Thank you to NetGalley for this copy of Love and Other Cages.

I really want to give this book a higher rating, but it fell a bit flat for me. When I received it, I did not know it was the second book in a series. This caused for confusion when I didn’t have the context of what happened to the characters previously or where they were in their growth. I also don’t think this book on its own built the characters enough for me to care about them or connect with their motives. I kept listening despite this because the plot was entertaining, although not very believable.

I also enjoyed the quality of the audiobook and the voice actors.

2.5 stars rounded to 3

Mina is a responsible high school senior working toward her quickly approaching independent life. She finds all her plans turned upside down when she is swept into the world of an underground crime mob.

*****

I went into this book expecting a standalone, only to realize later that it’s actually the second in a series. This made the beginning confusing, as I struggled to connect with the characters without prior context. The story alternates between Mina’s and her boyfriend Oliver’s perspectives, which kept things engaging, but the pacing lagged in the middle.

One major issue was the premise. It hinges on law enforcement allowing a minor to be kidnapped by a gang, which felt completely unrealistic. The book does hit its stride with solid action, but it soon falls into a repetitive cycle: Mina suffering through captivity while Oliver frantically searches for her. While these elements were logical to include, the way they were drawn out made the story feel stagnant at times.

Beyond the pacing issues, there were numerous plot holes and implausible scenarios that pulled me out of the story. The book was also much darker than I expected for YA, featuring detailed depictions of sexual assault and other heavy themes. At over 15 hours long, the book felt unnecessarily long for what it was. There were long stretches of descriptive writing and internal monologue that slowed things down overall and made parts of the audio drag, despite the narrators being fantastic. After all that buildup, the ending of the novel felt abrupt and unsatisfying, unless maybe the author is thinking of adding on another book?

Overall, while Love and Other Cages had moments of gripping tension, the pacing issues, unrealistic plot points, and excessive length made it a frustrating read.

*****

Thank you, NetGalley and SERA press for the ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

In this novel, the author delivers a compelling narrative that transcends the typical expectations of a mid-series installment. Despite initially discovering that this was the second book in a series, I found the plot so captivating that I was thoroughly immersed from the start. I NEEDED to know what was going to happen next (especially with Mina).

The story's primary strength lies in Mina's compelling character arc, which drives the narrative forward with remarkable momentum. While the book's conceptual framework is intriguing, the romantic subplot between Mina and Oliver feels somewhat contrived and lacks the organic chemistry one might hope for in a character-driven narrative. I could have done without the POV of Oliver, and would have gobbled up a novel simply of Mina’s predicament.

Despite this minor critique, the book remains an entertaining read. The plot's inventive and somewhat audacious storyline—which admittedly borders on the fantastical—still manages to maintain reader engagement. The narrative's unique premise and the characters' complex predicament are sufficiently compelling that I'm genuinely curious about the potential resolution in the upcoming third installment.
While not a perfect literary work, "Love and Other Cages" offers an enjoyable reading experience that successfully balances intrigue, character development, and imaginative storytelling.

I really enjoyed this audiobook! Initially I was unsure of the premise however, as the book progressed, I found myself getting more and more invested in the stakes. I enjoyed the narration, particularly Oliver's VA - he made the wording sound natural and made for an enjoyable listen. I think the pacing was slightly skewed just based on how much Nina was able to accomplish compared to Oliver, but that didn't prevent me from enjoying both POVs. While I read this as a standalone, I feel like I could have had more enjoyment had I read the first book beforehand.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook. This was a random find for me. I wanted to listen to an audiobook and this was a listen now. I had no idea that it was part of a series! I was minding my own business putting a puzzle together when the book just ended. ENDED! WHAT? Like that?!

The author, who also narrates Mina's point of view was AMAZING. This story is told between the voice of Mira and Oliver. Dark, intense themes present, would definitely advise older age of the YA spectrum if this is truly a YA book. I'm left wanting to read book 3 but I don't feel like I missed out on enough to go back to book 1.

Love and Other Cages is a 2nd book in a series but can be read as a standalone, I would probably recommend to read the first book as I felt a bit lost without some knowledge of the backstory. With that said I still very much enjoyed this well narrated book.
Thank you to the Netgalley and the publishers

Love and Other Cages by Emilia Ares was a sharp drop into the world of Mina and Oliver, a world full of intrigue, lies, danger, and above all, love. This is the second book in Ares' Love and Other Sins series and the first one for me. There were moments in the story where I was slightly confused about where we were and how we got there that I feel could have been smoothed over with the reading of the first book before I jumped into this one. However, Love and Other Cages was well written, the plot full of twists and turns, keeping my interest and surprising me at several turns. The love Oliver had for Mina was deep, strong, and never failing and he was willing to go to the ends of the Earth to find Mina when she was kidnapped. The author worked well to weave drama and danger into the story, pushing Mina to become a completely different person to stay alive and keep her mother safe and tied up the story perfectly into a cliffhanger to be answered in the next installment.

The narrators for this book were fantastic. I greatly enjoyed the fact that the author used her voice for Mina. She did a great job and was easy to listen to as the story went on. Will Collyer was perfect as Oliver, and his voice had a great cadence and range of emotion. I'd definitely listen to another book from either of them!

