Tomes of Shadowstalking

Welcome to the land of shadows, where evil is the greatest power, where nightfall marks the birth of terror, where your very soul is at risk. Join me as I investigate worlds filled with black magic and dark souls and encounter the monsters rule these wicked places.

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.

That said, on to the review!

Jenny Thornton wanted a special game to help in celebrating her boyfriend's seventeenth birthday. She wasn't prepared for the Game and all it entailed...like entering the Shadow World and facing her worst nightmares, or dragging her friends along for the ride and forcing them to endure their darkest fears made real and worse than real. But she's stuck in the Game, as are they all, and their only chance of escaping the Shadow World before dawn the following morning is to face their fears and make it to the door back to their own world up at the top of the house. But Julian, the strangely mesmerizing, extremely more-than-handsome young man who sold her the game has given her a terrible, fear-inspiring warning: they all risk not escaping the Shadow World, but one of them will definitely not survive facing his or her worst fear. Who will the one person be, or will it be them all? And most importantly, will Julian play nicely and give them all a fair chance to succeed and escape?

L.J. Smith scores with another outstanding series. The Forbidden Game trilogy is markedly different from her previous trilogies, The Secret Circle and Dark Visions books. The most important difference is that, unlike the previous trilogies which took place in the "real" world, this one takes us completely out of "our" world and into the Shadow World where Shadow Men rule. Another major difference is that in the previous books, the heroines weren't necessarily tempted to surrendering to evil. Jenny has the threat of ultimate evil wrapped up in a package she has difficult refusing: a "gorgeous cyber-punk with electric blue eyes and frost-white hair" is how the synopsis puts it.

It's interesting to watch as Jenny struggles against Julian, against her friends' worst nightmares, and against her own attraction to Julian. I think anyone faced with just one thing to worry about--say, a friend's nightmare made real--might be easier than dealing with the nightmare and an enemy bent on conquering you heart and soul. And definitely that would be easier than fighting an internal battle against one's own inclinations and desires. The author masterfully weaves these three struggles into Jenny's Game experiences, and does so without sacrificing an iota of intensity or impact.

Although a YA novel like her other books, L.J. Smith's The Forbidden Game--The Hunter and the other two books in the trilogy are certain to captivate you with their smooth flowing narrative and their exciting, interesting background into the mythologies of other lands. Pick up the book, start reading, and lose yourself in her storytelling.

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