Previously, I discussed The Hunter, the first book in the Forbidden Game series. You can find that post here. I'm issuing a spoiler warning for that post as well as this one. I'm also issuing a warning for bad formatting and whatever else is horrible here because I'm not even going to try to structure my thoughts into something that flows together well. I'm posting my entire thought process throughout this book, as is, so expect me to go off on tangents about insignificant things because that's what I do best.
Let's get into it. The character descriptions in this book are...Something. "Jenny looked around at the group: Dee sprawled lazily on the grass, dark limbs gleaming; Audrey perched on a folder to save her white tuxedo pantsuit; Michael with his teddy-bear body and sarcastic spaniel eyes; and Zach sitting like some kind of Tibetan monk with a ponytail. They didn't look like murderers." Thanks for your analysis, Jenny. By the way, what teenager do you know who wears a white tuxedo pantsuit to school?
First of all, chapter one of this book is disturbing in a way that's almost reminiscent of Stephen King's Apt Pupil, only...Without the Nazis. (Don't read Apt Pupil, it will leave you with all kinds of awful feelings.) We've got a serial killer in the making talking about how he likes to torture and kill animals and this is normally the point where I would close the book forever (like I did with American Psycho). I've read The Forbidden Game series several times so it's somewhat baffling to me that I have no memory of this part at all. I must have been traumatized. I did force myself to read it again for the sake of this post, but I have to let you know, as an animal lover, it was upsetting.
Anyway, we're going straight into spoiler territory because this book picks up with Jenny arguing with a girl over who killed her friend, Summer. (She died during her nightmare in The Hunter.) Then the girl Jenny is arguing with calls her a "soshe." A SOSHE. Like this is The Outsiders. Like this book wasn't published in 1994. In my previous post about this series, I mentioned that the characters talk like 1950's TV housewives. Hell, maybe these books do take place in the 50's. I just assumed they were set in the same decade as when they were written. Back to the story though. This random girl is a friend of the two boys who stole The Game from Jenny's house at the end of the first book, and Jenny is desperate to get it back. Is it because she doesn't want anyone else to get sucked into the paper house? Or is she sick of that imbecile Tom and she's thinking maybe Julian can knock him off for her?
Summer's body was never found, of course, because she died inside a board game, so "the Center" (that's the most cultish name I've heard since my ex took me to Landmark in New York City) was created, inside a mall, and used as a way to gather volunteers to search for her. While these nice people are out looking for Summer, Jenny and her friends use it as an excuse to search through dumpsters for The Game, because she's so worried that someone will play it and let Julian out of the basement she locked him in.
We get several pages of Tom being pathetic, feeling sorry for himself while excusing what a terrible boyfriends he's been by saying that since he was good looking and had a nice car, he thought Jenny would always be there and he didn't have to treat her well. And how he would lose her to Julian if he ever returned because apparently Jenny is too stupid to realize that Julian is dangerous. Instead of, you know, working to fix his relationship with Jenny, he spies on her and acts like a stalker. (She should have left him in that paper house.) Jenny argues with Tom and, in a fit of anger, she suggests that maybe they should break up. Tom doesn't disagree. Good, glad that's temporarily settled.
Now that Jenny is "single," she does what anyone would do to get their ex's attention (sarcasm doesn't translate through text, so just know, I think this is idiotic) and decides to go to prom with someone else.
You can tell this book is old/pre-internet era because of things like this: "Jenny loved computers, unlike Dee who hated technology, but she had to admit there was something a little odd about them, a little unnerving. As if things might happen unexpectedly there on screen." What the hell is she on about? I hope no one has told her about the dark web.
Jenny and her friends finally locate the paper house they were trapped inside in The Hunter, with the help of the girl Jenny argued with in the beginning of the book. They're too late though, the house is "exploded" and scratched into the floor next to it is the rune "Uruz," a spell to pierce the veil between worlds. Jenny tells herself it actually looks more like a J than a U. Wishful thinking.
