4.5 stars. This book carries on from Love and Other Sins and sees our FMC trying to protect her mum who is in ICU after a home robbery gone wrong. Mina will do anything to keep her mother safe but the men who broke into their house have some dangerous links, and Mina is about to find out just how dangerous.
The book is dual-POV, between FMC Mina and MMC Oliver. It is fast-paced, dark, and very captivating. I cannot wait for book 3!

The narrators did an excellent job of displaying the thoughts and emotions of the two MCs and really catch your attention so you can't help but root for them both. Fantastic Audiobook!

I’m obsessed with this series. Young beautiful people in love and stuck in a crumbling world . This author delivers. Fmc is strong and front and center in this book. Mmc was lacking in my mind on standing up and being a man she needs. He was always I want to help but seemed to be chasing his own tail the entire book. I hope he grows up fast in book 3.

The narrators in this audio were top tier. They deserve to continue being the voices.

I tried to finish this book, but just couldn’t. It’s SO unrealistic. First of all, the language used by the main characters doesn’t ring true for teenagers. It sounds much more like adults in their 30s. The story is convoluted. No minor with a mother in the hospital is going to be allowed to just leave and go check into a hotel by herself. A minor is not going to be allowed to make the decision to be used as bait. It was all just so ridiculous that I was miserable trying to make it through the entire story.

It is super emotion invoking story of Mina, who is trying to somehow start a new life with her mother but gets found by the wrong people. It is a story of Oliver, trying to get a new identity, a new chance on life and somehow manages until the paths of Mina and him cross. Until the past comes crashing back to them. And so much more.

It was intense! As in not negatively but in a suspense, “I will fight for you and my fate” and “I want to protect you” way. In a “How do we get out of this?” Way. It is not j u s t a romance book but this offers a lot more than what meets the eye. And I quite enjoyed it.
The narration of Mina is done by the author heraelf while Oliver is spoken by Will Collyer. Honestly, both have a very different way of narrating the chapters of each character but it is so fitting to the character.
Also, I just noticed that this is a series however the parts can be read individually.

Although I didn't read the first book in the series (now interested in reading it), I still enjoyed LaOC.

The audiobook narrators did a wonderful job in portraying the main characters' emotions and I enjoyed the dual POV.

Mina is being tortured the whole time (literally) and Oliver is kept in the dark so he pulls a horrible "spy undercover" move to rescue her, however they were likable enough to follow.

Despite the book cover and title, the plot seemed to be fueled by familial love instead of romantic love, which makes me think Mina's and Oliver's story was better developed in the first book.

A bit long and quite a sad story for my liking, but I'd still recommend it.

Beautiful storytelling and amazing voice actors. The dual POV is executed very well. Often times, I don't particularly enjoy those in more contemporary stories, but Ares manages to do so in a compelling way.
I felt kind of dropped into the story early on and only by going through the reviews realised this is a sequel. That would have been nice to be mentioned in the NetGalley summary. Listening to / reading the first volumen prior to this would probably made me enjoy this book more, but it feels like it's not 100% necessary to read both.

If I could, I would give it a 3.5 stars rating, as it is not quite good enough for a 4 stars rating.

Love and other cages by Emilia Ares.
Narrated by Will Collyer and Emilia Ares
I did enjoy listening to this audiobook. I did like the cover. I liked Mina and Oliver. I got into it straight away. Although the chapters were long I did enjoy it. I did find it difficult to read in some places. Very emotional. But Emilia wrote it very well. I did feel for Mina. I wanted to jump in. I also felt for Oliver. Omg. The ending. Wow.

I initially gave this book 4 stars, but considering I have thought about it daily since I finished it, I think it deserves 5 stars! I find myself thinking back to the book and the characters, longing to keep reading to find out what happens next. I feel like I got to know the characters very well throughout the two books and I am glad I went back to read the first book before starting this ARC, it provided great context for Love and Other Cages. This was not easy to listen to because of how brutal and descriptive some scenes are. The whole situation is scary and unimaginable. But I also feel like that is what made this book unique. The writing was great. The first part of the book dragged on a bit, but flew by after I hit about 60%! I loved Mina's relationship with her mom, not many books include a close relationship between teenagers and their parents. I loved the way they talk to each other and their sweet Russian words and phrases. I enjoyed the narrators, it was awesome to listen to Emilia Ares narrate her own book! It helped because the Russian was actually correct when she spoke. I hope there will be more books in the series, I can't wait!

Thank you NetGalley for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

I had a hard time getting into this one, but I’m very glad I stuck it out. Apparently, there is a book before this one, but this can be read as a standalone. I’d recommend reading the first one for character development. The FMC and MMC are very interesting, especially considering they’re still in high school. Their bond is pretty solid and they are thrown into a ton of situations that adults shouldn’t even have to deal with. They are amazing and resilient. I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for something different. The narrators were excellent!

"Love and Other Cages" is a generally compulsively-readable young adult novel, perfect for teens who want a thriller with a side of romance. I wasn't aware this was book two in a series until after I'd finished reading it, but it did perfectly well as a standalone novel. Mina, a responsible high school senior working toward her quickly approaching independent life, finds all her plans turned upside down when she is swept into the world of an underground crime mob.

