Thank you SERA Press for providing me with an arc in exchange of an honest review.

I read this as a standalone and that really worked, I was not confused or felt like I was missing anything which I have to give credit for.

I thought this was a very interesting story with the Russian maffia and Red Sparrow vibes. After the first half of the book Oliver's POV really fell off and I almost wanted to skip them becuase it was Mina's POV that kept my interest. If it was just Mina to follow this would have been an easy 5 star read.

This is book two in the Love and Other Sins series but it can be read as a standalone.

There was some graphic content in the book, definitely suited for 18+

The narrator’s voice was so soothing and enjoyable to listen to.

The book is fast-paced, diving straight into the plot.

This is the kind of book I would love to see as a TV series.

If you are a fan of shows like Hanna, with girls taken and trained to be secret agents, you will love this book.

I can’t wait for book 3, this book ends on a little cliffhanger and I can’t stop thinking about it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars!)

You know that feeling when a book pulls you into its world so deeply, you forget where you are? That was Love and Other Cages for me—times two! I did an immersive read, devouring both the book and audiobook simultaneously, and wow, it was like stepping into Mina and Oliver's story in surround sound. Narrators Will Collyer and Emilia Ares brought the pages to life with so much intensity that I felt like I was right there in the chaos, heartbreak, and hope.

This story is a wild ride, starting with Mina’s abduction and throwing us headfirst into an underground criminal world. Meanwhile, Oliver’s battle with his past makes their love story feel fragile yet electric. The way these two navigate their connection amidst uncertainty and danger had me on the edge of my seat—and questioning my emotional stability more than once. 😅

Emilia Ares’s writing is raw and cinematic, painting every scene with vivid tension and a glimmer of hope. It’s not just a love story; it’s a gritty, heart-wrenching exploration of resilience and connection. And that ending? I’m still thinking about it.

Thank you, Emilia Ares, SERA Press, and NetGalley, for the opportunity to immerse myself in this thrilling, romantic journey. If you're looking for a book to make your pulse race and your heart ache (in the best way), this one's for you. 💔✨

🎧 Pro tip: The audiobook is chef’s kiss. Perfect for sinking fully into this emotional rollercoaster.

This action-packed read will have you wanting to read book #3 in the series. I was unaware that this is book #2 in a series, but it's a great stand-alone.

Mina and her mom are brutally attacked by an underground criminal organization with vague ties to Mina's father. With her mom's life on the line, Mina agrees to work for this wicked organization.

Mina's boyfriend, Oliver, searches LA trying to find any trace Mina and her mom. Fortunately, Oliver has a few friends he can count on, but finding anyone trustworthy with connections to a Russian mob proves challenging.

Will Collyer and Emilia Ares bring so much life to the audiobook!

Fans of Ally Carter will enjoy this darker thriller.

Special thanks to NetGalley and SERA Press for the audiobook.

I got only a couple chapters into this book and realized that this was a sequel to a book I had not read yet. The couple chapters I listened to were well-written and beautifully narrated, but since I have not yet read the first one (though I do now plan to), I don't want to give anything in depth since I feel it wouldn't be fair to the book or the author!

It's a love story of two broken hearts that you will like .Although I didn't read the the first book because there is no sign or mention to this is apart of series I understand the story .
The audiobook :
It's great and made the experience much more fun.
The narrators:
Will Collyer and Emilia Ares are great and each one of them is typical the character Olive with his brave in love and Mina with her broken heart and voice .
In this book you will find how the world can be cruel to two teens strugle between gangs and police to have their freedom in love and be living normally.
Comment

What another brilliant book by Emilia! I really love this series and hope for more between Mina and Oliver!

This one follows on from book one - Love and other Sins - Mina and her mum Lily were caught up in a terrifying situation, Mina was attacked in an alley then the guys came to her home and attacked her mum.

While visiting her mum in hospital, Mina was at a loose end, nothing but her mum's health mattered. She decided to go back home, for closure maybe? But the men came back and took her. Oliver being the gentleman he is, goes on a mission to get her back but what he finds sends him on a wild goose chase! Mina and Oliver have their work cut out! I don't want to give too much away but you can tell it's going to be good when you lose an hour or so to this book!

