Monday 9 April 2012

Review: Forgiven by Jana Oliver

Forgiven (The Demon Trapper's #3) by Jana Oliver
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Release date: 1st March 2012
Rating: 4/5

Goodreads description:

Riley Blackthorne. Kicking hell’s ass one demon at a time...

Riley has made a bargain with Heaven, and now they've come to collect.

Lucifer's finest are ruling the streets and it seems that Armageddon might be even closer than Riley imagined. But with her soul and her heart in play it's all she can do to keep herself alive, let alone save the world. Riley's not afraid of kicking some major demon butt, but when it comes to a battle between Heaven and Hell, she might need a little help...


My thoughts:

I've loved this series since I read the first book last year. I love the dystopian feel of the society, and the interesting inclusion of theology and of course, Riley Blackthorne. The impulsively brave and occasionally stupid yet loyal and fierce heroine. After the ending of the 3rd one (can I just say 'noooooooo!!') I was desperate to find out what would happen in the aftermath of Riley's choice and the consequences of it.

I definitely liked Riley more in this book. I feel like she finally realised that actually, her actions DO have consequences and she pretty much can't just do what she wants all the time. I think this led to a new level of responsibility in her character that I appreciated.

I also loved her friendship with Peter, and the relationship that develops between her and Mort and Stuart in this book. I like how they can all rely on each other, there's true friendships in this book and I liked that. Riley's relationship with Beck also progressed in this book, which, whilst good, I found slightly frustrating. It felt a little bit like it was going round in circles, like they were just dancing round the issue for NO reason at all other than to torture the readers. 

 I felt the pacing was off slightly in this book. It could be because I read it in many sittings, but I felt a bit like the final big battle sort of came from nowhere. One minute I was all "lalalala" and the next "huh...? Armegeddon is NOW?!" Having said that, the final battle was pretty epic. I liked how it panned out, what happened with the whole Heaven and Hell issue....pretty clever. 

Maliciously, I'm happy about what happened with Simon. He deserved that and so much more.  

As usual, the ending leaves you with lots of "ommggg" feelings, and I can't wait to see how everything will end up in Foretold. I loved how the ending mimicked that of Forbidden, yet it shows how much Riley has grown between that book and this, based on her reactions. 


I absolutely cannot wait for the final instalment of this gripping and well-thought-out series!

 


6 comments:

  1. Argh! Yet another series I haven't read. Do you think I'd like it? the well thought out thing has me interested.

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  2. I love her friendship with Peter too! He's awesome :P. And I liked Riley more in this one as well - I think she had to face a lot. Definitely agree about Simon - I never liked him :P. Great review! :)

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  3. Damn you all to hell. British and Aussie bloggers are making me regret the day I returned my copy of Forsaken to the library. I read a wee bit of the first book and put it down for the most ridiculous reason: I hate reading when characters constantly say 'ya' instead of you. I'm fine hearing it in conversations, but it just pulls me out of a story when reading it! And I fail to find the character swoony. I KNOW. It's stupid and dumb and I'm an idiot, because this series sounds amazing and even though you had some pacing issues with this, the showdown sounds awesome. I LOVE epic battles!

    Ahhhh I have to give this another go! AWESOME REVIEW.

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  4. Really great review, Cait! I'm a fan of this series and can't wait to read this book. It sounds like a good read and it's awesome to hear that Riley gets better as a character.

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  5. I haven't read any of this series, but after reading this review it sounds like a series I should definitely get into. Fantastic review!! BTW totally jealous that you are reading Onyx right now!! I totally need it!! *dies*

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  6. I wanted to read this book too but I wasn't quite interested with the summary. The covers look gorgeous though so I should probably add this to my TBR. Awesome review, Cait! ♥ So glad you enjoyed it!

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