The Demon Trappers: Forgiven by Jana Oliver

**SPOILERS FOR FORSAKEN and FORBIDDEN, THE PREVIOUS BOOKS IN THE SERIES (which you should definitely read first!)**

I’ve discussed how difficult I find it to give reviews of awesome books, but I honestly can’t do it! On the other hand, I do then I feel bad giving 4.5/5 stars to a novel with a tiny review that doesn’t really explain why I loved the book; so without further ado, I will list all the parts that I loved about this book (and yes, the vagueness is deliberate to prevent spoilers because you honestly should go out and read this book and I would hate to mar your enjoyment of this epic saga)

So the things I loved about this particular instalment:

• The additional answers we get – I hate novels that think they can get away without answering major questions!
• How caring Beck is towards Riley – this is how all men should act! (aside from the moodiness that is)
• And on a similar note, how much I’ve grown to love the characters, especially Riley, from hardly caring about them due to the superb character development
• The fun and witty writing
• The shocks!
• And, most epic of all in this book was the fight – much better than I was expecting and I love how creative Oliver is with her demons and such, though it was over a bit too quickly for my liking

The only bad thing I can think of is the ending, which is one of those painfully-contrived-for-a-cliffhanger-to-make-you-read-the-next-book but that is only a minor complaint.

This is one of those series that you have to give a try – it’s seriously underrated. I cannot wait for the last in the series Foretold!

_____________________________________________________________

[SYNOPSIS: The days are growing darker for 17-year-old demon trapper Riley Blackthorne. With her father’s reanimated body back safely, Beck barely speaking to her because of a certain hunky Fallen angel, and a freshly-made deal with Lucifer, she has enough on her hands to last a normal teenage lifetime. Though she bargained with Heaven to save his life, her ex-boyfriend Simon has told the Vatican’s Demon Hunters that she’s working with Hell. So now she’s in hiding, at the top of everyone’s most-wanted list.

But it’s becoming clear that this is bigger than Riley, and rapidly getting out of control: something sinister is happening in Atlanta… or someone. The demons are working together for the first time ever and refusing to die, putting civilians in harm’s way. Riley thinks she might know who’s behind it all, but who’s going to believe her? Caught between her bargain with Heaven and her promise to Lucifer, Riley fears the final war is coming – and it may be closer than anyone thinks…]

The Demon Trappers: Forbidden by Jana Oliver

**SPOILERS FOR FORSAKEN, THE FIRST BOOK IN THE SERIES (which you should definitely read first!)**

It’s a bit difficult to give a brief summary of Forbidden without revealing too much, as there are a heck of a lot of amazing plot twists which I really don’t want to spoil, but I’ll try my best: Forbidden starts where Forsaken left us – with the entire city of Atlanta recovering from the demon attack that occurred at the Demon Trapper meeting; Trappers are mourning the loss of some of their greatest as well as attempting to work out how they were attacked in the first place and the citizens of Atlanta are worried that they’re not being protected efficiently enough from the demons, which leads to the ruthlessly efficient Demon Hunters being called in – something the Trappers aren’t best pleased about. Meanwhile, Riley’s relationship with Simon is most definitely on the rocks, which leads to a growing attraction to the mysterious Ori, who vows to protect her from the deadly demon that is determined to kill her. Aside from all of this, she’s trying to figure out who brought her dad back from the dead and why someone is selling counterfeit Holy Water, as well as trying to earn enough to pay the rent.

In case you haven’t read Forsaken and are completely confused, the series is set in an alternate world where demons roam freely, and are graded from very harmless (Grade One a.k.a. klepto-fiends) to extremely dangerous (Grade Five a.k.a. Geo-Fiends). Trappers and Hunters do as they say on the tin with regards to the getting rid of the demonic presences, and there’s quite a bit of a rivalry between the two. Witches and Necromancers (people who reanimate the dead to sell as slaves) also exist and trade freely in this alternate future of 2018. The series is set in Atlanta, which is desperately poor, and doing anything it can to save or increase money, including closing schools and housing classes in abandoned buildings or coffee shops. Riley is a Demon Trapper – one of the youngest, and the only female – whose father was recently killed by a demon, who is now after her.

