REVIEW: Caged in Darkness (Caged #1) by J.D Stroube

 

Author: J.D Stroube

Genre: Young Adult

Pages: 178

Publisher: J.D Stroube

Amazon: Caged in Darkness

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

A witch raised in a cage of darkness...

Savannah Cross was born into a life of isolation and abuse.
As a child, she witnessed her parents perform acts of malevolent evil, and now feels permanently tainted by their dark deeds.

When a coven discovers a tear stricken child,
wounded on their elders lawn, they offer her a sanctuary she has never known. Savannah spends the next several years shattered, continuously looking over her shoulder, waiting for the darkness to claim her.

On her 16th birthday,
Savannah’s life takes a drastic turn. She is consumed by overwhelming power that forever alters her emotionally and physically.

She must choose between two loves; the one who taught her to smile or the darkly seductive stranger who tempts her towards another path.

Savannah must decide between the coven that was her haven
and another one vying for her initiation. Just as Savannah begins to grasp what fate has in store for her, an evil looms over her loved ones; coming to claim an unbreakable debt.

How will she survive the greatest evil she has ever witnessed… long enough to have a choice to make?

REVIEW: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Caged in Darkness is the first book in the Caged series by J.D Stroube.

For 9 years Savannah Cross was held captive in a cage witnessing terrible horrors and being treated cruelly all at the hands of her inordinately powerful parents. When a rare occasion arose for her to escape, she took the chance and headed to Meadow Falls witch Coven which she had previously heard of and was warmly accepted by Maye and Ash who quickly became her surrogate family.

Savannah descends from one of the most powerful lineages of witches and her parent’s became obsessed with dark magic and through human sacrifices managed to summon a demon, which they then locked in a bloodstone box. After their deaths, Savannah was tasked with retrieving items of importance and unknowingly tripped on the box and unleashed the demon. This is where all the action begins and Savannah along with her friends have to find a way to banish the demon before he wreaks havoc on the life Savannah has built for herself.

Savannah is due to come into her powers on her 16^th birthday, it is then she will also choose her coven – Meadow Falls coven which she has always known as well as one which are trying to initiate her into their own, the Sacred Moon coven. Trying to ‘seduce’ her into the coven is Liam, the son of a high priestess and forced into the task of swaying her decision. I wasn’t a fan of Liam initially but he gradually grew on me.

Also vying for Savannah’s attention was Ash, who I adored! He has always cared for and protected Savannah since her arrival in Meadow Falls and taught her to trust – I thought he was a wonderful love interest for her, I was just shocked by his friendship with Isis and Griffin; the way they treated Savannah seemed to go against everything he believed in.

Savannah as a main heroine frustrated me on numerous occasions, she was emotionally unavailable which could be understood because of what she had been through but there were times when her actions went against everything I would have expected from her. She was indecisive about her love life and who she actually wanted to be with – it was all a bit back and forth for my liking. I did like the times she did show her strength and determination to try and sort out the demon problems – her take charge attitude in these circumstances was the heroine I enjoyed reading about.

Caged in Darkness was told from Savannah, Liam and Ash’s POV’s which I always enjoy, it gives us a greater glimpse into each of their inner thoughts and reasoning behind their actions.

I loved Savannah’s best friends Willow and Izzy & was saddened by what happened to Izzy; each of the secondary characters were fleshed out well. Maye and Ash were truly wonderful and treated Savannah with love and respect and never an outcast.

I was torn in my feelings of Caged in Darkness, I found it quite enjoyable but unfortunately there was something missing and I didn’t love it. The pacing at times was slow for me, but I did enjoy J.D Stroube’s writing and the plot certainly held my interest.

There were a number of editing problems which were easily overlooked and I was quite shocked by the twist at the end; I am keen to read the sequel Caged by Damnation to see how it all pans out.