High school senior Mina Arkova is being hunted for her estranged father’s ties to the Russian mob. After a traumatic home invasion seriously wounds her mother, Mina is given an impossible ultimatum. Torn between her love for her mother and her burgeoning romance with street-smart Oliver, she makes a difficult decision—one that lands her in captivity to a clandestine Russian organization, miles and miles away from her home in LA. While Mina fights to hold onto her humanity, Oliver dives into a desperate search for her. But can their love survive the distance and the unknown?
Emilia Ares’s LOVE AND OTHER CAGES is the second installment in Mina and Oliver’s story, but the author does a good job filling in the gaps for those who pick this one up first. The dual perspectives of Mina and Oliver, especially once they’re separated, is one of the highlights of the story’s narrative. While the on-page romance is thin from that point, Oliver’s motivations are constantly focused on Mina and his devotion to her is clear. The alternating POVs are fantastic in building constant tension, crafting a taut kind of suspense around every corner. Mina and Oliver make a good match; while they’re still trying to learn about each other and settle into their romance, they’re both tough in their own ways—and they’re both fighters.
Even though they’re separated, the book does a decent job giving Oliver plenty of conflict in between Mina’s chapters. His friendship with Mina’s best friend Nyah and his new roommate Xavi becomes an interesting little subplot blossoming in the background. Oliver is prickly, temperamental, and dealing with his own demons, but his street-wise attitude is put to the ultimate test. Mina’s arc is well-rendered, what with her fragile grip on reality that ebbs and flows as she’s pushed along through this rigorous program and her disintegrating sense of self when she’s forced to endure and make tough decisions.
The book deals with a lot of heavy themes, and Mina goes through a lot—physically, mentally, and emotionally—so readers should tread with caution. Torture methods are shown and a sexual assault is described. Most of it is handled with care, though, and Mina is given space to sort through and feel whatever she needs in the aftermath, from anger to hopelessness and PTSD-induced anxiety. Despite being held captive in a rigid organization, she does try to make the best of her situation. Mina’s friendships on the inside show nuance in the organization and humanity in the characters, all of them in their own cages.
That said, it’s hard to suspend disbelief at times—with the young ages of the characters and the types of scenarios they find themselves in. It almost feels like they should have been aged up for a new adult audience rather than young adult. A few scene-jumps, especially toward the end, are a bit unclear and muddled. The meat of the book—where Mina finally uses her training and Oliver does his own undercover work—is the most compelling, yet it seems like it comes into play far too late. By then, it kind of rushes through the third act, dropping some fascinating twists in the process. But the lead-up is a little clumsy, so it feels more like shock value than all the right pieces finally clicking into place.
It does, however, set up an intense conflict with completely changed dynamics for the next book, which has a lot of potential.
A tense YA romantic thriller, LOVE AND OTHER CAGES by Emilia Ares delivers a suspenseful second installment with a butt-kicking heroine and her devoted, street-smart boyfriend. Exploring themes of love, identity, and imprisonment in its many forms, the author crafts an engaging story while still maintaining threads of nuance.
~Jessica Thomas for IndieReader