Book Review: Forbidden by Jana Oliver

Title: Forbidden

Author: Jana Oliver
Series: The Demon Trappers #2
Pages: 418
Publisher: MacMillan Children's Books
Date of Publication: 5th August 2011
Source: Publisher
Synopsis from Goodreads: 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.

*There WILL be spoilers from the first book in this review. If you have not read the first book and do not wish to be spoiled, do not read any further ;)

My Thoughts:
I absolutely loved the first book in this series, Forsaken, and the second book, Forbidden, is nearly as good.

Riley Blackthorne is the daughter of one of Atlanta's greatest demon trappers, who sadly died, but has now been stolen and raised by a necromancer. She's having problems - many of the guild of Atlanta trappers are blaming her for the invasion of the demons and even her boyfriend is turning on her. To make it worse, a Grade Five demon, a Geo-Fiend, is after her, and it won't stop until Riley gives it her soul.

Forbidden picks up the day after the first book ended, after the guild was invaded and she made a deal with an angel to keep her boyfriend alive. Riley is dealing with the aftermath - being blamed for the failure of the Holy Water, and is also trying to figure out what she's going to do next. She's still kick ass and determined, like she was in the first book, but she also lets us see a different side of her, the side of her that is vulnerable and can be hurt. I felt sorry for her at times, and at others I was happy and excited. She was an awesome character to read about and I can't wait to see where the next book takes her.

And Beck, he was just as yummy as he was in the first book... But, like with Riley, we get to see a different side of him in Forbidden. In the first book he comes across as quite hard and cold, and he's not very sensitive, but in this book, at times he's still like that, but there are other times when he lets his feelings for Riley show and it's the sweetest thing ever... He's so cute! And I never EVER thought I'd say that about Denver Beck!

The reason I only gave the book four stars out of five though, was because the beginning was extremely slow for me. I have no idea why - maybe it was because I'd just got back from an action packed holiday, but I just couldn't read it for very long. I had no desire to sit and read for hours, I just couldn't concentrate on it. It wasn't, bad, necessarily, but it wasn't what I had expected from the second book in this series, if you know what I mean.

However, about a third of the way in, the plot picks up and so does the pace, and even though I still read it slowly, I was completely and utterly hooked. So much happens in a short space of time, I wonder how the characters keep going...

I think Forbidden is a really good sequel to Forsaken and it ends on a nice big cliffhanger that's got me needing the last book in the trilogy. If you've started it and you're finding the beginning a little slow, stick with it because it does get better! Now I'm off to (im)patiently wait for Forgiven, the final book in the trilogy... ;)

*Thank you very much to MacMillan for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review! In no way has this affected my opinion of the book :) 

My Rating:

I give it 4 Feet!

Challenges:
2011 Paranormal YA Reading Challenge #37
2011 100+ Reading Challenge #65