Book Review: Forbidden by Jana Oliver

Forbidden by Jana Oliver
The Demon Trappers #2
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Source: Publisher - thank you!
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Recommended? Yes! It's much better than the first.
Buy the Book: Amazon US |Amazon UK

Riley's beginning to think being a demon trapper isn't all it's cracked up to be. Her dad's been stolen by a necromancer, her boyfriend's gone all weird and she's getting warm and fuzzy feelings for someone who's seriously bad news. It's tempting to give it all up and try to be normal, but that's not an option. Because the demons have plans for Riley. And they're not the only ones. - GoodReads Page

In comparison with book one, the plot of this one is a lot steadier. I really enjoyed where this book took me as a reader, while I would have liked to have seen more demons and demon trapping. There’s a bit of a twist towards the end of the book, which you will probably sort of see coming. But it was very intense, and made me want to cry with frustration.

In addition to the better plot, the pacing of this book has really picked up compared to book one. There was no slow start, and there was a big finish, with a cliffhanger ending!

Riley hasn’t changed at all since book one, In fact, I think she may have become even more annoying as a main character – if that is possible. There are several instances when she completely lacks common sense, which would have caused me to shout at the page if it hadn’t been so late at night. Riley also seemed very bipolar to me, especially when it came to relationships. A lot of her emotions seemed to come out of the blue, and disappear just as quickly.

I liked Beck a lot more in this book; he’s become a lot more sensitive towards certain people. Again, he seemed a bit bipolar to me. He's definitely become hotter since book one, and I think I'm starting to fall in love with him. Just a bit!

We saw a whole lot more of Ori in this book. I’ll let you decide whether this is a good or bad thing when/if you read this book! I loved him at first, but then... He's a moron. That is all.

Also, Simon... Grr! He's a moron as well. Moving swiftly on...

As for the ending - Well, I loved it! It’s left me craving for book three in the trilogy. I suspected something was going on, but at the end it all was revealed in a huge twist. Now that this certain thing has happened, I am really curious to find out what happens in book three, and I find myself dying to know if everything works out!

To those who have read the book – Is anyone else worried about Beck? I don’t like not knowing where he is... 

Forbidden is called Soul Thief in the US, and is going to be released on August 30th.

In My Mailbox - (27)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. If you're new to the blogging community, then you will find that this is an excellent way of telling other bloggers about new and old releases. 

Bought: 

The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

I got these next five books from the charity shop. Yes, the place drew me back again. 

Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Two Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt

Sure Fire by Jack Higgins & Justin Richards

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

I received this as an RAK gift from the lovely Kay. Thank you so much Kay!

Beauty by Robin McKinley

For Review:

Misfit by Jon Skovron (Thank you Amulet! This sounds so good.)

Sektion 20 by Paul Dowswell (Thank you to Bloomsbury. I hadn't heard of this before.)

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan (A HUGE thank you to Macmillan, I've been dying to read this!)

And finally I also received The Kite Runner Graphic Novel for review from Bloomsbury. I've read the first few pages and I am in love. I've never read a graphic novel before and I am really looking forward to this! The comic drawings are so pretty.

Leave your links below, and I'll try my best to come and see what you got this week! Have a great weekend everyone. Feel free to go and enter my Beauty Queens giveaway, which ends on Tuesday!

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read

Q. How has your reading habits changed since you were a teen? or If you are still a teen what new genres are you in love with currently?

I'm 18, so am still in my teenage years even though I am technically - if not mentally - an adult. New genres... There aren't any 'new' genres I'm in love with, as I've always been a fan of pretty much everything. However, I will say that since reading Between Shades of Gray, I am loving the historical/war time period genre. I've only read a couple of novels in this genre recently, but I have acquired The Book Thief as well as a few others. Also, although I haven't had a chance to dive in yet, I have a few fairytale retellings that I am dying to read. I read Flawless and loved it, so I'm hoping these other retellings will be just as good!

Hosted by Crazy For Books

Q. Let’s talk crazy book titles! Highlight one or two (or as many as you like!) titles in your personal collection that have the most interesting titles! If you can’t find any, feel free to find one on the internet!

