Saturday, September 12, 2015

FORBIDDEN by Cathy Clamp




Luna Lake Book 1
Tor/Forge
August 18th, 2015
9780765377203
Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Paperback Advance Reading Copy
Reviewed by Dawn (love2read28@gmail.com)
Obtained by Author
4 hearts




It’s been ten years since that fateful day when war ultimately destroyed the Sazi Council and thousands were forced to accept a ‘cure’ that caused their shapeshifting abilities to go away. Luna Lake was once a safe haven for refugee orphans of the Suzi but now it is a bustling small town. Now the young adults of Luna Lake are determined to follow their own destinies, even if it means making sure their words are heard by their still fearful guardians. But all is not safe in Luna Lake as Sazi children are being kidnapped and Claire, a wolf shifter is investigating their disappearances. But when she meets a wolf shifter named Alek, sparks fly even as they get closer to the truth.

I got to admit I haven’t read this author’s Sazi Series in quite a long time but with her revamping the series and giving the readers a new generation of Sazi to enjoy and fall in love with. I love the way this author world builds. It is complex yet quite easy to follow with a cast of characters that fairly leap off the pages and into your living room. The writing is tight, story moves at a nice even pace with characters that are multidimensional and quite life-like. The author revives the Sazi series in a new setting and breathes fresh life into the series. There is mystery, romance and more all set within Luna Lake that will keep the readers attention from the first page to the last.

Meet Claire and Alek, two shifters who find they are drawn into the mystery of the disappearances of Sazi children. Claire was held a prisoner by the Snakes and is distrusted in town because of it while Alek lost his wolf pack and was adopted by the Owls, a defiance of the Sazi tradition. These two are needed in order to find the missing children but it will take working together to get the answers they need. I got to admit I really enjoyed Claire and Alek a lot. They both had great chemistry with one another and kept the story moving along nicely. The characters are all well written, with different personalities that come across the pages rather nicely. I loved the interactions Claire and Alek had together as well with the secondary characters.  I got to admit that this author just floored me with FORBIDDEN and kept me intrigued till the very end. The mystery portion of the story kept my attention and I was a little thrown off by some of the behavior towards the omegas in the Sazi world but overall it all came together to form a story that is just as engrossing as the original books in the Sazi world.

Cathy Clamp delivers a great introduction  into the new Sazi world with FORBIDDEN and the readers will get a great treat as they weave their way through the twists and turns this author throws in the story. I do want to caution you that there are some scenes that may be a bit squeamish and upsetting as this is a not your happy story of the paranormal genre. It can be dark and dangerous at times and it’s a perfect balance to the whole ‘will they or won’t they’ that dodges Claire and Alek through the book. I am eager to see if Ms. Clamp continues Claire and Alek’s relationship in future Luna Lake books and to see where the Sazi go from here.

If you are looking for a great urban fantasy series to enjoy, I highly recommend this introduction into the Sazi world this author has created years ago. If you haven’t read tales of the Sazi before, you won’t find reading FORBIDDEN too hard to follow as the author gives you some hints to what happened at the end of that series. Kudos to this wonderful imaginative author in capturing the essence of her Sazi world while breathing fresh life into the series with new players and more. I am on pins and needles to see where she goes next in this enthralling series.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement



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