Love and Other Cages by Emilia Ares is a thriller that blends young adult romance with mafia drama, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. While I can see how this book might appeal to fans of darker, tension-filled love stories, it wasn’t the right fit for my tastes, and I feel that my reading experience was influenced by not being the book’s intended audience. If I were a young adult, I might have been more invested in its emotional intensity and fast-paced plot, but as an adult reader, I had a number of frustrations with the novel’s direction and its tone.

The story revolves around Mina, a young woman kidnapped by the Russian mafia, and Oliver, her love interest with his dark passed and his own set of financial struggles. The central premise is certainly compelling—tension, danger, and protecting those you love—but my biggest issue with the book was its treatment of Mina’s captivity. While the novel comes with a content warning for dark themes, the prolonged descriptions of Mina’s torture felt excessive and, at times, difficult to stomach. It dragged on for far too long, creating an uncomfortable and jarring contrast with Oliver’s chapters, which dealt with financial matters and dealing with the police. The juxtaposition of her brutal suffering and his relatively mundane problems just didn’t work for me, especially in a novel that is otherwise grounded in a realistic, non-fantasy setting.

What makes this even more frustrating is that the narrative is told from both Mina’s and Oliver’s perspectives. While I understand the intention to provide a dual POV for emotional depth and to show the story from both sides, it often felt like the two storylines didn’t mesh. Mina’s harrowing ordeal felt so intense and immediate, while Oliver’s sections about money problems and police investigation felt almost trivial by comparison, which made the pacing uneven. The contrast in tone was hard to reconcile, and at times, I found it difficult to stay engaged with the plot as a whole.

Ultimately, Love and Other Cages didn’t resonate with me, but I can see how it might be more appealing to younger readers who enjoy fast-paced romance with an edge of danger. While I couldn’t finish the book, I acknowledge that it has its audience, and if you’re someone who enjoys high-stakes romance with mafia drama, this may be right up your alley. However, for readers who prefer more balanced narratives and are sensitive to the portrayal of violence, it may be worth considering the content warnings before diving in.

This novel was a fast paced tour de force! The setting was dark and ominous and gave the feel of being on the edge of a dangerous precipice. I loved both for the characters and the love that they had for one another. Can’t wait to see where the story takes us.

The cover grabbed my attention, but the pacing of the story....le sigh.

I really tried my best to not DNF but even after 60% in, the story was just not going anywhere. They said it could be read as a standalone, but I seriously doubt that. You need to be invested in the characters and their stories to have patience to go through this book. I HAVE A FEELING IT DOES GETS BETTER , just not when you start this book as a stand alone.

So unfortunately a dnf from me. Maybe someday I will come back to it or maybe not.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a captivating read that held my attention from start to finish. The story was well-paced, and the characters felt real and engaging. I’m grateful to the publisher for providing an early copy—it was a pleasure to read!

This book had me on the edge of my seat waiting for more and I had no idea this was a series! Now I’m going to have to wait for book 3! I would give it 4.5 stars! Some parts were just so unrealistic. I did listen to it on audio which I think is better hearing both voices!

For being a young adult mystery thriller, this has some really dark themes and I think a teenager over 16 would really enjoy listening to this. The voice actors were really nice to listen to which I feel is important with audio books.

This worked as a standalone book but it is a book 2.

I could tell. I have't read the first book and I felt like I was missing something.

It was damn good though! I would like to read book 1 now for extra context but whoo-weeeee this book had it all.

I loved the characters. I loved the whole feel of the book.

4 stars

This book has left me on the hook just dangling there! I need to know what happens next! I need to!

This book had my heart racing, and I flew right through it in one sitting. Mina and her mother have a good thing going for them, and Mina is doing great in school.

Mina’s boyfriend (she loves him and he loves her), Oliver, is trying to straighten out his life. He has been trying to do everything by the code and by the law, but for some reason both Oliver and Mina are ripped from their lives and thrown into completely 100% different lives.

Mina is just trying to survive and keep Oliver away from her for his sake, and Oliver is just trying to save Mina and survive. That’s when I started sitting on the edge of my seat!

