Review: Forsaken by Kristen Day

Once you’ve been touched by darkness, it never leaves you…

Abandoned by her parents as an infant; seventeen year old Hannah spent her childhood wading through countless foster families until being adopted by the Whitmans three years ago. Unfortunately, Atlanta’s high society wasn’t quite ready for Hannah…or the strange events that plague her.

Chilling visions of murder, unexplained hallucinations, and a dark, mysterious guy who haunts her nightmares all culminate to set in motion a journey of self-discovery that will challenge everything she’s ever believed; not to mention her sanity.

Sent to live at The House of Lorelei on Bald Head Island, NC for ‘kids like her’, Hannah quickly realizes things are not what they seem. Her fellow ‘disturbed’ teens are actually the descendents of mythical Sea Gods and Goddesses. And so is she.

But when Finn, the ghost from her dreams, appears in the flesh; her nightmares become reality and her dark visions begin coming true. Inexplicably drawn to him, she can’t deny the dangerous hold he has on her heart. The deadly secrets he harbors will ultimately test her courage and push the boundaries of her love.

She must decide if she is ready to embrace the ancient legend she is prophesized to be a part of. The fate of all the descendants will forever depend upon it.

Shona's review 4 of 5 stars

This was a cross between Harry Potter "You're a wizard Harry" and Percy Jackson "You're a Demi-God" or in Hannah/Stasia's case Sea Goddess. 

Hannah was abandoned by her Sea Goddess mother and raised in the foster care system, before finding her way into a rich family who could afford therapists to help her deal with her traumatic past, which is ultimately how she had her "you're a wizard Harry" moment... but instead of being told what she was, she was shipped off to some strange island to be with "people like her". Where she finds out she is descended from the Sea Gods and Goddesses and has abilities, but no-one really tells her anything to begin with and just sort of throws her in at the deep end.

Day has done a magnificent job with the story telling and imagery. Its easy to imagine yourself in Stasia's place, seeing the things she describes, without being overwhelmed by the descriptive text. I'm not gonna lie, the abandoned baby on the Police station steps at the beginning has been done many a time, but Day still manages to make it feel different and pull the reader in. From the first moment we see Hannah I wanted to learn more.. I also wanted to know why she didn't up and punch her stuck up adopted sister, especially since she proves later she IS capable of sticking up for herself. For me, I felt this book moved at a perfect pace, I struggled to put this down and read it in (almost) one sitting.. I did have to stop to cook dinner. 

There were a few things that irked me with this book... 

Hannah never questions why people give her the funny look when she changes her name to Anastasia, then the fact that she did change it but then asked people to shorten it to Stasia?? 

She never really questions Finn about the 'dream moments' she shares with him, except in the dream moment but she has so many unanswered questions about them (I know I do).
Kira is her mentor and they have this insta-connection, despite the fact that they only really spend a couple of hours together when she first arrives on the island.

There was a couple of issues towards the end of the book and it's really hard to go into details without spoilers but... it took Stasia and friends 2 nights to get to where they needed to be, but the antagonists appeared to get there much quicker?, and then only Stasia could get in because the others weren't worthy.... yet the antagonists were?

Yes there are questions left unanswered, but this isn't the only book in the series. We cant expect Day to wrap everything up in a neat little ball, what would make the readers comeback for more? This is my first book written by Kristen Day and it wont be my last.. I am very keen to see how Stasia's story turns out.