Review ~ "Forged" by Erin Bowman

Title: "Forged"
Series: Taken, #3
Author: Erin Bowman

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Published: April 14, 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Romance
Pages: 384
Format: Hardcover
Source: MeL Cat

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The time has come to make a stand.

Gray Weathersby and his group of rebels are determined to bring down the Franconian Order. But they may be too late. The Order is closer than ever to its ultimate goal—building an unstoppable army—and every generation of Forgeries is more sophisticated, harder to detect, and deadlier than the one before.

Now the rebels have joined forces with new allies, the Expats. But when even the most familiar faces can’t be trusted, Gray will have to tread carefully if he wants to succeed—or survive.

OK, I throw in the towel. I was really hoping that this book would redeem this series for me. That the third time's the charm. That something would happen in this book that would make me regret my unhappiness for the last two books. But, sadly, this trilogy just wasn't meant for me, and I guess I have to accept that. 

Forged starts soon after where Frozen ended. It is revealed that Emma, who has been traveling with everyone in the last book, is actually a Forgery. This is devastating for Gray, since he made a lot of progress with her towards mending their relationship. It also makes him sad because he's a jerk of a guy who likes to toy with girls' feelings and make them think he loves them when he's also flirting with another. *takes a deep breath* Needless to say, it's pretty obvious that I'm still not a fan of Gray.

There is another realization when it comes to Forgeries. There is a Forgery of Gray, and they are becoming better, faster, stronger. *blasts Kanye* But seriously, they're stronger than ever before, and Gray and company might not be able to fight them as easily as they could before. Even though everyone knows that they are great fighters, they're not so sure that they'll be able to win this time.

I'll be completely honest, I don't remember much of the plot. The main thing that I remember was that there weren't any moments that kept me at the edge of my seat, forcing me to turn the pages as fast as possible. It was just meh for me. I think the main thing that made this trilogy unenjoyable was Gray. I just couldn't connect with him, and if I can't connect to the main character, I can't connect to the story. And this was really sad because I found the concept and some of the supporting characters (like Bree) to be very interesting. I know there's a short story about Bree, so maybe I'll like that one much more. I just feel terrible not liking this series because I loved Vengeance Road. How can I call myself a fan of an author when I didn't even like the majority of their books? I really hope that I like Erin Bowman's future books, because she is a great author.

So I guess the question is: "Why did I give this series 3 stars when I didn't even like it that much?" My answer would have to be because even though I didn't like some pretty big things, I found the concept to be great. And, to me, meh is middle of the road, meaning that it'd be the equivalent of a 3. It seems like a number on the scale of 1-5 that means didn't love it, didn't hate it, and I guess that's what I feel.

Overall, this book was a let down. I was hoping to be blown away, after not being captivated by the previous two books. However, this book was just in the middle of the road. It seemed average for me. Nothing terrible, nothing wonderful. Which is disappointing as it was such a unique idea. Hopefully more people love it, as I feel like it deserves more than my indifference.