Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Release Date: April 14, 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
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.
Forged is the final installment in the Taken trilogy by author Erin Bowman. It has been two months since the events of Frozen. Two months since Gray Weathersby and his surviving rebels (Adam, Blaine, Bree, Clipper, & Sammy) met up with the Ex-pats hoping they would find a way to help them defeat the Franconian Order who has been creating Forgeries at an alarming rate. Two of the forgeries were of Gray and his brother Blaine. Needless to say, readers haven't see the last of the forgeries, and they make things even more interesting for our group of rebels. This book is hard to follow at times and not because of the authors writing.
You never knew who was going to pop up and thwart Gray and his allies goals of a world without Dimitri Frank. You didn't know if your favorite character was going to survive or not because Bowman didn't take it easy on anyone. You didn't know if the AmWest, and Ex-Pats were really going to do what they promised. Unfortunately, there were also some major angst moments between Gray and Bree. To this day, which is several weeks after finishing the book, I still don't grasp this relationship. There was too much push and not enough talking and understanding. If they had taken even FIVE minutes to stop, take a breath, and realized that they were better together than constantly bickering, perhaps I would have rated this book higher.
While Gray, the teams presumed leader, spent way too much time worrying about how Bree feels about him, others were having their own issues including Clippers reunion with his hero Harry Maldoon. Gray also had to resolve issues with Emma, the real Emma, not the forgery. If you read the first book Taken, which I hope you have, then you know that there has been a whole lot of unknown hanging over Emma and Gray's relationship. Here is a girl, Emma, who Gray has known all his life. Then after the Heist, and subsequent events of Taken, things were kind of put on the burner.
I do like the fact that Bowman finally returns the story to where it all began; Taem. She also returns to Gray, Blaine, and Emma's hometown of Claysoot. I would have liked to see them travel to Bree's hometown as well, but perhaps that's for another time. I liked the various twists that were thrown in as well, including the death of important characters, and the final showdown between Gray's allies and Dimitri. I've come to believe that characters like Bree and even Emma, were more of the heroes of the story than Gray. Gray still makes wrong moves. His plans are always twisted and shoved back at him.
I have to give Bowman credit. She could have ended her trilogy on a happy note. But, she took the hard way out and really put these characters into harms way time and time again. I was nearly heartbroken when two of my favorite characters didn't make it to the end. But, that's okay. This was a war situation, and war leaves marks that forever scar those who survive. I dare agree with others about Bree's stubborn attitude. She's a tough girl who talks a good game, but at times, you just want to slap her in the head and ask her to move on with her anger issues.
In the end, I have no regrets about reading and finishing this trilogy.
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