Forged

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Ahhhhhh Forged! Where do I even begin? This book was great. It had great action, great characters, a great way to end off the trilogy, and brought back so much nostalgia. I loved it and already miss this trilogy. Seriously, I was so sad to get to the last 30 pages. It's just, I'm not ready to leave yet. Believe it or not, I almost resorted to fan fiction. So with that, if you want a great dystopian trilogy to marathon, definitely pick this one up.

Since this book is a sequel, I recognized a majority of the characters. There were a handful of new characters introduced though. What is really sad is that the last book I read from the trilogy was about 7 months ago and I couldn't not remember half the re-occurring characters. Grey, our protagonist, has grown so much from when he was still living in Claysoot. He has turned into a fighter, someone who values life much more, and less vulnerable. He has dealed with loss, pain, betrayal, and just so much more that has really shaped him into the person he is now. The character development he went through since Taken is so significant, this is an example of what character development is supposed to look like. 

The amount of action that took place was entertaining and heart breaking. What dystopian novel ends without agonizing deaths!? (Not this one, in case you are wondering) Forged starts off with Grey already complaining about the lack of action going on. Within the first three chapters, everyone is already out on an adventure! As the book progresses the action and adventures get so interesting. Erin's writing just gets better and better. By the time the climatic part came, I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat because of how engaged I was into the book. Hah, you think Erin can't surprise you enough?

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I finished reading the book and all I couldn't think was "Was I really that stupid enough to think that once I reached the climax, the surprises would stop?" I never got bored with this book because there was always something to want to know more about. That's what kept me reading and continue to be thinking about Forged after I finished it. Plot and action was great, just great. The ending was also great too! Endings of series are normally very bittersweet and this one was definitely one of them. It wrapped up the trilogy greatly and left no loose ends. (Except I still had withdrawals...) So going to miss reading this trilogy.

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Vengeance Road

So if you are not aware I am a contributor for Lit Up review! I have taken this opportunity to rewrite some very old Let's Talk!s and improving my review writing skills. So I will be posting my new Let's Talk!'s here as well but they will be a little different from the regular format. The review is the exact same as Lit Up so if you read the review on Lit Up you don't need to worry about reading the one on this blog.

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Author: Erin Bowman
Pages: 360
Publisher:​ HarperTeen
Published on: April 16th 2013
Also Published On:​ Lit Up Review

There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.
They call it the Heist.
Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.
Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?

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I am going to try not to spoil too much of Taken for you. I first saw Taken on the Epic Reads site, and I was very interested in it. Then, my friend found it in the library, read it, and really enjoyed it. I got the copy right after her and flew through it. This is my ideal dystopian novel. Action, suspense, very enjoyable, and just a tad bit of romance. Bowman's writing style was something I haven't read from for awhile now and it was very refreshing.

The characters had developed so much from the beginning to the end. In the beginning, Grey, as a character, was kind of a pain in the butt to read about. I thought he was very broken and scared. By the ending of Taken, he was not as scared and was willing to do anything to protect people. He also finally accepted the situation he was in.

The two main girls, Emma and Bree, are very different people. Emma is like the girl who stays inside all day to read and study. Bree, however, would be the girl who is always outside playing with boys. Whether they are fighting or just shooting hoops, Bree is with them. I guess that's what makes them both different; even though they are both girls in the same situation, they are very different in some ways.

One of the things I love discussing with people is the ending of books! I'm going to try not to spoil it too much but still be excited about it. The ending gave readers an idea on the plot for Frozen (Book 2), and I like that. There isn't a huge amount of confusion, but I don't know exactly what happens.

The plot of Taken was very well thought out, and the events were planned carefully, so there was no confusion. (If that makes sense.) There was always something going on, and Taken never drifted from the plot and got boring. Erin Bowman did a great job at setting up the trilogy and making readers want to read the rest of the trilogy. Now I am really excited to see what happens in the next two books!

I like where this trilogy is going so far, and I'm really excited to read more of it!