This was really well set out, I binge read 3/4 of this book and loved it! Such a good story and I hope for more!

Being new to audiobooks, this was a good place to start. Easy to follow and a good story. Might’ve been able to follow along better if I’d read the first book beforehand.

I was not ready for the emotional turmoil I felt when reading this story. This book throws you headfirst into a whirlwind of romance, suspense, and just the right amount of "how did we get here?" chaos. Emilia Ares’ Love and Other Cages will have you hooked faster than you can say “underground criminal organisation.

Let’s begin with our FMC Mina, she is a quintessential high school senior, studious, driven, and dreaming of a world beyond her classroom walls. Except, fate (and a rather nasty bunch of villains) had other plans. One moment she’s living her normal life, and the next, she’s swept into a world so sinister and complex it feels like Netflix’s next breakout crime drama. She goes through loss, shock and so many changes. Meanwhile, Oliver, broody, broken, and absolutely swoon-worthy, finds his already precarious grasp on happiness threatened when Mina is ripped from his life.

Now here’s the kicker: this isn’t just a love story. It’s a high-octane thriller wearing romance’s comfy sweater. Ares does a phenomenal job layering tension on top of emotion, creating characters you care about deeply (and probably want to wrap in bubble wrap). Mina’s strength is magnetic, and Oliver’s devotion? Heart-melting, even when it makes you want to scream, “Stop sulking and DO something, man!” I actually screamed this a couple of times.

The real charm, though, is the book’s refusal to spoon-feed answers. It tosses you into a world where hope flickers like a candle in a hurricane, and love feels as fragile as a whispered promise. I flipped the pages like a madman, desperate to see if Mina and Oliver could outsmart the forces tearing them apart or if their love was destined to remain a bittersweet memory.

This is the kind of book that leaves you bleary-eyed, listening to at 2 a.m., clutching your pillow because you cannot stop thinking about what’s next.

It’s for anyone who loves their romance sprinkled with danger, their heroes a little damaged, and their endings… well, I won’t spoil that for you. Just know this: Ares doesn’t disappoint.

Highly recommend, especially if you like to yell at fictional characters in the privacy of your own home. Or, you know, in public. No judgment.

I was lucky enough to read this book as well as listen to it the same time. The audiobook was a great listen and a perfect addition to the catalogue. Will Collyer and Emilia Ares (the author herself) did an amazing job narrating this novel. Highly recommend.

Below is my review for the book itself:

So I just finished Love and Other Cages and honestly? It's been one of my better reads this year. If you're into dark, gritty YA mystery/thrillers, this one's a total winner.

Mina is such a great main character - Ares really took the time to flesh her out. She felt super real and relatable, which made the whole story hit different.

In Love and Other Cages we follow Mina who is this high school senior living her best life when bam - she gets caught up with some sketchy criminal organisation. Then there's Oliver, who's finally getting his life together after some rough stuff in his past, only to have Mina's kidnapping throw his world into chaos. These two have this crazy intense connection, even with all the dangerous stuff going down around them.

The story keeps you guessing - will Oliver and Mina beat the odds? Can their connection survive all this drama? It's wild watching it all unfold.

The dual POV absolutely works brilliantly in this story - you get to be in both their heads, which just pulls you deeper into the story. And those plot twists? *chef's kiss* Did not see them coming.

Fun fact I discovered after finishing this book that this is actually part of a series! There's a book before this called "Love and Other Sins." But don't stress if you haven't read it - this one totally works as a standalone. I jumped right in and wasn't lost at all.

