Caged Warrior (Dragon Kings, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jun 19, 2021 Rachel-RN rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-2021

This is a VERY generous 2. Under normal circumstances I would probably have DNF'd this (the writing was decent).
Audrey (AKA Nynn) was banished because she married a human (and in part d/t her parentage). She is also a Dragon King (a powerful supernatural race; they were once worshipped as gods). Her husband murdered, she and her son are kidnapped and subjected to experimentation and torture. Leto is a Cage Warrior. He is fighting for the "right" to procreate. It appears that the DK race is sever ...more

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Mar 05, 2013 D.G. rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed, paranormal-romance

Check out this review and others at Badass Book Reviews.

Caged Warrior was an entertaining read with a novel premise but something was missing for me. For some reason, I wasn’t as emotionally touched as I should have been for the plight of a woman who’s child is being used for who knows what experiments.

The Dragon Kings are a race of beings with supernatural abilities. They are NOT dragon shifters, just a different species that sprung from a deity they call the Dragon. They have lived among human Check out this review and others at Badass Book Reviews.

Caged Warrior was an entertaining read with a novel premise but something was missing for me. For some reason, I wasn’t as emotionally touched as I should have been for the plight of a woman who’s child is being used for who knows what experiments.

The Dragon Kings are a race of beings with supernatural abilities. They are NOT dragon shifters, just a different species that sprung from a deity they call the Dragon. They have lived among humans for eons and at one time were considered gods. But their race is at the point of extinction as they are having difficulty reproducing. One human doctor claims to have found a way to solve his problem but his prize is that the Dragon Kings must fight in gladiator style matches for the privilege of conception. Leto, the hero, was born and raised in this environment and he’s drunk the kool-aid. He fully believes in the system and he’s only goal in life is to win matches so he can continue his family’s lineage.

When he meets Audrey, he’s not too happy with the assignment to train her but once he gets to know her, he’s taken by her bravery in such horrible circumstances. Soon, he’s questioning everything he’s learned in his life.

A good chunk of the book is about Audrey’s training regime and that’s its biggest weakness. The mythology surrounded the Dragon Kings is sketchy and not very well fleshed out. We learn about the clans different powers, that they don’t trust each other, their bigotry towards humans but that’s about it. Leto and Audrey spend a lot of time together – which is good – but his behavior towards her was horrible at times because “it will help her fight.” This doesn’t give the reader a very fuzzy feeling.

The human villains were caricaturish in the extreme – I was expecting mustache twirling at some point. They are evil, eeeeeeevil with sadist tendencies and scary smiles. I couldn’t fully understand how they had gotten away with subjugating a group of people as the Dragon Kings but there you have it.

The book had some really good parts. The moment when Leto realizes he’s pretty much a slave was very moving and the escape was exciting – even if I wasn’t sure how everything came about. I think PNR readers interested in something new would find this a worthy read ...more

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Jun 01, 2013 LooLoo rated it liked it

I won this book on a GoodReads Giveaway.

I thought this book was okay for a first book of a series. There were times I got a bit bored but that often happens in PNR/UF series first books for me. The world building will often bore me, not that I felt there was a lot of that in this book. As a whole I think it just lacked the intensity and depth to really draw me in. There could have been so much more between Leto and Nynn but it fell short.

I think the series has the potential to be good but I'm n ...more

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