{ Forbidden by Ted Dekker & Tosca Lee }

Forbidden by Ted Dekker & Tosca Lee

Sept 13, 2011 by Center Street

Source: NetGalley

Format: ARC Ebook

From Goodreads:

New York Times bestselling author Ted Dekker teams with Tosca Lee to create this gripping thriller set in a desolate future.

A terrible truth has been revealed to one man: the entire human race has been drained of every emotion except one— fear. To bring life back to the world, Rom must embark on a journey that will end either in his own demise or a reawakening of humanity. But to bring love and passion back into existence will also threaten the powers of the world with the revolution and anarchy that had nearly destroyed them previously.

After happening upon a journal through strange circumstance, Rom's world is shattered. He learns that humanity long ago ceased to "live," that it exists today in a living death of emotions. In a terrible risk, Rom exposes himself to the vial of blood folded into the old leather of the journal. His change is fearful and fraught with mind-bending emotion. A once-pious observer of the Order's passionless statues, he is filled with uncontrollable impulses. He is filled with love.

He is undone, terrified, and alone in the desolate world.

My Review:

Forbidden is an action packed thrill ride for all lovers of Dystopian/Fantasy with some religious base. After reading Ted Dekker's Circle Trilogy, I became an instant fan. I was so excited to see Forbidden come up on NetGalley and even more excited to see it in my galley! While I am not familiar with the writings of Tosca Lee, the collaboration between these two authors is truly breathtaking.

The beginnings of this story had a true Dystopian feel, which of course I love. But as the story moved along it also grew into this amazing, fantastic, epic journey filled with love, betrayal, death, swords, blood and oh so much more!

The story centers around Rom. A twenty-four year old average young man. Rom's world is turned quite literally turned upside down as the true origins of the Order, the world he knows to be true has all been a lie. Throughout the book we see Rom grow from this average young man to a true hero of epic proportion. No he does not have special powers or have amazing fighting skills, but as he learns the truth he discovers what is right and what is wrong. With this new knowledge he vows to fight for what is right and to protect those he loves.

I absolutely love the connection between Rom and Avra. There is no unrealistic hot lusty love at first sight nonsense. These two have grown up within a society without love, or any emotion other than fear. Yet, deep down they have both felt an unexplainable connection to one another, without ever knowing what love is. This felt so real, so powerful. I loved it!

In true Ted Dekker style, Forbidden is of course filled with darkness, evil at it's finest. And while this book may not have been as dark as I would have expected it was felt with the addition of Saric. Saric is the perfect image of evil. He too, has the knowledge of the true origins of the Order, and being the evil one he is? He has plans to bring his evilness to the world. Saric is one of those characters that I lovingly loathe. He has an insatiable thirst for women and power and a quite repulsive thirst for his half-sister, Feyn.

Feyn, is the beautiful soon to-be Sovereign. She has lived her life for this moment. But soon she too will learn the truth about the Order and must make a decision that could alter her destiny and the world forever.

In the end, I would recommend Forbidden to anyone who enjoys Dystopian/Fantasy, with lots of action. If you love strong memorable characters you will not be disappointed. While there are certainly faith/religious based elements, it is not in your face as Ted Dekker's Circle Trilogy was. This is the beginning of what I anticipate will be a phenomenal series. This book once again solidifies my love of Ted Dekker and has me looking forward to reading more books by Tosca Lee.

Rating: 4.5 stars!