This book isn’t a romance to me. It’s more of a contemporary thriller. Just enough romance that will not make me sick. I cannot stand it, but this book has the perfect amount. I need to know what happens next!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️

I read this book as an audio. I think the narrators were amazing. They were perfect for their rules. I would definitely listen to other books by these narrators.

The story was all over the place in my opinion. I did not know that there was a book that should have been read prior because this is slated as a standalone. I do believe you should read the other book 1st because I was a little bit confused about how the two main characters are so close. I did like the fact that we were trying to solve a mystery at the same time as there was some action, black widow vibe going on.

The ending was a huge cliffhanger. Do I want to read the next one? I don’t know. In my opinion, the story took a long time to reach the climax for it to just fizzle off.

Love and Other Cages by Emilia Ares sounds like an unforgettable journey, weaving together love, suspense, and resilience into a deeply immersive experience. The audiobook format seems to enhance every heartbeat of tension and every emotional high, thanks to the narrator's skillful portrayal of Mina and Oliver’s journeys. Mina’s transformation from a life of simplicity to one filled with mystery and peril is compelling, while Oliver’s relentless determination to find her adds a moving layer of devotion.

Ares’s exploration of love under extraordinary circumstances resonates, capturing the listener’s attention from the first moment to the last. The narrator’s ability to bring out the emotional nuances of each character elevates the story’s intensity, making every high-stakes scene even more vivid and immediate. With a perfect blend of suspense, romance, and intrigue, Love and Other Cages keeps listeners on edge, rooting for Mina and Oliver to defy their circumstances and find a way back to each other. This audiobook isn’t just a story—it’s an enthralling experience that stays with you long after it ends.

"Love and Other Cages" by Emilia Ares is an action thriller and a romance. I got invested, and it left me hanging. There must be another book coming. Apparently, this is book 2 on the "Love and Other Sins" series, but I wasn't aware it was when I requested this one. It does stand alone from the first one pretty well, but not as much from the next one, which is needed to resolve this story.

Mina gets taken into a Russian mob organization and used to pressure her father to do something they want. She is tortured. This was challenging for me to read. Later, she had to be a spy for them.

Her story alternates with her boyfriend, Oliver's point of view. Some of it gets slow. The ending was the most interesting and tolerable part.

Characters - 4/5
Writing - 4/5
Plot - 4/5
Pacing - 3/5
Unputdownability - 2/5
Enjoyment - 1/5
Narration - 5/5 by Will Colyer and Emilia Ares
Cover - 4/5
Overall - 27/8 = 3 3/8 rounded down to 3 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, SERA Press, Independent Book Publishers Association, and Emilia Ares for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

A interesting audiobook. But I did listen for short stretches at the beginning as it is a dark, gritty, harrowing story. I do recommend you listen if this seems like your type of story. The story suggests how easy it is to control someone if they have something to hold over you. The build up at the end had me though. Could see some of it coming, but not all. This is the second book with the two main characters. Didn’t know that when I started listening, and that didn’t have any impact to me. There also seems to be a further book, because the ending is quite abrupt. Thank you to Sera Press and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Love and Other Cages was a thrilling story, however I wish I would have read the first story "Love and Other Sins" first. I had no idea when I requested this from NetGalley this was part of a series. I love suspense readings, and this was full of suspense, especially the descriptive nature of Mina's kidnapping.

There were times I believe the story dragged on a bit, however for the most part it held my interest. I would suggest Love and Other Cages, but suggest reading the first book in the series prior to reading it.

It was a very addicting read, it was quite dark and it suited what I was looking to read. This book was dual POV between Mina and Oliver. Both of their lives change when Mina is kidnapped and forced into a life that is owned by organized crime. Oliver is hellbent on finding her, but he has issues with his own business along the way.
Personally, I really enjoyed the emotion and roller coaster drama of Mina chapters. The Oliver chapters were great and losing your business is very stressful when your girlfriend is missing, but not knowing what is going to happen to your own life day to day, whoo those chapters were intense.

This book is two in the series, it can be read as a standalone and that is what I did, but to get more understanding between the love of Mina and Oliver as well more backstory of their lives it is recommended to read the first one. I found it easy to read without reading the first book.

quotes:
Absorb the pain you are bigger than the pain ... move through it, let the pain feed the story.