Overall, Love and Other Cages was an entertaining book, and anyone looking for spy drama, danger, and the ultimate love story should find themselves enjoying this book! Thank you to Emilia Ares, SeraPress, and NetGalley for this audiobook to listen to and review. All opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are my own and given freely.

It was a really well done book. I didn't want it to end, I thought I still had time ledt on it. The different POVS that are in here have a well round idea of how the book was going. I didn't think they would merge in the way that that did. Looking back I can see how it was going to come together but when I was listening to the book I couldn't see it..

Thank you SERA Press and NetGalley for the audiobook ARC of Love and other Cages by Emilia Ares. I’m going to review the book unbiased and with my best intentions to help the publisher and author with my review.

If you like action/mafia stories, a side of romance and don’t have a queasy stomach this book might be for you.

The book Love and other Cages gets 2.5 stars from me.

This is the second book of the Love and other sins series, which I didn’t know upon requesting the book. It wasn’t a problem to understand the story line but I might have felt more connected to the characters if I had read the first book.

I like the cover art and think it can definitely catch the interest of new readers/listeners although I don’t really see the connection to the book so it might be an idea to not just put the characters but also part of the storyline into the book cover.

Please, please put trigger warnings for the book/audiobook, best already in the blurb. I know that you put a content warning but in my opinion it is not enough. I get that it might be a spoiler but there should be at least the option to look into it. I also feel like the blurb does show the story but it emphasises the connection and romance between Mina and Oliver which in my opinion was kind of a smaller part of the book and I didn’t really see the book in the romance genre.

In my opinion the (audio)book is too long and therefore less approachable for new readers. I think the first book of the series has a better length. I did enjoy the voices, Minas voice even more so, but I’ve gotta say, that I tend to listen to audiobooks on higher speed so it does sound different than listening to it on 1x speed.

Overall the writing felt Ok, but there were some plot holes and time jumps, due to that but also in general the pacing was a bit off. The main story idea is good but I feel like it would have made more sense as a first book and the main characters not knowing each other yet. The main characters didn’t really feel connected to me since they were separated so early, but again that might be because I don’t know them from the previous book. Their timelines also didn’t match up, Olivers felt like one week and Minas parts like several months. In Minas storyline there happened to much in not enough time which seemed unrealistic to me. If your book has a kind of system in it, make sure that it makes sense.
I did enjoy the side characters (the best friends) and I think they could make a good story.

I’ve gotta say the end with the lose threads and unanswered questions does keep me intrigued but I still don’t think I will look out for the next part(s) because of the things mentioned above. I might look out for one about the side characters though. I hope the author does write more books and reviews can help her.

I likely would have enjoyed it a little more had I realized it was book 2 in a series. If I didn't have to play catch-up during the first couple of chapters, I may have given it 4 stars.


This book has romance and action while being suspenseful and dark, so if you're looking for something to feed your multiple interests, you will likely enjoy it. The chapters are quite long. However, the narrators are quite good. It was easy enough to imagine Oliver as a teen/ young adult, but I struggled to see Mina as a teen. Be aware that this does end on a cliffhanger.

I wish I had known that "Love and Other Cages" was the second installment in the "Love and Other Sins" series before diving into the audiobook. Thankfully, I was able to pick up the main threads of the story fairly quickly : Mina, the daughter of a Russian mobster, crossed paths with Oliver, a foster child determined to build a stable life for himself. They fell in love, but, of course, trouble followed.

In this installment, a dangerous Russian organization targets Mina and her mother, leaving her mother fighting for her life in a hospital bed. Desperate to save her, Mina agrees to infiltrate the organization. To protect Oliver, she tries to keep him at a distance, but he refuses to stay on the sidelines and will stop at nothing to save her.

This book wasn't for me. The writing was okay, the pacing just right, and It was entertaining. but I feel like I'm above the target age (both Mina and Oliver are around 17/19 yo). And generally speaking, books that are too action oriented don't interest me that much. I didn't hate it (far from it) but let's just say that I won't be reading the third book of the series.

🎧 Audiobook : 4.75/5 Emilia Ares' performance was incredible. Truly one of the best audiobook narrations I've ever listened to. The rating isn't a perfect 5 because the man's voice wasn’t that convincing.

Thank you NetGalley for providing this audiobook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I did not finish this title. Unfortunately I did not realize it was a sequel and when it started I felt a little lost and wanted some more background. I also should I have checked trigger warnings because once I got about 10% in I decided it was not for me. I had no issue with the story or audio it just wasn't the story for me right now. Thank you for the opportunity to listen.

I didn't realize this book was a sequel but in like the best way possible if that makes sense? I think the author did a really good job of explaining the past and Mina/Oliver's trauma from the previous story so I wasn't confused by what the characters were discussing. Everything was explained in the context of the story which was perfect! What I hadn't expected was the whole Black Widow aspect of the novel. I'd thought everything would take place closer to home and that Mina and Oliver would be wrapped up in Mafia stuff in Los Angeles. So when Mina was abducted and taken elsewhere I was very surprised. I can't decide if I enjoyed these parts of the story or not yet. They were certainly interesting to listen to but this book could've used SEVERAL trigger warnings at the beginning of it. Overall I think I'm intrigued enough to read whatever comes next in the series.

