The Girl in Cell 49B

When I read the first book in this series, I described it as all sorts of amazing, and so is this second book in the series. Emily is finally safe, the sole survivor of a terrible home invasion, living with her mentor Lucas. Three years later life tnrows her another curveball and she is arrested for carrying an illegal weapon. She ends up in a juvenile detention center where corruption runs rampant. Emily never gives up, she is the original ‘girl with a half full cup’ and decides to take control of her life. She manages to get a job in the facility’s library and spends her time in the law library, a little used section of the library. We can soon see where her destiny will lie. The story is filled with unique characters, much love, warmth and a whole lot of hope! Another book for my ‘best ever’ book list!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Emily Calby is still living with Lucas Jackson after fleeing the home invasion that killed her mother and younger sister. She met Lucas who is an ex gang member when she contacted him to obtain false ID and instead of the vet he was expecting 12 year old Emily showed up.
Now on her 16th birthday when her sparkly pink package contains the 9 millimeter she has asked for life is very different. When Lucas issues a stern warning about the gun, Emily’s’ temper flares and she storms out of the house and ends up pulling the gun in front of witnesses. On her way home police catch up with her and once her fingerprints are entered in to the system, not only is her real identity revealed but she learns that there is a warrant for murder in LA.
Emily/Alice is extradited to Pochachant Prison, a for profit prison for youth offenders. While there she will face staff corruption, challenges from other girls and fall in love for the first time. She will learn to love as she gets to know her roommate, a drug addict who has an uncanny ability to sense trouble and face a prosecutor who will do anything to win. Emily will learn that the law may be an even more powerful weapon than anything that Lucas ever gave her.
“ Hiding Girl” was one of my favorite books of 2020, so I was thrilled to receive an advanced copy of the sequel. I started this yesterday afternoon and finished in the wee hours this morning because I was so engrossed in the story. This is one of those books that deserves far more recognition that it received and is storytelling at its finest. Read “ Hiding Girl” now and pre- order this, you won’t be sorry. “ The Girl in Cell 49B is due for release on March 1, 2021. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for the free ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Another winner from Dorian Box. I had previously enjoyed reading The Hiding Girl and was looking forward to this sequel, which could definitely be read as a stand alone. I was so immersed in this read I have spent all morning mesmerized by Emily’s intelligence and pursuit of fairness. She remains an unforgettable character and I expect to read about more of her adventures in the future. Dorian Box brings each character to life - prison guards, judges, lawyers, Lucas, Rebecca, Ben and Lola, each are fleshed out and realistic. There are many sides to Emily and as alluded to several times at least three personalities existing within her. Loved her sense of justice and am looking forward to reading about her pursuit of a law degree. Eagerly awaiting your next book Dorian Box. Many many thanks to Dorian Box, Friction Press, and NetGalley for affording me the pleasure of reading an arc of this book to be published on March 1st. Don’t miss this one.

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had gotten the chance to read the first book, The Hiding Girl, which I liked reading dark though it was. That book came with a glimpse of the sequel (this one) and it hooked me so I was very glad that I got a chance to read this to find out what was next in store for Emily Calby. She had a fairly quiet three years with Lucas as her "illegal" guardian before an over reaction brings Emily aka Alice to the attention of the police and she is sent to juvie to await the trial for killing the awful Scott Brooker (from the first book).

Emily is stronger now (and mostly whole) so she puts her mind to it, via the neglected law library in the prison, to find her way out of the mess. I like how she works to help the people she has met in the prison (I love Rebecca!) as well as herself. I did NOT like Leslie and shouted at her several times for the dirty tricks she used.

This was a good story and I am quite satisfied with how it ended. I would not mind finding out if Emily is successful in her chosen future career. After all she is still only 16 years old!

I thought "The Hiding Girl" couldn't be topped... and then I read "The Girl in Cell 49B". Dorian Box is a master at ensuring the readers' emotional attachment to the characters, especially (of course) Emily Calby.

When I first read the summary of this installment, I worried. I don't want my Emily locked in a cell! I don't want her to have to fight her way out of the injustice system. More importantly, I'm a lawyer who hates being a lawyer and I don't want to read another book that gets the whole process wrong for the sake of churning out a book. I was happily mistaken about this book. 'The Girl in Cell 49B" not only nails the legal procedure, but it accurately conveys the desperation and despair of a litigant who simply doesn't have the resources to properly defend herself. The courtroom scenes were riveting and also, at time, hysterical.

