Review--Forgiven by Jana Oliver

Jana Oliver's third spellbinding Demon Trappers novel - following The Demon Trapper's Daughter and Soul Thief - brings all new thrills, as Riley Blackthorne takes on demons, love... and the future of the human race.

The days are growing darker for 17-year-old demon trapper Riley Blackthorne. With her father’s reanimated body back safely, Beck barely speaking to her because of a certain hunky Fallen angel, and a freshly-made deal with Lucifer, she has enough on her hands to last a normal teenage lifetime. Though she bargained with Heaven to save his life, her ex-boyfriend Simon has told the Vatican’s Demon Hunters that she’s working with Hell. So now she’s in hiding, at the top of everyone’s most-wanted list.

But it’s becoming clear that this is bigger than Riley, and rapidly getting out of control:  something sinister is happening in Atlanta… or someone. The demons are working together for the first time ever and refusing to die, putting civilians in harm’s way. Riley thinks she might know who’s behind it all, but who’s going to believe her? Caught between her bargain with Heaven and her promise to Lucifer, Riley fears the final war is coming – and it may be closer than anyone thinks…


Forgiven is Jana Oliver's third book in her Demon Trappers series starring Riley Blackthorne, a seventeen-year-old demon trapper who has got a lot on her plate. She owes both Heaven and Hell favors, and since the two are at war, it's going to be mighty difficult trying to please both of them. What's worse, she gave her virginity over to a Fallen angel and her heart has broken in more ways then one. 

Ori has been cast into stone by Lucifer and Beck cannot even stand to look at Riley anymore. Her world is crumbling to pieces. But Riley's personal problems will have to take a backseat, the problem at hand has to deal with a war brewing. The angels and the demons are getting closer and closer to having their battle to end all battles and humanity itself. To add to the mix, there's a new kind of demon on the prowl. Zombie demons! And they are a lot harder to kill.

Riley's other problems of course come from Rome and the Vatican. Now that it's public knowledge that she bears both Heaven and Hell's mark, no one knows what to make of her. The demon hunters are hard pressed to punish her since she bears Heaven's mark, yet Hell's is so very damning. Riley is placed under house arrest of sorts. Who knows really what will come of this.

It has been wayyyy too long since I read this series, so my mind was very fuzzy on the details, but I was able to get the gist of things pretty quickly. This book read like it was going to be the last one in the series. Thankfully, that's not true. There are still some little problems left unresolved at the end. Mainly having to do with Riley and Beck. The ending was quite aggravating, I can totally understand Riley's frustration with the events that were left unsettled. Glad I have Foretold to read in the next few moments!

The pacing to this novel was ultimately good! It goes from one hard pressed issue to another! There's a lot of emotion to this book too. Anger, sadness, despair, joy, elation...so many feelings overcame me as I was reading Riley's trials. What she felt, I basically felt. Read more than half the book yesterday and that was when I started it! Looking forward to seeing how this fabulous series is going to end!


Overall rating 5/5 stars