Okay, hold up. 😤 I really wanted to love this one. After scoring the ARC with both the audiobook AND the digital copy (huge shoutout to NetGalley and SERA Press, btw), I was hyped. But... yeah, this was a straight-up disaster. I pushed myself to 43% in the audiobook and 11% in the ebook before I had to throw in the towel. How on earth does a book about crime families, abductions, and forbidden love end up being SO unrealistic and boring?! I am shook. 🤯

Let’s talk about the romance—or lack thereof. Mina and Oliver? Yeah, no. I couldn’t care less
about them. The chemistry was non-existent, and their connection felt as forced as two wet socks rubbing together. 👎 I honestly didn’t buy for a second that these two were in love. The entire time, I was waiting for something, anything, to make me care. Spoiler alert: nothing ever did. 😒

Now, the pacing… oh boy. It was like the book was trying to be a slow burn, but forgot to actually, you know, burn anything. 🔥 I kept waiting for the plot to pick up, but it was like watching paint dry—nothing interesting happened, and when it did, it felt like a cheap knockoff of something I’d already read before. The dialogue? Cringe 😬. These are supposed to be teens, but they talked like they were written by a 30-year-old who hasn’t spoken to a teenager in years. “But Fairuz,” you might say, “it’s a YA thriller!” Yeah, well, that’s no excuse for dialogue this awkward. 🧐

And, speaking of unrealistic, can we just talk about the major plot holes? A minor with a sick mom just leaves to check into a hotel alone? A teen volunteers to be used as bait?! 🤯 I mean, c’mon, that’s not even remotely believable. I felt like my suspension of disbelief was shattered into a million pieces. 🙄 It was not the fun, immersive experience I was hoping for.

But honestly, the story had potential. I could see where it could’ve been cool, especially with the crime family angle and the abduction drama. But noooo, it just got weighed down by filler and unnecessary “dark” vibes that didn’t land. What a waste of a good idea. 😩

And the narration? Well, Will Collyer was fine, but Emilia Ares? Oh no. Her performance did NOT match the vibe of the story, and I found myself cringing at some of her choices. 🙅‍♀️ So props to Will for saving the day a little, but the overall narration still couldn’t salvage this hot mess.

So yeah, I cannot recommend this book. If you’re into romance thrillers, there are WAY better options out there. This one was a total miss for me, and honestly, I’m not even sorry about it. 🤷‍♀️

I will start by saying that I didn’t know that this was the second book and did not read the first. With that being said, this book started off quick. There are two narrators and I liked them from the start and typically don’t like audiobooks. The story sweeps you away quickly. There are some trigger warnings such as violence and abuse. Without giving too much away, this story follows Oliver and Mina as their relationship is really starting. Unfortunately, Mina is soon kidnapped to pay for things that her father has done to the Russian mob. We follow Mina as she navigates this world and Oliver as he stops at nothing to get her back.

I listened to the audio version of this book, and Emilia Ares and Will Collyer did a fantastic job bringing Mina and Oliver to life. It took a bit for me to get into the book. Once I did, I consistently wanted to know how things would turn out for Mina. I like the premise of this book, but I found some of the outcomes to be a bit far fetched. I read that this is the second book in a series, yet can be read as a standalone. I haven’t read the first book. I felt like I was missing some of the connection between Mina and Oliver. Maybe their relationship would’ve felt more meaningful if I read the first book beforehand. I still think this book is worth reading, but you may want to read the first book in the series before picking this one up. Thank you NetGalley, Emilia Ares, and SERA Press for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

The read was fast paced and exciting, based around Mina, a high school senior, being chucked into the darkness of an underground criminal gang that has crept into her family, destroying what she once had. Mina's boyfriend Oliver, is willing to do anything to find Mina to escape the grasps of the Gang. The story is exciting, and full of spy style programmes, and Russian mobs. And that cliffhanger !!

Emilia's writing style is really smooth and easy to follow, with 2 POVs that builds a great and engaging story. This is the perfect thriller read! I wont go into too much detail as I fear I will give away spoilers, but this isn't my normal read, but I really enjoyed this book.

I wasn't aware that this was part of a series, and was book 2. Despite this, I think the book reads really well as a stand alone, though I did miss out on some context from not reading book 1. Such as the history of Mina family involvement in the gang, and what had Oliver done in the previous book?!