Time sneered at me like it was playing a cruel little joke ... out there, it was speeding by, forgetting me.

The most beautiful equation ever written would be the one that optimized a path from negative infinity to infinity where P, pain, approached zero. It was being written in my mind- my mind, the one that was nearly lost.

We are more than the sum of our parts. We are intangible souls. We are the springs of a stretched cord suspended in time and space, drifting through the ethos.

We were kindred spirits, now--the girls in these halls and I -- kindred ghouls

There is no Mina. Mina is gone. There is only Lark. Lark. I am Lark. I am Lark. Lark's bones are titanium, her blood is magma. Lark was born of the Bialowieza Forest, raised by wolves. Discomfort is comfort. Pressure is joy. Cold is soothing. Pain is pleasure. I am Lark. Lark feels nothing. I feel nothing.

Very appreciative for being approved for this ARC! I did do the audiobook alongside the e-book and did really like the audiobook since it is dual narration and thought it was executed perfectly! I did feel like I was missing some back story but that was definitely on me since I didn't realize this is technically book 2 but can be read as a standalone. There were some part though that I felt really invested in and others were I realized my attention wasn't on it 100%. Overall, I think this book just wasn't for me but I can see how it can be for others!

The narration for this story is phenomenal. Very well done, which can make even the most boring of story exciting in a way.

I did enjoy the story. It was pretty dark for a YA, but it was very well done. I think the one thing I wish I would have known is that this is a second in a series. While it was fine to read as a standalone, I just always prefer to read a series in order because no matter what, having that extra background/history just adds to the story's depth.

Thank you to NetGalley and SERA Press | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks for the ARC audiobook of Love and Other Cages by Emilia Ares.

I enjoyed this book, however, when requesting this from NetGalley I was not aware this was a second book in a series. A lot of other reviews say this can be read/listened to as a standalone. I suppose it could be, but I’d highly encourage folks to start with the first on, Love and Other Sins. This one literally picks right up from where the first one ends. The relationship between Oliver and Mina makes a lot more sense as well. With all that said, I enjoyed the first one way more as it was more getting to know the characters. In this book, it is more of what is happening to the characters. This is what kept me interested though. I wanted to know if Mina and Oliver would make though everything they were experiencing. The ending did feel a bit unfinished which was similar to the first book, so I hoping there is another book coming that will help end the story. All in all, a captivating story that pulls you in and makes you want to hear what will happen next.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

WOW!!! What a great book!! This one had me hooked from page 1! This was a first for me from this author and I will not be my last! This one was a win for me!

This book was neither here nor there for me. I went in not knowing entirely what to expect, so it was a bit of a surprise to see how graphic some scenes were.

I absolutely loved Mina’s scenes (I think that’s right, I listened to the audio so unsure on spelling) and her progression throughout the book into a person she doesn’t recognise, pushing her to the limits of how far she would go to protect her family. She is such a strong character, and I loved reading about her capture, her training in the bits afterwards.

I wished I didn’t see an Oliver perspective if I’m being honest. So much of his story was either no relevance to the part of the plot that affected Mina, or it was him with a hero complex which to be honest is so unrealistic. He spends all of his time hunting Mina down, putting himself and his friend in severe danger, and getting himself into to trouble when in reality, he had no place doing so. Mina told him to back off, and he didn’t because he thought he knew better.

All in all, an interesting plot, but not sure if I’d read more from this series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher/author for allowing me this audio ARC copy!

** Advance Listeners Copy

The audiobook version elevates the experience of Mina and Oliver’s story as they navigate the push and pull of love, self-identity, and the cages we build around ourselves.

The audiobook itself is easily 4 stars—mostly because the narrators did an awesome job capturing each character’s distinct voice, making the emotional highs and lows feel vivid and true. It draws out every small nuance, bringing Mina’s guarded vulnerability and Oliver’s quiet persistence to life in a way that enhances their connection and struggles.

However, in terms of the story itself, it leans closer to a 3-star rating. I can't put my finger on it.. but there's something missing. Certain moments drift into familiar romance tropes, and while these may be enjoyable for some, they can also make the story feel slower and more expected than a 4- or 5-star read.

~ Thank you Netgalley and SERA press for an early audiobook copy.