Ha! I love crazy book titles. My favourite one has to be Go the Fuck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach. This is a children's book for adults, apparently. Every time I hear about that one I laugh out loud. I don't have it, but I think I'm going to have to buy it just to say that I do! Out of books that I actually own, I don't think I have any with wacky titles. Apart from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which is more just really long and a pain in the butt to type than wacky.

Feel free to leave your links below and I'll try my best to visit your blog! And don't forget to enter my Beauty Queens giveaway, it's international!

Book Review: Forsaken by Jana Oliver

Forsaken by Jana Oliver
MacMillan Children's Books
Release Date: February 7th, 2011 (UK)
Rating: 3 out of 5
Recommended? For fans of demons, yes!
Buy the Book: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Seventeen-year-old Riley, the only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper, Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father's footsteps. The good news is, with human society seriously disrupted by economic upheaval and Lucifer increasing the number of demons in all major cities, Atlanta’s local Trappers’ Guild needs all the help they can get – even from a girl. When she’s not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing crush on fellow apprentice, Simon, Riley’s out saving distressed citizens from foul-mouthed little devils – Grade One Hellspawn only, of course, per the strict rules of the Guild. Life’s about as normal as can be for the average demon-trapping teen.

But then a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley’s routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, sudden tragedy strikes the Trappers’ Guild, spinning Riley down a more dangerous path than she ever could have imagined. As her whole world crashes down around her, who can Riley trust with her heart – and her life? - Goodreads Page

Forsaken sounded like a fantastic read. I love demons, demon hunters *points at the demon-fighting Winchester in the banner* and all things supernatural, and so I couldn’t wait to get stuck into this book. Unfortunately, I finished it feeling a bit let down.


Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the novel, but I found myself getting frustrated with the main character so many times. And if you’ve read my reviews in the past, you will know that an annoying main character could easily mean the death of a book for me.

I’ll get the negative stuff out of the way. I found the main character, Riley, to be very immature and annoying. The girl was supposed to be a demon trapper (meaning, she catches and sells demons rather than killing them) in training, and I just assumed that would mean she was as badass as Rose Hathaway. Instead, Riley turned out to be a bit of a whiner and this became very annoying very fast. She also seemed to get over a certain event far too quickly. If the same thing had happened to me I would be curled up in bed for weeks, but then again I guess that would make for a boring novel. Plus, Riley was raised in a world very different to ours.

On to the better stuff!

The other main character is Beck, who is good friends with Riley’s dad, and someone Riley used to have a crush on. Beck started off annoying, but he became a lot better towards the end of the novel. I liked reading things from his point of view, and I definitely wasn’t expecting that. He’s actually kind of sweet, under that hard shell of his.

Simon, the love interest, was very average. I don’t have much to say about him. He was nice. Yeah.

Which leads me onto Ori. Oh my GOSH, Ori! He was only in a couple of scenes in this novel, but I fell in love. What more can I say? He’s amazing, badass and totally hot.

Anyway, I found the demons in this novel fascinating. There were so many different types – another thing I wasn’t expecting – and I loved reading about the differences, and discovering which demons were more evil than others. There were a couple that were just plain cute!

The pacing of this novel started of very slow. It was an average read at the beginning. That said, the book majorly picked up in the final few chapters. I am so happy I continued reading, otherwise I would never have met Ori, and I would never have read that awesome climax!

I’ve given this book an average rating, because Riley and Simon just weren’t doing it for me, and it took a while to get into. However, I still definitely recommend this if you’re a fan of demons and the paranormal. I’m about to pick up the second book in the series, Forbidden, after I’ve posted this review. Fingers crossed for more Ori, eh?  

Waiting on Wednesday: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine. Waiting On Wednesday spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue? 

Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them... 

Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth. 

But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside. 

Glow is the most riveting series debut since The Hunger Games, and promises to thrill and challenge readers of all ages.

GoodReads | Shelfari

Pre-order: Amazon US | Amazon UK

This book sounds AMAZING! You all know how much I love a good dystopian, and judging by the synopsis and early reviews I have read, this dystopian novel is one of the best out this year. It's out in September in the US, and October in the UK, but lucky for me Macmillan were kind enough to send me a copy. I cannot wait to read this book, and to be honest I'll probably be reading this very, very soon! Have any of you read this? What did you think?

Oh, and did I mention just how stunning I find the UK cover? It reminds me a lot of Across the Universe, because of the stars. Squee!