Posted by Melanie Release Date: August 18th, 2015
Finished Date: August 25th, 2015
Publishers: Tor Books
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: For Review
Format: eBook
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: For Review
Format: eBook
USA Today bestselling author Cathy Clamp reboots the Sazi universe in Forbidden, a tightly-paced, high-tension urban fantasy thriller.
Ten years have passed since the war that destroyed the Sazi Council and inflicted a horrible "cure" on thousands of Sazi, robbing them of their ability to shapeshift.
Luna Lake, isolated in Washington State, started as a refugee camp for Sazi orphans. Now it's a small town and those refugees are young adults, chafing at the limits set by their still-fearful guardians.
There's reason to fear: Sazi children are being kidnapped. Claire, a red wolf shifter, is sent to investigate. Held prisoner by the Snakes during childhood, Claire is distrusted by those who call Luna Lake home.
Before the war, Alek was part of a wolf pack in Chicago. In Luna Lake he was adopted by a parliament of Owls, defying Sazi tradition. The kidnappings are a painful reminder that his little sister disappeared a decade ago.
When Claire and Alek meet, sparks fly—but the desperate race to find the missing children forces them to set aside their mutual attraction and focus on the future of their people.
The Review: Forbidden is the first book in the Luna Lake series that has
ties to the authors other series and I thought it was an intriguing start.
We begin the story with a car journey that brings Claire – a
wolf shifter – to Luna Lake. She is there undercover because the local children
are going missing and she immediately senses that something is wrong, a sense
of danger and urgency she can’t quite put her finger on. Before they reach the
town, they are hurled off the road by an unseen force with immense power…. Could
this be what is taking the kids? At the same time, a series of events brings
Alek – another wolf shifter – to the road where the wreckage is…. And he feels
the same danger, urgency and unseen power that Claire did and ends up in the
crosshairs. Thankfully he is able to save Claire…. Just… and a bond is formed.
As Claire heals, she stays with a foster family headed by
Owls who take everyone in and love them, it’s their kids that are missing and
Claire vows to find them. It’s no surprise that Claire ruffles a few feathers
by sticking her nose in, something is seriously wrong in Luna Lake and when she
finds herself as omega of the place, she finds out just how messed up the place
is….. it has one advantage though… it allows her to snoop around, work with
Alek and find out what is really going on.
So, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I liked the set-up of
Luna Lake and why it was established – it should have been a good place, it was
meant to be but as always… it never lives up to expectations. I like that a lot
of the ‘Sazi’ kids were taken in, regardless of who they shifted into and there
was a definite sense of family throughout where everyone looked out for one
another and helped without question. It was still a change for Claire and
really different from what she was used to at home. I thought she dealt with
everything really well, she showed a maturity in how she handled herself but
also gumption on how she asserted herself. She was likable and relatable which
helped her fit straight in with her hosts. I’m really curious about her
background and what happened to her when she was younger. Romance came by way
of Alek, they shared an immediate chemistry and bond which intensifies over the
course of the story. I’m glad that the romance didn’t take over the actual
story but it was a nice balm to what was happening. Now I have to say that I like
my wolves to have soul mate bonds, you can more or less guarantee that these
will find a mate for life but this bond confused me – there’s a one sided bond
where one loves the other but the other doesn’t necessarily have to love their
mate back or be with them, plus that non bonded mate can bond with another and
fall in love with that person or you can get the double bonding where they both
love each other and make a commitment. Now that one sided bond is not a happy
one for me, I want loyalty, I want chemistry I want my two main characters to
be bonded, in love, having lots of sexytime and hopefully babies….. but that is
not happening here and I’m not happy!
The actual story was great and I really enjoyed it! It had
an air of mystery that followed you right through the book; why are the kids
going missing? Who is taking them? Why are they being taken? They are the first
things that come to mind but then when we actually spend some time in the
community you can feel that something isn’t right there, something is being
hidden and it’s sinister. It’s clear that some people in power know more than
they’re letting on and that is the worst kind of foe to go up against because
Claire is put in danger time and time again. She risks everything to find out
what is going on, she’s abused, she’s shunned, she’s bullied…. But she is
determined and it seems like she and Alek are the only ones that aren’t
affected by the weirdness of Luna Lake. Along with the mystery, there is plenty
of danger, violence aplenty, seedy secrets, misdirection…. But also some
sexytime to offset the drama. By the end, the world is opened up even more, we
find out exactly who Claire is and what she’s up to and a hint at a possible
future for her. I would read a sequel but I wished I had been familiar with the
authors other series before I read this so I knew what had happened in their
world beforehand.
3.5 flowers!
Thank you to Tor Books for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.
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