The events of Forsaken were recapped very well without seeming patronising or spelling things out as obviously as possible (which many books annoyingly do), and are much needed as I, for one, had forgotten several things having read the first book of this amazing series over six months ago. I can’t describe why I like Oliver’s writing and characterisation so much – you’ll just have to grab a copy yourself to see how captivating, insightful and creative it truly is! I also love the subtle but extremely funny humour laced throughout this brilliant book as it makes Forbidden an even more enjoyable read. It is, much like its predecessor, very creative – I especially liked the creepy reanimated-body auction and the idea of parking spaces as mini shops. I also adored the klepto-fiends–micro-sized demons with a penance for shiny things–along with Mort, the necromancer, who is such a nice and kind person, despite his job of bringing back the dead to work as slaves, but we get a very good insight into his back-story, which makes you extremely sympathetic towards him.

 I’ve come to love Riley so much – she’s likeable, funny and down-to-earth, as well as being a really strong character, especially now she’s orphaned. Every single character in Forbidden is utterly unique, the vast majority realistic and most are surprisingly complex. The cover is stunningly striking, and I love the gorgeous blue flames that perfectly match the eyes of ‘Riley’ (and how drastically pale she has become), along with the fact that the style of Forsaken has been kept – it’ll be a lovely series to collect.

However, I really didn’t like Simon, Riley’s saintly boyfriend who is barely recovering from the tragic demon attack at the Tabernacle, especially when he gets snappy with Riley, and I’m surprised that she still wanted to be with him for some time. I’m not sure if I like the accents showing up in the character’s (namely Beck and his Southern drawl and Stewart’s Scottish tongue) speech, though it does make for more realistic, if annoying, reading. Also, I was a bit confused by the whole Holy Water scam and didn’t properly understand how it worked, but it was probably just me. I was so glad to get an explanation as to how demons infiltrated earth, which was my only complaint about the first book, and the explanation was very surprising and revealing.

 Forbidden is full of suspense as to who stole Riley’s father’s body, how the demons managed to break in at the Trapper Meeting and what exactly Ori is up to; combine that with brilliant writing and fantastic characters and you have yourself a real page-turner of a spectacular novel.

________________________________________________________

[SYNOPSIS: 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 got more secrets that the CIA. 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.]

The Demon Trappers: Forsaken by Jana Oliver

Forsaken centres on the life of Riley Blackthorne, a seventeen year old ‘demon trapper’ apprentice whose rather unusual and exceedingly dangerous job involves trapping demons, of which are ranked down from a relatively harmless Grade 1 right up to the devilishly dangerous Grade 5 archfiends, and selling them on. She hopes to someday become a master trapper like her father, but that means working her way through the ranks and as the only female in an all-male world, that will not be easy.

I was rather eager to begin reading this book as it sounded very intriguing and I have to say it certainly did not disappoint – the story grips you from the first few chapters, though it is a little slow at first, and is really action-packed, not to mention touching, fast-paced and believable – it has everything you could hope for in a book! Riley is a really spunky, kick-ass and likable character who is very well written and Beck & Simon were equally brilliant, though I found Beck more likeable and Simon just a little bit creepy.

As well as good parts to every story, there are also bad parts; but I’m genuinely struggling to think of a single bad part (although quite a few things were unexplained) to this fab novel which is one of the most unique and brilliant books I have read this past year. I especially love the seamless inclusion of the demons as though they were an everyday nuisance; though I found it a teensy-bit confusing as to how or why demons infiltrated the earth, but I’m sure that will be explained in the coming books. All in all I absolutely recommend this book and cannot wait to read the forthcoming books in the trilogy, which has incredible promise.

 ______________________________________________________________

[SYNOPSIS: Riley has always wanted to be a Demon Trapper like her father, and she's already following in his footsteps as one of the best. But it's tough being the only girl in an all-guy world, especially when three of those guys start making her life more complicated: Simon, the angelic apprentice who has heaven on his side; Beck, the tough trapper who thinks he's God's gift, and Ori, the strikingly sexy stranger who keeps turning up to save her ass. One thing's for sure - if she doesn't keep her wits about her there'll be hell to pay...]