoilers for To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast

Raven Thorne is a bounty hunter in the city of Dividium, where the Council controls society through fear, poverty, and violence. She takes bounties to earn enough money to care for her younger brother, Jed, despite knowing that the people she captures are often sent to Endlock prison and sentenced to death. Her work causes constant tension between her and Jed, who sees her as part of the system that oppresses them. Raven secretly works with Aggie and the rebel Collective by providing information, but she refuses to fully commit to the rebellion. Haunted by memories of her parents' arrest and death, who also worked with the rebellion, she focuses on keeping Jed alive.

One day Raven takes a very high-profile bounty. It takes her into a society she wouldn’t normally go into, but in the end, it pays off. She gets the man and a giant paycheck to go with it. That night she goes out celebrating and meets a mysterious man who she hits it off with. Though at some point, when they end up kissing, she finds out that he is a guard at the prison, and she breaks away and runs from him.

Everything in Raven’s life changes when Jed is arrested and sent to Endlock. Aggie offers Raven a deal: if she helps the Collective complete a dangerous mission, they will help her break Jed out of prison. She needs to get into the prison and give a message to Kit, and then the three of them can be extracted. Raven agrees and deliberately gets herself arrested so she can enter Endlock. Once inside, she discovers that the prison is designed as entertainment for the wealthy, who pay to hunt inmates for sport. New prisoners are stripped of their identities through branding, abuse, and public humiliation. During the process she is forced to go through an interrogation and become branded. Her jailer is the man she kissed a few nights previous. The guard starts to wonder more about her as well, wondering why she is even in there. He reveals that his name is Vale. Raven is forced to face former prisoners she once delivered there and begins to understand the full consequences of her actions as a bounty hunter. She instantly becomes a target as many prisoners now want revenge. Even on her first night she is attacked, and Vale has to come to her rescue to make sure that she doesn’t get too hurt.

Raven is picked quickly to be hunted for sport. During the first hunt, inmates are released into the prison grounds and pursued by armed hunters. She is also reunited with Jed, and she also finds Kit. She also forms connections with other inmates, including Yara and Momo. After choosing to save Momo instead of prioritizing her own safety during the first hunt, Raven gains allies and begins earning the trust of those around her. Raven uses her skills to evade capture, protect others, and reach the Blood Tree, the only safe location within the hunt. Many inmates die during the event, and the survivors are left dealing with the losses. During this time Raven also has a spat with one of the players, and she believes she hid her tracks well.

A couple of days later, one of the guards comes for Raven saying that a player woke up after being hurt from the hunt and says he was attacked by her. Raven is sentenced to solitary confinement. For a week Raven slowly loses it. The only thing keeping her sane is a random visit from Vale. He tells her that he is not with the rebellion, and he knows she is not as well. But he is also not on the side of the Council. He is somewhere in the middle. Raven patiently waits for her time to be up, only to have the guard who put her in start to touch her inappropriately. Vale comes quickly, takes Raven, and lets her have a clean shower in the guards' rooms. He lets her know that because of the stunt she pulled, she now has a higher status, believing that it will be more fun to hunt her.

Following the hunt, Raven grows closer to Kit, Yara, Jed, and the rest of the group. At the same time, Vale starts to secretly help them as well and becomes increasingly involved in their plans. Though trust is shattered when his true identity is revealed. Raven sneaks around when some officials come to visit the prison, and she overhears a conversation. Vale is the son of Councilor Elder, one of the most powerful and influential members of the Council. The revelation causes conflict for Raven, but Vale insists that he wants to help bring down the system his father helped create. Raven must decide whether to trust him despite his deception.

As escape plans develop, the prisoners discover tunnels beneath Endlock and the hunting grounds. The tunnels contain evidence of previous escape attempts and the remains of prisoners who failed. Security throughout the prison increases with stronger wristbands, electrified barriers, and harsher enforcement. The group faces constant setbacks, injuries, and betrayals, but they continue moving forward. The tunnels become their best chance at freedom, though using them requires risking everything.

Councilor Elder becomes more directly involved as the escape effort unfolds. His presence highlights how much of Endlock exists to serve the Council's interests rather than justice. The prisoners realize they are part of a larger political system built on fear and exploitation. Raven's struggle against Elder becomes personal as she witnesses the lengths he will go to maintain control over both the prison and the city beyond it.

The final escape attempt descends into chaos. Violence erupts throughout Endlock as the group fights its way through the tunnels. Larch becomes one of their final obstacles, forcing Raven to kill him in order to protect her friends. Multiple members of the group are injured, and not everyone survives the journey. Vale suffers serious injuries after being shot protecting Raven and chooses to stay behind so the others can continue escaping. His decision allows the rest of the group to move forward when they otherwise might have been caught.

By the end of the novel, Raven, Jed, Kit, Yara, and the surviving prisoners successfully escape Endlock and emerge into the Wastes. Raven is no longer focused solely on her own survival or Jed's safety. Through her experiences in Endlock, she has become someone willing to fight for others and challenge the system she once helped sustain.