This is a dual POV novel, alternating between Mina and Oliver, Mina's boyfriend. While this dual POV kept things interesting, I struggled a bit with some sagging pacing in the middle. After having been swept into the story quite quickly with peak action, I found myself bogged down in a repeated cycle of Mina agonizing over her tortured capture, followed by Oliver's panicked search for her. Both were legitimate parts of the story, I just felt like it was stuck on repeat before eventually kicking free and picking back up again. Coming in at over 15 hours on audio, this book definitely could have benefitted from some tighter writing. After plodding through that, there's an abrupt and unfulfilling end. Is there a sequel coming? Fans of series will certainly be cheering for that — otherwise, this is going to best find its home with those that like their endings open to interpretation. I'm not one of those people, so this one landed at 3.5 stars rounded down for me.

There is some spice in this book, along with some sexual assault — not anything overly graphic but enough that I would probably want my teen to be on the older side (16+) before reading it.

This is the second book in the series, and while it can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend starting with book 1. It was *so* good—why miss out on that?

I just want to scream (in the best way possible)! The cliffhangers are driving me crazy. Yes, I’m completely hooked, but come on—how much more can I take?

At first, some parts felt a bit far-fetched, but as I kept reading, everything started to click. Suddenly, I was questioning everything—what if this person is actually that, and what if she really is ____. And just when I thought I had it figured out, you hit me with another cliffhanger! This book was a wild ride and a great story.

Although Oliver got on my nerves a few times, Javi is the true ride-or-die friend that Oliver needs! I can’t wait for book 3.

I want to start by saying that the duel narration was very well done and made the story really come alive. I also want to let readers know that this book two and while it can be a stand alone there is a lot of background knowledge that I feel is missing if you don't read the first book This is a very well done YA thriller/ romance. The storyline is very intense and has a lot of interesting moving parts. It ends on a cliffhanger that really has the readers longing for more. Overall a good read.

The book is written well and the story is gripping. It can be read as a standalone but I did feel like I was missing a little bit of background since I haven’t read the 1st book in the series. Also, it’s only 3 stars because the book ended in a cliffhanger and I’m not sure how it’s going to end, but going by the characters and plot I would give it a 3.75.

Huge thanks to Net Galley and the author for this ARC.

I received this audiobook from NetGalley for review.

Fast paced, gripping, and completely enthralling. This book grabs you by the shirt collar and will not let you go.

4⭐️ 1.5🌶️
This was an interesting story about the Russian mafia and secret agents. It had me confused, but wanting to know more. The ending has me needing book 2! Mena, and Ollie deserve a happy ending, and I hope they get one!

Thanks NetGalley for allowing me access to the ARC of this book.
ACTUAL RATING: 3.5

I don’t know if it is unfortunate that this is the second book of the series or not, because I didn’t mind the opening of this book (　・∀・)

Come 30% when I remembered to update my digital reading journal/notes, and started looking this up, that I see that this Love and Other Cages is the second book. Well, why did I read this in NetGalley? the title and the cover got me.

I am impressed with how the world is built in this book though. I am intrigued as to why this underground Russian group is invested in taking Mina. The torture she has been in, yeah, those need trigger warnings, because the writing is vivid.

FULL REVIEW in Goodreads. Link added

This book feels hard to describe. For one, I didn't know that this was the second book in a series, so after a few chapters I went back to read book 1 before continuing to read this, which I recommend, because this book picks up literally within minutes of book 1 ending. The plot of this is pretty wild and you definitely have to suspend your disbelief. I think what I am struggling with the most is that this book does not feel like it could stand alone as a story. Things did happen, the plot progressed, but it again ended on an extreme cliffhanger. If you didn't read book 1, it would really be lacking, in my opinion, because so much of the set up and character explanation/backstory happens in book 1. At the same time, I feel like the writing style was good, and I genuinely really enjoyed the audio as the narrators were phenomenal. I think I would continue this series because I am curious what might happen next...but if I am just talking about this book on it's own, it was just okay.

Unfortunately after listening to this for most of the afternoon and evening I am calling it quits at around the 50% mark. I didn't realise this was a sequel to another book when I requested this title (which evidently I have not read). Even though this book can be read as a standalone, I feel that to really get the best from it you need to have read the first book as it seems to start straight in on the action from what is presumably the end of the first installment. Due to this, I've struggled to get to know the characters and their motives/relationships and truly feel the situations that Oliver and Mina find themselves in throughout this book.

I did enjoy the audio narrators, the book is read well and you can feel the angst the characters are suffering. The voices are clear, concise and carry the story with conviction.

I will look into getting both books in the future as physical/ebooks as I feel that the first book would give me more of an insight to really enjoy this installment.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows the life and love of Mina and Oliver as Mina is abducted by a crime family far across the world, and Oliver is left to pick up his own pieces and the pieces of his suddenly broken business. There is a lot of turmoil and violence and longing in this story. It does move a little slower than I’d like, and didn’t quite grab me like a different genre really would, but I think those who do revel in thriller/mysteries will find this a lot more appealing than I personally did!

The writing and audio performance were very evocative and well done, but I feel like I was missing a lot of context with these characters because I wasn’t aware it was the second book in the series. It was marketed to me as more of a standalone. I do wish I had known to read the first book before this one. As I said earlier though, the audio performances were truly great.