The Forbidden Game by L.J. Smith

Title: The Forbidden Game

Author: L.J. Smith

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Pages: 768

Rating: ★ ★

Reviewed by: Sabrina

To capture the love of Jenny Thorton, Julian--a visitor from a dark world--draws Jenny and her friends into forbidden games; the contest for a human soul. The prize is Jenny's freedom. The stakes are all of their lives (Talk about obssessed) . Jenny's friends are determined to help her win. But Julian is the master of the Game. Jenny's most desperate fight will be with him, this eerily handsome boy with electric blue eyes. He knows her deepest secrets, her darkest fears. He has almost infinite power. And the only thing he wants is for Jenny to surrender to him--body and soul.

My Thoughts

I tried. I really, really tried.

As much as I wanted to give this book 5 stars, I couldn't. I tried to like this book, but I just couldn't. I needed to give you guys my honest opinion. L.J. Smith is one of my favorite authors and I really hated to give her book a 2 star review. It was just OK for me.

I liked some aspects of the story, such as the believable fear and emotions of the characters. I didn't like Jenny, though. Although what she did at the end was understandable, I didn't like it (even if I'd do the same thing and that was the only way out). It just kept on nagging me.

Even though Julian was the antagonist, I actually wanted him to get the girl, but I wanted him to redeem himself first somehow. And he did, (SPOILER) he redeemed himself, at least to me, by sacrificing himself to save her. He didn't really do anything bad. Everyone was alive in the end (well, except for him) and he taught them to get over their fears.

I wished Julian had just asked her out instead of kidnapping her, but then again, there would be no story. And so, this book, sadly, gets 2/5 stars. I would recommend L.J. Smith's Night World instead.