Thank you SERA Press for my ALC of Love and Other Cages by Emilia Ares. This one should come with all the trigger warnings because wow, it was a lot. Mina and Oliver have finally declared their feelings for each other, right before Mina and her mom are victims of a violent, targeted home invasion. Her mom is in a coma, and then the men come back and kidnap Mina. She’s trafficked and held hostage by a Russian crime syndicate, tortured because of something her father had done. She survives weeks of torture and is then coerced into joining a secret espionage arm of the syndicate. Meanwhile back in LA, Oliver is desperately searching for her, teaming up with anyone he thinks might be able to help him rescue her, but he has precious little to go on.

I almost stopped listening a handful of times but I was *just* interested enough to keep going. Didn’t realize initially it was book two in a series, so was missing some important context in the beginning. Felt like it was super slow but also a lot was happening really quickly? And the ending was a cliffhanger, so for all that effort, there’s still more story to come, which feels exhausting at this point.

I might just not be the intended audience…the main characters are seniors in high school, and I’m over 20 years removed from that stage in life. Also, it felt very unrealistic that an 18 yo could withstand so much torture.

The cover isn gorgeous and is the reason I picked it up in the first place, and the narrators— Will Collyer and Emilia Ares—deliver amazing performances. I think their delivery is the only reason I finished the book, They brought the characters to life.

I absolutely loved the cover. That’s why I requested it. But the audiobook was so good, I didn’t want to stop listening. Thank you for the chance to listen and review.

This is the second book in a series, and I didn't realize that until I was a couple of chapters into the book.
While it is readable as a standalone, I feel that I probably would have better connected to the characters and their stories if I had read the previous book - also, there were plotlines/situations mentioned in passing that obviously happened in the first book.

I went into this book thinking that it was a sorta dramatic YA love story, but I got something very different from what I was expecting. The main couple spent most of the book apart, going through their own trials. Olivier thought about and worried about Mina constantly, while Mina was mostly focused on her mom, and getting through the horrible situation she found herself in. The timelines of the book were also not super clear - I think it happened over the course of 2 months, but it wasn't quite clear enough to me.

Emilia's writing and narration of this book were book wonderful. Her writing is emotive and beautifully descriptive without being too flowery (though sometimes it does veer into being a touch overly detailed which can distract from the scene); and her narration was emotional, hit the perfect narrative beats, and overall added a lot to the story.

I will say that this book is quite a bit darker than I expected, and the content warnings did not cover all the elements that could be potentially triggering to some.

I absolutely enjoyed every minute of this audio book. It had mafia, spice (closed door), thriller with dark elements, and young epic love story. I admit the cliffhanger got me, but I want to read more from this author. The characters and story line were so well done. I couldn't stop listening. The dual narration made it so much better. I highly recommend this book to other for reading.

Thank you Net Galley ARC, Sera Press, and Emilia Ares

Love and Other Cages sounded like a very interesting YA novel to me when I read the short description. Underground global crime/mafia mixed in with a bit of romance, sounds like an exciting read; even though I not normally drawn to thrillers, I thought I would give this book a try. This story started out strong from the very beginning; I was drawn in pretty quickly by the action, searching for answers just as Oliver and Mina were. But also pretty quickly from the initial break-in scene onwards, I kept thinking, "this is a YA novel??". The two main characters are meant to be high school aged, but definitely are beyond those high school years in this story. There is a lot of violence within this book, including torture, murder, and (attempted) rape. As an adult, this is not the type of descriptive thrill I seek in a novel. There were also some slightly explicit sections, which I wouldn't think is YA material. I listended to the audio version of this novel and found the dual POV manageable and easy to follow. The narrators did an excellent job in telling the story of Mina and Oliver, as well as other voices of the many secondary characters. Overall, it was an interesting storyline concept, well read by the narrators, and certainly a thriller until the end.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the the opportunity to listen to the audio version of this book.

🌟 4
🌶️ 0.5
🎧 4.5

Holy shhh! This book had me hooked!

* Russian mafia
* Young love
* Epic sweeping love story
* Closed-door spice
* Thriller
* Dark themes
* Ends on a cliff hanger
* Dual narration

Loved it! It is out of my usual genres, a lot more on the thriller and action side of things but the romance subplot was sweeping! So many moments where I was so worried, frustrated, scared for the characters! Absolutely had me running my hardest on the elliptical audiobook of this in my ear!

🎧 ARC of the audiobook was excellent! The narration, accents and all the voices the narrators put on (Dual Narration) was so good!

X

I'm dnf'ing this for two reasons:
1. Too slow and yet it felt like stuff was missing so it still felt too fast somehow
2. Please oh please don't ever make a deep-voiced man try to make a feminine voice, never ever again. The cringe that took over made it almost impossible for me to listen to the book.
It did have potential but I just couldn't listen to it, sorry.