Forbidden by Syrie James & Ryan M. James
Publisher: HarperTeen (January 24th, 2012)
Paperback: 411 pages
Reading Level: Young Adult
Source: Author/Publisher
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
She should not exist.
He should not love her.
Claire Brennan has been attending Emerson Academy for two years now (the longest she and her mom have remained anywhere) and she’s desperate to stay put for the rest of high school. So there’s no way she’s going to tell her mom about the psychic visions she’s been having or the creepy warnings that she’s in danger.
Alec MacKenzie is fed up with his duties to watch and, when necessary, eliminate the descendants of his angelic forefathers. He chose Emerson as the ideal hiding place where he could be normal for once. He hadn’t factored Claire into his plans..
Their love is forbidden, going against everything Alec has been taught to believe. But when the reason behind Claire’s unusual powers is revealed and the threat to her life becomes clear, how far will Alec go to protect her? Review: Forbidden was another really good angel novel for me. I felt that this book was very character-driven and the characters were outstanding, but I'll get to that in a bit. First, the main idea behind Forbidden is that Claire and her mom have been"on the run" for years but Claire doesn't know why. She figures it's just something her mom likes to do. Now, they have been in the same place for a while and Claire has settled in at Emerson Academy. It's a terrific school where she is able to have a great learning environment and has met some fantastic friends.
Alec has gone AWOL. He has spent years and years doing the duties he has been told to do, and with that, he has experienced very little life along the way. He just wants to get away from it all and he finds himself enrolling in Emerson Academy. On his first day he meets Claire and her friends Brian and Erica.
Once Claire and Alec meet, their friendship takes off. Their love isn't really immediate (which was great) and they build a nice foundation together. But then Claire notices a few things about Alec that don't seem right. And, during this time, Alec finds out something he didn't really expect about Claire.
The characters really made this story for me. To be honest, we've all seen this type of plot a few times; however, Claire, Alec, Brian, and Erica really gave it a nice boost. Claire is smart and she didn't do things in the book that had me screaming at the pages in frustration. You all know you've done it before! She didn't keep secrets and she proved to be a pretty strong person in the end. I also connected with Alec and really felt bad for him and his situation. He was an easy character to enjoy. Then, Erica and Brian were so fun and supportive. I think most people would love to have friends like them.
There were a few things I didn't like as much. First, there are a few too many coincidences in this story. Pieces fell together too easily sometimes. Also, Erica and Brian were a bit too accepting of the weird things going on around them. I wasn't sure if it was because they were young and would accept anything, or if they were really able to understand what was going on with Claire at all. Either way, I was very happy that they were there for her and I did get a feeling that they would do whatever she needed.
Overall, I really enjoyed Forbidden. Even though I'm always a bit reluctant to tackle angel stories, this one exceeded my expectations. I loved Syrie and Ryan's writing. Forbidden is told from alternating POVs so it was nice to see the story from both characters. They made the story fun by putting in a lot of humor and twists throughout. I will absolutely read something by them again and I can't wait to see what happens next with this series.
Recommended: For paranormal lovers or anyone wanting a nice read with some fun characters.
Syrie (Website) | Ryan (Website) | Syrie (Goodreads) | Ryan (Goodreads)
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