Review: Caged by Sophie Davis

Caged
(Talented #2)
by Sophie Davis
Published: April 26, 2012



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After her brush with death at Ian Crane’s compound, Talia Lyons feels like a prisoner, confined in her childhood home. Plagued with seizures- the result of an unidentified drug injected in her neck by Crane’s men- Talia must put her dream of becoming a Hunter on hold.

When Agency Director McDonough asks Talia to go undercover at the School for the Talented, to find the spy who set the trap for her in Nevada, Talia jumps at the opportunity.

Soon she learns that her newfound freedom comes with a price- working with Donavon on a daily basis. As if that isn’t awkward enough, her former teammate, Erik, also shows up at the School. But at least Talia has the unexpected company of her best friend Penny; to not only assist her in uncovering the spy, but also to deal with the complications that the guys create.

As Talia becomes more entrenched in her assignment, she quickly learns the lengths that the Agency and Mac will go in the name of war. With Crane’s influence spreading, Talia learns that there are few Operatives without ties to the Coalition. Forced to face hard truths and dangerous conclusions, Talia realizes that it is those closest to her who are hiding the biggest secrets. As the task of finding the traitor becomes more problematic, desperation and frustration rule Talia’s world. It becomes clear that Talia can’t do this alone. But who can she trust, when everyone around her is lying?

Ever since I finished Talented, I've wanted to read the second book as soon as possible. I wanted to know what the heck happens next after that ending. I wanted to know more about that little revelation in relation to Talia and her parents. But most of all, it was Erik that I wanted most.

I've talked about what I felt about the romance in the first book (feel free to read it here). It's not perfect or one that would leave you a gooey mess but it sure made me want more. It has so much potential to be more and I've been looking forward to that since I read a sneak peek of Caged at the end of Talented and I didn't hear a thing about Erik. I mean, sure, it's just a teaser but still! So when I got a review copy of the second book from the author, I read it IMMEDIATELY.

And I just couldn’t stop reading it. Things get a little messy from there especially with the current state Talia is in and it worried me that maybe things would change and... I don’t even know what I would do. To anyone who read Talented, remember that epilogue? It wasn't surprising that Donavon-the-jerk was hiding something more but things are about to get interesting what with him getting his hands on that letter. It made me afraid of what he would do with it and it made me crazy that I couldn’t figure out what really his deal is now that I finished Caged. I get that he and Talia have been bestfriends since they were kids and are practically a family. I hate what he did but I also think that a big part of him genuinely cares for Talia, a-holeness aside. It’s one of the reasons why it made me overly anxious about that said “change” because.. gah!!! Methinks I’m already spoiling too much so just read the book!

Talia has to make a lot of major decisions in this book but even though I am internally screaming my brain raw for her to please, please, choose “this/that”, I would understand her reasons. I mean, for instance, her relationship with Donavon – too much history between them to just throw away. It still doesn’t change the fact that he’s a big fat NO to me, though.

Don’t think that this is all hard decisions and romance and secrets. I’ll let you know, all the kick-ass parts are awesome particularly with Erik in the picture. And let us not forget all the mind manipulation, metamorphic, telekinetic and whatever cool abilities these characters possess that we also wish we do. Those are some of my favorite parts. Okay, so everything with Erik in it are my favorites. What can I say? Except that I really, really want to read the third book, Hunted.

You know what writing a review weeks - even days - after I read the book makes me feel? It makes me remember all the parts I like and I will have the urge to re-read that book. Which I did after I wrote this. And it made me want the third book more than ever. Sigh. Booknerd problems.