Review - Forbidden by Syrie and Ryan James (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Size: 416 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: January 24, 2012
ISBN: 978-0062027894
Stand Alone or Series: 1st in a series
Source: Book from Publisher for Review
Rating: 3/5 stars


I got a copy of this book from the publisher for review. This is the first book in a series; I haven’t been able to find info on future books in this series. It was okay, a pretty typical YA paranormal book...nothing special but decently written.

Claire is finally starting to fit in at her high school, she’s been there two years which is the longest her and her mom have stayed in one place...ever. Now she’s started having strange psychic visions and she is sure as heck not going to tell her mother about them. Alec is sick of hunting down angelic rejects and is trying to take a break from his job by hanging out as a teenager at the very school Claire is going to. Alec and Claire immediately have a connection to each other, little do they know that their love is forbidden because of what Claire and Alec are.

This is a pretty typical paranormal YA book about a girl who finds out she is part angel. It even comes complete with love triangle and star-crossed love.

Both Alec and Claire are very stereotypical paranormal YA characters. Both characters were okay, but weren’t all that engaging to me. I am hard-pressed to describe Claire after reading the book, she just blends in with a million other mediocre YA heroines out there. I also didn’t really enjoy how much of the book took place in a high school type setting and dealt with teen angst type issues.

The plot is okay, but fairly predictable. The writing style is decent but nothing special. Pretty much this whole book is mediocre. There is some mythos behind the angels’ origins, but the world isn’t set up all that well and it is never really expanded on.

Overall an okay story but nothing special. I would personally recommend Cynthia Hand’s Unearthly series over this one; Unearthly is a truly spectacular YA paranormal book focusing on angels and is much better written than this one. I probably won’t be reading any more of this series, just because it didn’t really stand out for me.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge