ARC Review: Caged by Clarissa Wild

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Standalone - Savage Men #1
Release - September 21, 2017
Genre - Dark Romance
Dual POV - 1st person
Heat - 4.5 out of 5
Length - 507 pages

They call me savage. An untamed beast.
I was born in the cage. Born to fight. Born to carry its name.
Locked away, I’ve spent years waiting for my mate.
I'm pent up with need. Brimming with desire.
All I want is her... That beautiful girl from the picture on my prison wall.
Now she’s finally here, sharing a cell.
So close. So hard to resist.
But one thing’s for sure…
Even if she doesn’t know it yet, she’s already mine.

This book contains both CAGED and UNCAGED, originally meant as a duet.

Note: This STANDALONE novel contains disturbing content that may be offensive to some readers.

Find your copy of Caged here:
Goodreads | Amazon
FREE with Kindle Unlimited

MY REVIEW

Cage was like a little boy in a grown and sexy man-body. He was incredibly naive. He didn’t understand what most of us consider normal expressions or colloquialisms. He wasn’t socialized, he had never even been outside. He didn’t understand the world around him because he wasn’t a part of the world. He lived in a caged environment and the only thing he knew was to fight… to the death. He had never had a friend and he had never known affection, however, when given the chance to meet someone, to have someone of his very own, he chose Ella. But when Ella is taken and wakes up to her new life in the cage, will she ever be able to forgive and love Cage the same way that he loves her?

The ARC copy I received had both Caged and Uncaged. I personally thought this was awesome because I didn’t have to wait to continue this story and it read like one book. I did think it was going to be a dark read, and while it may be uncomfortable for some, it really wasn’t that dark at all. However, I’m a huge fan of the dark and twisted, so my opinion may be a little off. Both Cage and Ella are prisoners of a man who sees them as nothing but profit. Cage really doesn’t know any better and Ella has a hard time adapting to the life of a captive. Somehow, amidst the chaos, pain and devastation, a strange sort of love starts to bloom between the two and Ella vows to stop at nothing to allow them both a taste of freedom. The freedom to live and the freedom to love.

While I very much enjoyed Caged, I felt that some parts were dragging in Uncaged. I also wasn’t very happy with the events that surrounded Caged. He was an unfortunate victim of circumstance, but instead of being treated as a victim, he was criticized, ridiculed and vilified as a monster. And because he didn’t know any better, he believed that he was unworthy. I loved this character so much and wanted better for him. I also wanted Ella to be a better person overall. I wasn’t a huge fan of hers but I was definitely a fan of their love. I recommend this story to those who enjoy romantic suspense with a touch of the dark side.