What's left to do now besides go to prom? Audrey suggest a dress for Jenny to wear, to which she responds, "I can't wear that dress. Tom wouldn't even let me wear it with him. If he hears I wore it with Brian, he'll have a fit." Someone needs to tell this girl that 1. No one should tell her how she can and cannot dress and 2. Tom isn't even her boyfriend anymore, so who cares? It's none of his business. Every time I have to read about Tom dictating how Jenny dresses and styles her hair, I want to throw this damn book.
At the "Midnight Masquerade" prom, Jenny just wants to get away from her date. (I felt the same way at my own prom.) She's miserable, she feels that he's too interested in her and all she can think about is Tom. When someone tries to cut in on their dance, Jenny is more than happy to let him. She doesn't recognize him, as he's wearing one of the masks supplied at every table. Jenny begins feeling "very strange" as she's led out onto the balcony by the boy who is not her date. And then she realizes the boy who led her out onto the empty, isolated balcony is Julian. And he's kind of pissed off after she trapped him in a basement the last time they were together. Jenny tells him to "get it over with," thinking he's about to throw her off the balcony, but he kisses her instead. And she kisses him back, before pushing him away. Julian sort of brushes it off, because he thinks he'll get his way no matter what she says, and places the gold ring he'd given her (that she had thrown away) back on her finger, reminding Jenny that she promised herself to him.
Julian offers to play one more game with Jenny to give her a chance at freedom. Before even hearing the terms, she agrees. And then Julian informs her that it's not a game between the two of them, it's a game for the original players (except Summer, RIP). You'd think Jenny would have learned by now that Julian always has a trick up his sleeve and she should be very careful when dealing with him. But no. She's learned nothing. How disappointing. The new game is "lambs and monsters" and the goal is for Jenny to find Julian's base before he takes her friends to the Shadow World.
With all of her friends gathered together, Jenny explains that she's gotten them all stuck in another round of Julian's games. To her credit, she does offer to give in to him to save them, however, her friends point out that it's too late for that since she already agreed to play and anyway, they would never allow her to sacrifice herself. While everyone is talking, Audrey heads into the kitchen with their empty Coke cans and after a few minutes, Jenny realizes there's been nothing but silence from Audrey. She runs into the kitchen, but she's too late. Audrey is already gone. Let the game begin.
Zach, Jenny's cousin, is the next lamb to be captured. Then Dee. And Tom. And, finally, Michael, leaving Jenny to find Julian's base on her own. She does eventually find the door into the base where her friends are held captive. (No, I'm not going to explain how, it's "complicated" and this post is long enough.) Julian is a sore loser and says he won't prevent the friends from leaving, since Jenny did win the game. Instead, he'll set the place on fire, blocking their exit. Or does he? Jenny realizes it's just a very realistic illusion. As the group makes their way through the fire towards the door, Zach falls and lets go of Jenny's hand, lost in the flames. Tom goes back in to get him, but neither of them come back. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. Zach adds absolutely nothing to this story and my feelings about Tom are pretty clear by now.
A note appears, from Julian to Jenny, saying he has her friends in the Shadow World and if she wants them back, she'll have to go on a treasure hunt to find them. The book ends with Jenny saying, "En garde, Julian. It's not over till it's over." Seriously, the dialogue in this book is atrocious. I don't think L.J. Smith has ever met a teenager. I don't think she was ever a teenager herself. I like her novels, I love The Secret Circle and I really did enjoy The Forbidden Game, but every time I reread these books, I find myself constantly rolling my eyes whenever anyone says something. She's a better writer than I am, so I should just shut up, but really. Someone needs to give her a lesson in teen-talk because this isn't it.
The Chase is my least favorite book in the series. It feels uneventful, the horror element is lacking and the game itself wasn't interesting this time around. Thankfully, The Kill is more fun, so I'll be back to talk about that book soon.
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