I was lucky enough to get a copy of Love and Other Cages as an audiobook through Netgalley for which I am really grateful.

I really enjoyed Love and other cages, when I signed up and got the book I didn't realise this was book 2, however I don't think that hindered the reading or the understanding/enjoyment because I felt the history was mentioned enough to get an idea of what previously happened. I mean I'd definitely recommend reading book 1 to get the whole experience but from my time frame I didn't have enough to do two readings.
Love and other cages I felt was written exceptionally well, the story felt like it just flowed off the page with ease. I felt engaged with the storyline, the characters all had a depth to them that really brought a sense of realism and I was fully commited to the journey that played out in front of them.
The storyline itself was interesting and I was eager to find out the answers to the events that happened. I really enjoyed how this novel played out.

The narrators really made this story come alive. I really enjoyed this audiobook - now need to wait for the next with that cliff hanger!! Thank you for allowing me to listen and review.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the bond between Mina and Oliver. Even though this can be read as a standalone, I felt I needed more of their backstory or even much more of their relationship since those were the bits I enjoyed the most. The author descriptions are vivid and she definitely knows how to write romance. Craving for more of that beautifully written love story.
I loved that it's a rollercoaster, an emotional rush and you don't know where the author is gonna take you next, so be prepared for a wild ride.
This book won't bore you since it is full of thrills, action, romance, and heart wrenching in so many ways.
What kept me from giving this book a full 5 star rating were the chapters focused on the mob. It kind of confused me a little and took the excitement away from me. I wanted more of everything else instead, but I understood it's a crucial part of the story.
The ending left me wanting more, which is great.
I recommend this book to those who love a good love story with the right amount of conflict and emotional pain.

I tried so hard to get into this book, but I couldn't get past 15%... I did not read the 1st book, but I saw in other reviews this could be read as a stand alone. It was a slowww start and very unrealistic. I had to keep reminding myself that these characters were supposed to be teenagers. You could not tell by the language they spoke. There was too much detail in the conversations that did not matter between the characters and not enough background information up front. I sadly had to DNF this read. I look forward to seeing other publications from this author.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to listen to this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Wow! The best way for me to describe this book is a reluctant spy novel with romance. The beginning starts off fast and intense. It pulls you in and doesn't stop. I enjoyed the action, characters, and relationships that formed. I don't typically read spy novels or books featuring many Russian characters, but I had fun with this book!

I didn't realize this was the second book until I read other reviews. I don't think I missed too much, only some references, but I would recommend reading the first one before this one! I know I'm going back to read it.

Three-star reviews are the most difficult for me to write. I was all over the place with this novel. While there are some definite positives and negatives about this one, it felt like I read two different books; one I liked and one I didn't. I hated the early chapters so much that if this hadn't been an ALC I would've DNF it within the first ten minutes. I try hard to stick with ARCs though, so I trudged on. The novel makes an abrupt shift towards the middle, and I was stunned at how much the plot improved.

The biggest downfall of those early chapters is how overwritten everything is especially, the dialogue. There is repetition galore that should've been edited down. The character behavior seems farfetched, and the teen dialogue sounds like it's trying too hard to sound young. Teenagers don't speak like that. When I noticed some of these issues creep back up toward the end, I realized that the immature interactions between the two main characters are unnatural, cringey even. The romance plot thread was weak. The villains seem cheesy in the first section. I kept envisioning them as mustache twirling cartoonish cutouts. I couldn't take these guys seriously.

The middle section of the book was interesting, and I was floored by the change of pace. The agent training the FMC receives is scary and fascinating. It reminded me of an underground spy network. The book is better when the main characters aren't in scenes together. The stronger plot lies in this section, notably minus the romance. Even the villainous characters hold their own better in the second half.

This is a dual perspective audiobook and is narrated by Will Collyer and Emilia Ares. The author voices the main character herself.

If you're considering this one, it is book 2 but can be read as a standalone. It also ends on a cliffhanger. There are dark themes so be aware especially if considering this for a younger reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Listening Copy