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sofiajearally 's review for:
A List of Cages
by Robin Roe
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I reeeaaally wanted to give this book 5 stars.
The story deserves 5 stars. It was exactly what I was expecting and even more. Because of the back cover, I went in thinking we'd mostly have Adam's POV, so I was surprised to read about the abuse so early in the book. In spite of that, the author managed to keep me on the edge of my seat and I just couldn't stop turning the pages. I did NOT expect that event at the end of the book, chapter 68. Wow. But my favorite thing about this book was definitely the relationship between Adam and Julian, especially in second part. I don't even have the words to describe how much I loved it. What a wholesome dynamic.
Which leads me to why I'm only rating this book 3 stars: the writing. I was very disappointed. I found that the characters lacked depth. All of them, even Julian to a lesser level. The main characters were only defined by a few characteristics. As for the secondary characters, man oh man... Especially women. Emerald's only features seemed to be her hair and her eyes. Camila showed her cleavage and wore high heels, then "disappeared" once she wasn't relevant to the romantic subplot anymore.
I also felt like the first part especially lacked unity between the two POVs: when we see things through Julian's eyes, we know Adam notices some strange things but when we switch to Adam's POV, it's like it never happened.
As for the writing style itself, I didn't find it compelling, except for some passages, like where Emerald and Adam take care of Julian or where we can see how Julian feels towards the abuse (as someone who has suffered from it as a child, it felt completely real and I have to give props to the author for that). I wish all parts of the book had this much impact, because it really deserved it.
The story deserves 5 stars. It was exactly what I was expecting and even more. Because of the back cover, I went in thinking we'd mostly have Adam's POV, so I was surprised to read about the abuse so early in the book. In spite of that, the author managed to keep me on the edge of my seat and I just couldn't stop turning the pages. I did NOT expect that event at the end of the book, chapter 68. Wow. But my favorite thing about this book was definitely the relationship between Adam and Julian, especially in second part. I don't even have the words to describe how much I loved it. What a wholesome dynamic.
Which leads me to why I'm only rating this book 3 stars: the writing. I was very disappointed. I found that the characters lacked depth. All of them, even Julian to a lesser level. The main characters were only defined by a few characteristics. As for the secondary characters, man oh man... Especially women. Emerald's only features seemed to be her hair and her eyes. Camila showed her cleavage and wore high heels, then "disappeared" once she wasn't relevant to the romantic subplot anymore.
I also felt like the first part especially lacked unity between the two POVs: when we see things through Julian's eyes, we know Adam notices some strange things but when we switch to Adam's POV, it's like it never happened.
As for the writing style itself, I didn't find it compelling, except for some passages, like where Emerald and Adam take care of Julian or where we can see how Julian feels towards the abuse (as someone who has suffered from it as a child, it felt completely real and I have to give props to the author for that). I wish all parts of the book had this much impact, because it really deserved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Abandonment
Moderate: Gun violence, Kidnapping
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content