On to the prison: as usual, Emily Calby distinguished herself from the bad element by which she was surrounded. She's a good person who was victimized by evil and then reacted in bad ways. She will not let that define her. She is one of my favorite characters I've read in a long time.

Readers absolutely HAVE TO read the first book before this book. It's a win-win really.

The Girl in Cell 49B is the story of Emily Calby, aka Alice Black, who has been on the run and in hiding for the past 3 years after a home invasion killed her mother and sister. Alice was the lone survivor in the tragedy. She met and was staying with Lucas, a father-figure type who had been helping protect her. On her 16th birthday, Lucas gave Alice an illegal handgun, which she was later caught with, arrested, and sent to a juvenile detention center. The fingerprints on the gun also prove that Alice is Emily, and she is wanted in another state for murder.

While in juvenile prison, Emily spends her time in the law library trying to avoid as many people as possible, laying low until her trial to remain as anonymous as possible, and trying to learn as much as she can to help herself in her case. Her cellmate, Rebecca, becomes her friend and ally, but also opens Emily's eyes to some of the corruption happing within the juvenile center. Emily is not only fighting for her life inside the courtroom, but she is trying to protect the lives of the other inmates from the imminent danger the center holds.

By the time I was 30% into this book, I was hooked and didn't want to stop reading. I thought Emily was a strong, brave, clever character and she was learning more about herself each day as her trial got closer and closer. I loved that the chapters were pretty short, which I think makes a book go by even faster. I also loved that Mr. Box, a former law professor, used and described law lingo that helped enhance the story and kept the reader in the loop of what was happening throughout the book. This made kind of me feel like I was in the courtroom listening to the testimony.

I really appreciated how full circle the book was at the end. Everything tied together nicely, everything felt finished, and at the same time, I could see (and am hoping for) a third book in the future. This book was full of tension, emotion, and hold-your-breath moments. Very well done.</p>
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes legal thrillers. I don't know that I would classify this as YA, even though the characters are teenagers. I feel the content of the story is more for adults, though there was nothing too horrible or graphic that wouldn't be appropriate for a teenager. I just think that the content was heavy.

Trigger warnings to be aware of: rape, attempted rape of a minor, drugs and alcohol, abuse, gangs, mentions of incest. Reader discretion advised.

This is how you write a sequel!! I completely fell for Emily and Lucas while reading The Hiding Girl so I was thrilled when I learned there was the second installment coming soon. Like its predecessor, this book packed a hugely satisfying punch. Since the horrifying murder of her mother and sister three years ago, Emily has made major leaps in learning to cope with her trauma; however, she soon finds herself imprisoned and awaiting trial for a past crime she committed in self-defense. Once again, I loved witnessing Emily’s growth and self-discovery as her story unfolded. Dorian Box has done a masterful job creating a multidimensional character that you can’t help but love. I really enjoyed the direction Emily’s story took and how Lucas managed to play an important role despite physical separation. I look forward to continuing to follow this raw, gritty, and deeply heartfelt series! Thank you to Friction Press and NetGalley for providing me with an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

The Girl in Cell 49B is a story about a girl battling her darkest demons. She has multiple demons: guilt, aggression, and rage. She also has a soft spot for underdogs. Emily has a dark past – her mother and sister were raped and her family home was burned to the ground, nearly killing her in the process. She carries a lot of guilt around because she feels she should have somehow saved her family instead of running away, which ultimately saved her life. After changing her appearance and assuming a new identity and living as Alice for three years, her aggression gets the best of her when she witnesses a nasty bully abusing his girlfriend at a gas station. Unable to stop herself, she walks up to the bully and points a gun in his face. The bully stops his behavior and they drive off but not before the gas station employee reports her to the police and they capture her using the gas station security camera.

This lands her in juvenile jail where the authorities discover, after taking her fingerprints, that she’s the lost girl that disappeared after the horrific home invasion that killed her family all those years ago. She’s also a person of interest wanted in a murder in another state.

