REVIEW: "Forbidden: The Demon Trappers #2" by Jana Oliiver

Title: Forbidden (The Demon Trappers #2)

Author: Jana Oliver

Format: Kindle eBook

Print pages: 418 

Publisher: Macmillan

Release Date: August 5th 2011

Synopsis

Taken from Goodreads

Riley Blackthorne is beginning to learn that there are worse things than death by demon. And love is just one of them...

Seventeen-year-old Riley has about had it up to here. After the devastating battle at the Tabernacle, trappers are dead and injured, her boyfriend Simon is gravely injured, and now her beloved late father’s been illegally poached from his grave by a very powerful necromancer. As if that’s not enough, there's Ori, one sizzling hot freelance demon hunter who’s made himself Riley’s unofficial body guard, and Beck, a super over-protective “friend” who acts more like a grouchy granddad. With all the hassles, Riley’s almost ready to leave Atlanta altogether.

But as Atlanta’s demon count increases, the Vatican finally sends its own Demon Hunters to take care of the city’s “little” problem, and pandemonium breaks loose. Only Riley knows that she might be the center of Hell’s attention: an extremely powerful Grade 5 demon is stalking her, and her luck can't last forever...

Review

Riley's life just gets tougher and tougher in the second instalment of The Demon Trappers series. Her dad's body has been stolen and resurrected by a necromancer; Simon, the boyfriend she made a deal with Heaven to save, is accusing her of being in league with the devil; Beck is "spending time" with a manipulative red-haired journalist, and the demons all seem to have it out for "Blackthorne's daughter." Her life kind of sucks.

However, with every sling and arrow, Riley gets a little harder, a little tougher. Forbidden sees Riley as a much more mature protagonist who is able to hold her own. Her blossoming relationship with Ori, a mysterious new fella who is blatantly not quite what he seems, was more grown-up than the few kisses she shared with the innocent Simon in Forsaken. But part of growing up is making some dumb mistakes and sometimes not being able to see the woods for the trees. Riley is guilty of both in Forbidden, but we forgive her because she's an immensely likeable character.

I was annoyed with Beck in this book. It remains fairly obvious that he and Riley should be together, but instead he has himself some fun with an evil snake of a reporter who is blatantly willing to work "under cover" for the story she wants. His double standards where his relationship was concerned, compared to that of Riley and Ori, were what annoyed me. Yet you kind of forgive him because he's evidently confused by his feelings for Riley and the instructions coming from his pants where the evil red-head is concerned!

This book challenged some of my assumptions about who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. I loved the blurring of the lines between good and evil, Heaven and Hell, assumption and reality. Jana Oliver crafted this sequel brilliantly.

Check back tomorrow for my review of Forgiven, the third book in The Demon Trappers series.