FIVE DAYS OF NATUSCH DAY ONE!

Welcome, my Wicked peeps, to Day One of Natusch!

During the next FIVE days, Amber Natusch will be in the spotlight with her  Caged Series!

Today is the review for book one,

Caged

(oh, and don't forget to enter the giveaway ;) )

 



"I stood in the middle of the room, unmoving – I barely breathed. My life had just become surreal, impossible, and one enormous lie. I needed to go, to run somewhere, anywhere to beat back the reality that was rapidly closing in around me. The image of him was burned into my retina, flashing over and over again like a warning. He was trapped somewhere between human and decidedly not, and I realized that was my new reality.
I was too."

After the death of her parents, Ruby awakens from a lifetime of shadows and finds herself alone, thrust into a world of lies, deceit, betrayal and the supernatural.
As her quest for truth continues to come up short, she realizes that maybe some questions really are best left unanswered.
When her true identity is finally unveiled, she is forced to choose between two of the mysterious men who continually seem to crop up in her life.
She chooses poorly.
Now abandoned, Ruby must learn to call on the darkness within to survive, or spend a hellish eternity imprisoned because of it

 Warning: This book is for mature audiences only (17+)

Prepare yourself to be thrust into a world where nothing is as it seems,

and all preconceived notions of what will happen flutter away in the wind.

And oh my flipping monkeys what a glorious world this is!

 

Amber draws you in with the first sentence, peaking your curiosity to the breaking point. What I love about Caged is that while, throughout the story, you get a hint of the answers that you are searching for, it's like a tease and keeps all the good bits locked away from your view.

 

Now, that's not to say that there isn't any what-the-ef moments, because holy sh*t, there is. But, as you can imagine, if just a hint of the epic moments makes want you to slap whomsoever next to you, then when she releases some of the full blown moments you're prepared to howl at the moon and chew on someones arm (there's a reason for the wolfy metaphors ;) )

And oh boy, when the truth comes out its like a giant freaking fist to the face.

 

The action, to me, is fully enthralling. I always hated it whenever authors go into too much detail in the fighting scenes because it takes away from the imagination. Amber writes in such a way that you get the full visual of the scene, without being over run with the details.

 

Now, there's some yummy boys in this book. And I mean, daaammmnnnn, he's yummy, yummy ;)

Sean is the perfect example of the mysterious hot a**hole, who's also funny and endearing. The perfectly trait conflicted male.  You'll want to slap him and kiss him at the same time.
I would go into the second hot male (and breath easy because there's not a love triangle), Eric, my my aggression would spike and I'd end up hitting something (there's a reason for that, but you'll have to read the book to find out why.)

 

Now, some people don't like Ruby's character. They say she's too sarcastic, acts childish, jumps into situations, blah blah blah.

To those people who say that, one, you are entitled to your own opinion, and I respect your opinion :)

BUT, since you are entitled to your opinion, it also means that I'm entitled to mine. (insert evil laugh here).

Soooo, brace yourself, because here it is!

 

When you're taking about Ruby's personality aspects, a lot of people don't understand the concept of living without sight in an extremely secluded family, then finding yourself with said sight.

Imagine living your life not being able to see. You wouldn't know what you looked like, had never seen any form or shade of colors. It's not the same as just sitting there with your eyes closed. Its an extreme form of nothingness. (and I know that for a fact because I have friends who are blind and have had lengthy discussions with them about it).

 

Now, add all that on top of being so ridiculously controlled that you have no other way to express yourself except through dance. And I mean, literally no way to express yourself. You have no friends to talk to, your parents don't want to listen, so you're stuck inside your mind for YEARS.

 

With all that *gestures above* in mind, its completely understandable to those of curious and academically open minds, to see that how Ruby is now is completely understandable. Is she sarcastic? Yes, but its because its her defense mechanism when dealing with situations and people that make her uncomfortable.  Is she somewhat childish at times? Yes, but that is because she never got the chance to be a child. Age has nothing to do with mentality. It's about whether or not you are able to actually experience the stages of life.

 

So, that explains the first part of peoples b*tch*ng.  Now, onto the second part. Some people cannot fathom Ruby's obsession with fashion and her making and selling jewelry.

To this, I have to stare wide eyed at them with a confounded look on my face, while wondering if there could possibly be that many idiots out there.

HELLO! She wasn't able to see for the first massive part of her life! Fashion is visually appealing, as is jewelry (not to mention that with making jewelry you use your hands, which touch is a key thing when it comes to blind people, so even tho Ruby can see now, it doesn't mean she doesn't take comfort from the familiarity of working with her hands).

Not to mention that the clothes you buy is a symbol of your ability to have control over your life. After not being in control in any aspect of her life, of course she's going to take the easiest thing to prove to herself that she's in control of her destiny and run with it (back to the parents again).

Not to mention I'd love to take her shopping with me, because her clothes are fabulous!

So, do I recommend Caged? Yes, I do, but due to graphic content, language and sexual content, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone under the age of 17. 16 would be pushing it.
Oh, and if you're an uptight person with a stick permanently up you... *coughs*... well I wouldn't recommend this to you :) To everyone else, feel free to embrace the Wickedness!
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway
To purchase your copy of Caged for Kindle click HERE 

To purchase the first three books of the series for Nook click HERE