Author: Megan Shepherd
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Source: Balzer + Bray via Edelweiss
Goodreads
They’ve left the cage—but they’re not free yet.Review by Nara
After their failed escape attempt, Cora, Lucky, and Mali have been demoted to the lowest level of human captives and placed in a safari-themed environment called the Hunt, along with wild animals and other human outcasts. They must serve new Kindred masters—Cora as a lounge singer, Lucky as an animal wrangler, and Mali as a safari guide—and follow new rules or face dangerous consequences. Meanwhile, Nok and Rolf have been moved into an enormous dollhouse, observed around the clock by Kindred scientists interested in Nok’s pregnancy. And Leon, the only one who successfully escaped, has teamed up with villainous Mosca black-market traders.
The former inhabitants of the Cage are threatened on all fronts—and maybe worst of all, one of the Hunt’s Kindred safari guests begins to play a twisted game of cat and mouse with Cora. Separated and constantly under watch, she and the others must struggle to stay alive, never mind find a way back to each other. When Cassian secretly offers to train Cora to develop her psychic abilities—to prove the worthiness of humanity in a series of tests called the Gauntlet—she’ll have to decide fast if she dares to trust the Kindred who betrayed her, or if she can forge her own way to freedom.
It's a bit strange- I've rated all of Megan Shepherd's books so far with 3 stars, which is a respectable rating but not amazing, and yet one might notice that I've actually read all of her novels. To be honest, the fact that I've read all of them is surprising- I guess her premises are gripping enough that I want to give the books a go, and the series then continues to be just good enough that I want to keep reading.
There's something about this series in particular that's oddly addicting, even if the plotlines aren't the most well thought out, and the world building is not that great and the romance is quite lacking. There's just this slight curiosity as to what will happen next, but that curiosity is enough to keep your interest going.
The world building in this novel was slightly better than in the first book, but I'm not sure that I have a good grip on the world and how things work. It's hard not to compare novels, and I've just read so many scifi novels where the world building is so much better. The plot in this novel is much improved though, with much more going on. There are multiple points of view, but this actually turns out in the novel's favour as seeing from the different characters' viewpoints is pretty interesting.
I actually couldn't tell you right at this moment whether I'll eventually finish the series. I'm not that invested in it and probably wouldn't be upset to not read the last novel, seeing as though I have about a billion other books that I would put higher on my TBR. But on the other hand, if I see the last book in the library I quite possibly might pick it up.
Liked it
RatingsOverall: 6/10
Plot: 3/5
Romance: 2.5/5
Writing: 3/5
World Building: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 2/5
