Poison's Cage

Poison's Cage by Breeana Shields

This is the second book in a duology. I reviewed the first book HERE, POISON'S KISS.

Do not read this review if you do not want spoilers for  Poison's Kiss. YE HAVE BEEN WARNED.

SPOILERS FOR Poison's Kiss BEYOND THIS POINT.

An amazon summary, "An assassin becomes a spy in this heart-pounding sequel to Poison's Kiss. Readers who love the assassin angle in Throne of Glass, the lethal touch in Shatter Me, or the high stakes of The Wrath and the Dawn will want to follow this story to the end.

A single kiss could kill. A single secret could save the kingdom.
Iyla and Marinda have killed many men together: Iyla as the seductress, Marinda as the final, poisonous kiss. Now they understand who the real enemy is--the Snake King--and together they can take him down. Both girls have felt as though they were living a lie in the past, so moving into the king's palace and pretending to serve him isn't as difficult as it sounds. But when you're a spy, even secrets between friends are dangerous. And each girl has something--or someone--to lose. Does every secret, every lie, bring them closer to the truth . . . or to a trap?
In Poison's Kiss, Marinda pulled a dangerous thread. In this sequel, it unravels to a heart-pounding conclusion." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

ALRIGHT.

Let's clear the air.

That was a pretty INTENSE ending to Poison's Kiss. Mani was almost eaten by the Snake King who is apparently real, Kadru is a terrifying person, poor Iyla but at the same time WTH IYLA, REALLY? Oh, by the way, surprise cults for one of the four guardians. HUH-WHAT?!

Okay, I had to spit all that out so we can actually talk about Poison's Cage. 

So Marinda goes to the den of the Naga to be a spy to take them down from the inside hopefully. Iyla wants her life back (see how Kadru stole her lives to ensure Marinda lived through the poison administrations). Marinda's loyalty to the Naga is constantly tested by their leader, Balavan, who has plans for her (of course). One of the first things he has her do is a kiss a man in the dungeons who refuses to talk. Interestingly enough the dungeon man reveals that the other three original guardians do exist, and one of them is dead.

So sparks the race for Iyla to find the crocodile king (did I mention this book has two narrators? Iyla and Marinda? I know it always makes me hella suspicious too), and Iyla and Marinda are trying to find a way to trust each other.

The same whirlwind of magic, political intrigue, and even more cult stuff whirls through Poison's Cage.

HOWEVER. I am a bit peeved.

SPOILERS FOR Poison's Cage ahead. DON'T READ FURTHER UNLESS YOU WANT A PLOT ELEMENT TO BE RUINED.

Anyways, so one of the things the young adult genre keeps beating to death, is that everyone falls in love. EVERYONE. Salty Iyla is no exception. Which is just SO OBNOXIOUS because she's always been such a survivalist, will do anything to achieve her goal, but still loves Marinda so she definitely has compassion, etc. She's a complicated character, that honestly, felt really diminished by a love interest. It was also super obnoxious how she went about falling in love. Like the whole, "I saw a man, and suddenly I had a different kind of warmth in my belly" kind of deal. Like she has no idea what a crush feels like, at all, when she's been a seductress for how many years? I just refuse to believe that she's never had a crush or romantic interest in any of her targets before this point. It just doesn't line up with the rest of her characterization. It's vexing.

But other than that, despite the sudden first book having one narrator, to the second book having two narrators, I still liked the book a lot. It definitely enthralled me in the magic and moment once more.

Happy reading!