Once she’s in juvenile jail, she quickly learns how to navigate the various caste systems and befriends a few underdogs who she feels compelled to try and save. Once her own trial starts, she quickly learns that THE LAW could quickly make or break her and in order to give herself the best chance of surviving a “fair” trial, she begins using the law library in juvenile jail to teach herself how the law works and how she can make it work for her.

This is a story about grit, determination and self-perseverance. This character has had to adapt to a cruel world, learn how to fight and defend herself while somehow managing to keep her sense of self. She’s unusual in that she has a big heart and she can’t stand to see good people being treated unfairly. But she also has a dark side. A side that she finds hard to control and keep under control. Once that dark side of her is unleashed, she can be cruel, dangerous and unpredictable. Emily’s journey is just beginning and she intends to use her new-found interest in the law to help people who can’t help themselves while trying to keep her dark past from destroying her and those she cares about.

What a pleasant surprise this was!
Emily Calby is a bada**!! What a brilliant character. She was loyal, feisty as hell, and SO funny. The scene where she is a witness on the stand as well as the prosecutor and keeps sitting down/standing up had me belly laughing!
The plot was so gripping and I did guess some of the twists but it didn't detract from my enjoyment at all.
Also, it is worth noting that this was the second Emily Calby book and can easily be read as a standalone. I had not read the previous novel and did not need to- the author did a wonderful job of filling in the gaps.
I hope there will be another book, I want to see what crazy situations Emily manages to get herself into next!
Fantastic book, I would highly recommend.

I was super excited to see Book 2 of the Emily Calby series was out. The first book blew me away and was easily a Top 10 in read books in 2020. The Girl in Cell 49B was no different.

In it, Emily, now going by the name of Alice Black, is still living with Lucas trying to stay hidden from the world. However, now she is a 16 year old who received a gun for her birthday. Emily still has a temper, survivors guilt and feels the need to find justice for people. Her past finally catches up with her. It lands her in a jail cell in Arkansas and shortly after she is extradited to Louisiana to a juvenile facility charged with First Degree Murder. From there Emily navigates the judicial system and life as a detainee. Can she survive it?

Once again Dorian Box kept me up all night fully engaged in this book. READ IT! I have a feeling this is not the end of Emily's story. I hope I am right.

Thank you to Friction Press, Dorian Box and NetGalley for the #gifted copy of the book.

Thank you NetGalley, author Dorian Box, and Friction Press for giving me a free E-book copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
As in the first book, Emily is an entertaining character - strong, stubborn, and with a strong sense of loyalty and justice. Which sometimes is admirable and sometimes frustrating as it regularly gets her into trouble. This was more of a legal thriller, instead of a...revenge thriller? So it had a somewhat different pace to it, but was still really exciting. The murder case had good twists and turns, keeping your interest. I loved how Emily used her intelligence to help further her own case despite the lack of resources available to her. Emily's final actions were a shocking conclusion to this page turner. I enjoyed this story as Emily still gets herself into (and out of) troubling situations, and you get her same entertaining and endearing attitude and curiosity. This story shows her softer side as she has to rely on her mind and not just her body to solve conflicts. This was my first Dorian Box novel but it won't be my last. I am looking forward the second book.

<i>The Girl in Cell 49B</i> is a legal thriller that highlights the benefits and pitfalls of a self-defense strategy. Emily Colby has been through a lot with her mother and sister being murdered. It’s left her with PTSD and a bad temper that lands her in jail. <i>The Girl in Cell 49B</i> is the second novel in the Emily Colby series by the author Dorian Box.

Living under the name Allison Black, Emily finds herself in a fight with her pretend stepdad and she decides she is leaving for a while. She goes to a local gas station with the intent of turning around but she ends up getting in another fight and an altercation with the police. She finds herself in jail in another state with no way of letting people where she is. In jail she develops a relationship with some inmates who become her friends and others who are not quite so friendly. Worst of all she goes to court and has to defend herself against a hardnose lawyer who has it in for young offenders.

Despite the fact this is the second book in the series I thought the author did an excellent job of developing a cast of compelling characters. It is a fast-paced interesting story and well worth the read. We learn a lot about the challenges of prison life but also about behaviour in the court room. The difficulties of having to defend oneself in the trial are both interesting and educational.

