Neurotic Thoughts on Caged in Darkness by J.D. Stroube

Caged in Darkness (Caged #1)
Author: J.D. Stroube
Released: July 29, 2011
Genre: YA Paranormal
Published by: J.D. Stroube
Source: Received from the author
"I received this book free of charge in exchange for an 
honest review"
Pages: 178
ISBN: 1466362367
Summary from 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?

Love Notes:

• I love how strong Savannah is! Not to be confused with emotionally available, that she is not. 
• Maye, Savannah's foster "aunt" she seemed more like an aunt to me than a mom, was awesome. She wasn't a missing in action "parent" but she wasn't up in the teens business all the time either. 
• Ash - there are things I loved about Ash, and things that really irked me about him. On one hand he can be really sweet, and takes care of Savannah the way a good "brother" or "boyfriend" would. (I'll get to the other hand of him in just a minute.)
• Savannah's friends, Izzy and Willow! True friends each with their own personalities that I couldn't help but love. 
•  Having characters that were easy to hate or at the very least extremely dislike really added to the story. (More on this in the grievances) 
• I loved how original  this book felt, I can honestly say I haven't read another story that reminded me of this one. 
• The twists and turns at the end of the book were fabulous. 
• I really enjoyed how the author uses Savannah's memories of her parents to convey their downward spiral into the darkness.
• The romance and how it was handled in the end was a complete surprise, and one that I felt really worked wonderfully in this story. 
• That cover! It truly is GORGEOUS!  

Airing of the Grievances: 

(let it be known that my grievances aren't problems with the writing of the story, more like things that made me growl and groan during the reading of the book. these can actually be things that made the story better.)

• Back to Ash - what was up with the way he let his friends treat Savannah?  I had a really hard time loving him because of this. In fact this is probably the biggest grievance I have with this entire book.
• Isis and Griffin are jerks! I can't figure out why Ash is friends with them. He actually admits to not liking Isis, but continues to hang out with her because of Griffin. 
• Let's just say Griffin wouldn't be my best friend. 
• Liam - he's as spineless as he is pretty. Enough said! 

To Sum it All Up:

Caged in Darkness was a great read that kept me emotionally involved throughout. Whether I was freaking out about what a jerk someone was, or loving how amazing someone else was, I was constantly feeling. This book was easy to read because it never felt overly descriptive or character driven, it was the perfect balance between the two. I appreciated that the book had an ending even though there is another book in the series. I will most definitely being reading Caged by Damnation, book 2 of the Caged series.