Book Review: Forbidden by Syrie James & Ryan M. James

Forbidden by Syrie James & Ryan M. James
Release Date: January 24, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen; 411 pages

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?

I have to say, I was really excited to read Forbidden. It’s been a book I’ve been wanting to read for awhile and the cover is absolutely awesome…but I’m afraid to say, once you get past the cover the rest was kind of blah for me. I didn’t care for the main character, Claire, which made it really hard to enjoy this book. Alec was a hottie with a Scottish accent, sure, but he didn’t really make me swoon or drool or anything. If anything, I think the main characters of this book should’ve been Claire’s best friends, Erica and Brian, I would’ve found it more enjoyable?

It took at least half of the book for me to get remotely interested in FORBIDDEN, which is never a fun thing. It took me five days to read this book. It never, ever takes me five days to read a book. I was struggling, really struggling but I never start a book without finishing it. It’s just not something I can do. I feel like I’ve read this story before…there just wasn’t anything unusual about it or special that made it stand out from other angel books I’ve read. And y’all know I’m a sucker for angel books.

And poor Neil, the guy Claire has been crushing on for two years just gets shoved to the side for Alec, can’t help but feel for him especially he decides at this particular moment to start showing interest in Claire. I actually found Neil to be more charming than Alec.

My friend read this and she enjoyed it. So I can’t sit here and say I don’t recommend it, it just didn’t make an enjoyable read for me. I guess if you like angels, take a chance with this book, you may come out loving it. Everyone has their own taste…