The author develops the characters so you actually have empathy for their situation. They may not be innocent but they have good reasons for being where they are. The overall story was very fast-paced and compelling leading to a very enjoyable read.

I believe this book is excellent for people who like litigation stories as well as stories about personal development and coping with bad situations. I give this a 5 on 5 and I want to thank NetGalley and Friction Press for providing me with a digital copy of this novel. I am providing this review voluntarily.

5 Justice Due Stars
* * * * * Spoiler Free
Well, I knew this would happen. Once again, I did not sleep until 4:58 AM! Sorry, NOT Sorry, at all. I can always sleep but I cannot always have the experience of reading a book that had everything I love. It had a strong theme of what is right and wrong and how gray some of those choices can be, but the main focus of those choices is the fact We Always Have A Choice.

They may not be the ones we want, but in every circumstance we have choices. To have that life lesson so clearly presented hit a serious nerve with me as that is something I was taught as a child and I taught that concept to my children. We do not have to like them, but choices are always there.

This is the next book in the new series by Dorian Box and it shows off his acknowledged talents in the legal world. It shows off his ability to showcase a tough warrior princess of the first-rate. We met her in The Hiding Girl, which I highly recommend reading before this. You can read this without it, as the author gives you backstory and nuggets to bring a reader up to date...But really, do what I did and get the first book, read it, love it and you will not be sorry.

I truly love this book and series. (Yes, I keep repeating myself) It addresses so much that is happening in this world. It does it smartly and in a way where you will become obsessed with these characters. Even when you think you know what is coming, yes...I had some serious understanding of how things could be happening, I still was given a couple of twists to make me a happy camper as I did not see them coming.

I haven't been this invested in a character since The Girl in 6E (Deanna Madden, #1) by A.R. Torre (Alessandra Torre) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... or Huntress Moon (The Huntress/FBI Thrillers #1) by Alexandra Sokoloff https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... Each of these series had an incredibly strong woman needing to figure things out after a traumatic life experience while young and how they worked through it all and found themselves. These series were more than their face value, looking deeper if you allowed them and this series is doing this as well.

I am editing myself so as not to go into this book on a level I wish I could. I would talk about all of the characters and how well each and everyone had their own legit personality, way of presenting their facts and feelings. I went into this with only the author's blurbs and felt they were enough.

I sense there will be more coming, at least I hope it isn't just magical thinking, something our gal was accused of doing all of the time. Maybe it is, and that type of thinking worked for her, so maybe my sense of more coming will work for me too.

Oh. My. WOW!! This book was a twisty turny journey with Emily/Alice and I loved every minute of it! All loose ends were tied, characters were real and nuanced, and the dry legal info was presented in such an entertaining way. It was a helluva ride and I was there for it from start to finish. I loved this book and can’t wait to check out the previous book and the author’s other work! A double thumbs up from me!

How does a grown man write a book as though he were a teenage girl? Well, Dorian Box not only does it...he does it astonishingly well. He (she) includes intrigue, love, violence, humor and human bonding...everything you would want in a book. It fit all my needs with extremely well-written prose. Further, I didn't put the book down (I couldn't) until I finished and immediately went online to buy the preceding book (The hiding girl)...and read it with equal gusto. I can't wait for the third. Truly a marvelous author who is obviously gifted with not only words, but the ability to enter the mind of his characters. I feel the same about this author as when I first read Greg Hurwitz...just astonished and hopeful for more!!!

I didn't know what to expect from this book as I'd never heard of this author and hadn't read the first book in this series. But I was blown away from the first page! Emily escaped a home invasion unscathed when she was young which killed her mother and her sister. Now living with an unlikely mentor who has taught her survival skills. she's just turned 16 and is arrested for the unregistered handgun that was her birthday present. But when her fingerprints reveal who she really is, she's extradited to a juvenile detention center that's creepy and horrific in its treatment of young women. To add to her problems, the prosecuting attorney seems to have it in for her as she calls Emily a "gutter rat" during the proceedings. This leads Emily to become interested in the law all the while not only protecting other "detainees," but falling in love with a boy incarcerated as well. And this is just the surface story! Box is a fascinating storyteller and probably raised my blood pressure many times as I gasped my way through this book about an amazing and unlikely heroine! Certainly won't be my last by this author; I am hooked!