Book Review: "Forsaken" by Jana Oliver

“Forsaken” by Jana Oliver

5 stars

SUMMARY

Riley Blackthorne just needs a chance to prove herself—and that’s exactly what the demons are counting on…

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?

REVIEW

This is the second time that I read this book and I have to admit that I loved it even more! I won the first three books from this series in a giveaway but I have read only the first, so this was a good chance to re-read it, review it and then read the rest!

This is a YA fantasy book, but not like the other books from this genre. It’s a very dark book and in a very frightening way! The world-building describes a world not so many years from now where the demons exist and there are the Demon Trappers who send these creatures back to Hell. But that’s not the only different thing in this world. There is much poverty and everything has changed. Not even the schools are the same. Through the story there is always a sense of misery for the whole world and although is sad, I found it a nice change of scenery and very well-written!

I want to say that I liked Riley. A lot. She is far from perfect and that’s why she is a nice character. She lost her mother and then her father. She doesn’t have any money and she has to pay a lot of money in order to have a place to live and food to eat. She isn’t like the most seventeen-years-old characters. She doesn’t care about what to wear in school or which boyfriend to pick. Don’t get me wrong, of course there are many guys for her but in this book she doesn’t want all of them and her love life isn’t the main theme in this book! I think that she just wants something to be normal in her life and, unfortunately, in all this chaos, only the term “boyfriend” seems normal. She is brave and although sometimes she feels lost she’s trying her best in order to survive and to make her father proud. Not an easy thing of course, because, there are many people who don’t like her or the fact that she is a girl in a job full of men.

The boys/men in this book are Beck, Simon and Ori. I liked Beck a lot because he is the typical tortured hero and although he obviously wants her, he thinks that he isn’t good enough for her and treats her like a sister. He is risky, brave and tough. They have a love/hate relationship and I really want to see what the future will bring to them. Simon is a nice guy but that’s it. Nothing special. He is very kind and caring but sometimes I had a feeling that he was too good to be true. And Ori is a mystery man who keeps saving her life. There aren’t many information about him but I have a feeling that in the next books we will see him a lot. So far my choice is Beck. Simon is too good for my taste and Ori kind of stranger.

So, my conclusion is that this book has it all: fast-paced and very well-written story, amazing world-building and a lot of interesting characters. You want more?? It has some very nasty demons and some very good action scenes! I totally recommend this book to all the fans of this genre!

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