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The Forsaken by Lisa M Stasse Review

theforsaken

As an obedient orphan of the U.N.A. (the super-country that was once Mexico, the U.S., and Canada), Alenna learned at an early age to blend in and be quiet—having your parents taken by the police will do that to a girl. But Alenna can’t help but stand out when she fails a test that all sixteen-year-olds have to take: The test says she has a high capacity for brutal violence, and so she is sent to The Wheel, an island where all would-be criminals end up.

Plot: 2 out of 5

This reminded me of Twilight meets The Hunger Games. Or The Maze Runner. Not sure which. The Forsaken looked really good, but it was a wee bit of a let down.

Why? Well for quite a few reasons. The entire idea could have been brilliant, several marks didn’t hit home with me. For one thing the entire explanation? Verrryyy vague. It felt like everything other dsytopian idea and the instant love? Why? Instant love does nothing to make me ship the characters. I got really annoyed with the romance subplot in this book.

The entire book just really confused me. Basically the entire plot was Alenna getting dumped inside the island and forcing to survive and fit in. Eventually the entire “village” of teenagers who also go dumped there decide to try to get off and they go into the grey zone. There was alot of action even if it was predictable.

Characters: 3 out of 5

I have mixed feelings about the characters. Alenna wasn’t likeable and she bored me. She honestly reminded me of a mary-sue, but she had guts so I’ll give her that. Gayda, the girl who became her best friend was a really interesting character. Plus y’all know I loved her blue hair. I found myself relating to her more then Alenna. I also found myself wishing that Gayda was the POV character instead of Alenna. It would have made the story much stronger.  Several other characters were fun too and I liked their twists. I did not care for the love interest (Liam) though.

Writing Style/Setting: 2 out of 5

A whole lot of telling vs showing went down in this book and that go on my nerves at some points. So the writing itself was alright. I just thought it could have been edited a wee bit more. The setting? I thought the author knew her stuff on survival and she did good job writing it. Sometimes the setting seemed rather sparse, but I could put myself in it well enough. I didn’t see alot of the twists that she threw in coming until they came so I really liked that the author kept me guessing.

And can we just give the cover some love? It’s one of the most original ideas that I’ve seen in a LONG time. I really adore it.   Overall: 3 out of 5.  The Forsaken wasn’t a bad story, it just bored me at times. Recommended for ages 14+ due to violence and language. 

I checked this book out from my local library. All opinions are my own.

4 Comments


  1. // Reply

    I really enjoy and appreciate your book reviews. I have so many new books on my TO READ list now! Thank you!

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