Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Review: CAGED (Mackenzie Grey #2) by Karina Espinosa

Book Blurb:

It’s hard out there for a lone-wolf.

Mackenzie Grey has started a brand new life in an attempt to escape the Brooklyn Pack. She settles in as a detective in a special unit of the LAPD when her identity is put at risk, and she has no choice but to run again. The question is: does she want to run forever?

As events force Mackenzie to confront her past, she is met with many surprises—including the revelation of her true ancestry. When Packs across the country learn of who she is, Kenz becomes the object of desire in a deadly wolf hunt, and she must once again fight to keep her freedom.

Witnessing first-hand the barbaric treatment of Lunas, Mackenzie has to make a choice—follow the prediction of her Vision Quest or let herself be CAGED...

My Review:

4 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Faeries, Royal-Court, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves--

Book 2 in the series picks up where book one ends, with Mackenzie on the run from the Pack and her old life. She finds herself in California where she goes on a vision quest that causes more questions than it answers. Mackenzie decides to start a new life in California, where she joins a supernatural task force and gains control of her wolf. While on a mission rescuing sex traffic slaves, she finds an orphaned young werewolf girl. Mackenzie sends the girl to the Pack to raise, against her better judgment. Mackenzie realizes that this is the end of her freedom, things needs to change, and hopefully she is up to the task.

I liked book one but I think that I may have liked book 2 even better. Just a side note, the books need to be read in order because this book would be so confusing without the back story. I am excited to have a new urban fantasy series to look forward to and I hope there is plenty more in this world (even if it is not with Mackenzie) because the world building the author employed is detailed and intriguing. The story is an equal mix of character and plot driven, which is my favorite kind of book.

I will admit that at times in the first book I wanted to shake Mackenzie due to her big mouth and idiot actions. I appreciated that Mackenzie has grown up (at least a little bit) and uses less crude humor (but kept her sarcasm which makes me happy) and at least tries to think before over reacting (which she still does). Unfortunately her good intentions don’t always pan out and her need for freedom and space ends up hurting her in the long run. I kind of feel like the biggest motivator in the story was revenge, with Mackenzie moving from one target to the next instead of sitting down to think things through she just reacts (which I still hope she will grow out of by the next book).

So book 1 had a love triangle and now book 2 has a love quad going on. There is Roman who I love but probably won’t be right for her in the long run since the whole species thing. Then there is Bash who matched her personality and strength perfectly and I would 100% root for except the fact he continues to sex up the most evil woman in the pack even when he makes plays for Mackenzie. And lastly, there is Jonah, who I think has drank the happy kool-aid and is brainwashed by Daddy dearest and would gladly cage Mackenzie because “it was for her own good” (not to mention the fact he too is sleeping with someone who hates Mackenzie). As you can see, it is complicated, to say the least. Sometimes I get caught up in the romance aspect of a story and I had to come to the painful conclusion that this is not a romance book nor is the main premise of the story a romance. It’s about a revolution, which is much more important.

The ending of the book was incredibly shocking and depressing and I am not sure what to expect. A third book is not listed to come out but I am making the assumption that there will be one based on the bombshell I received here. And, of course, I will read the next book.

I received this title in return for my honest review.

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