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Thank you to everyone who has added The Forgotten to their shelves so far!

~Saruuhdystopia historical lgbt ...more5 s Chiara891 237

Okay, this book is 3.9999 stars, for the record.
ARC provided by the author in exchange for a review.
Honour and Horatia Frie are twins living in Forgotten London - all that is left of London following the solar flares that hit the earth twenty five years before. Life is hard, and the world is a dangerous place. States practically rules the world, and people are dying of The Sixteen Strains - and not living beyond age twenty.
Enter Branwell and Bennet Ravel. Living in 1878, many years before the solar flares of the future, these twins are devastated by the mysterious and suspicious death of their inventor father. When his invention, The Lux, goes missing, and plans are uncovered that could mean certain death for almost everyone on earth, the twins are determined to find their father's invention - and stop the plans of those who have it.
How these two sets of twins are connected ... you will have to read to find out!
The Forgotten is the first in a series; The Lux Guardians; and boy am I glad this is a series!
I loved the mix of magic, history, and dystopia - my three favourite things to read in a novel. I am also a fan of the layout of this book. First person (my favourite), and for practically all the characters in the book, to boot!
I loved the description of the characters; they all felt very real, and each character chapter was easily distinguished by their distinct thoughts, and feelings. I have three favourite characters, which is rare for me. I have a hard time picking between Honour, Yosiah, and Branwell - they are all protective, loving, and adorable boys.
Sometimes the description of places and people was lacking a little (the only reason why it is 3.9999 stars, and not four). I had some confusing moments regarding character's physical demeanours, and sometimes even sexes.
But other than that, I enjoyed every minute of this book. The first sentence drew me in, and from there on in, I was in the world of The Forgotten. It was a teensy bit slow around the 100 page mark, but then it picks up again, and you are on the edge of your seat, wanting to know what is true, and what are lies, and what is going to happen.
Overall, I enjoyed Honour's chapters the most. I loved his thoughts, and the way he thinks, and feels about things. Especially the last few chapters - they were my favourite of his. The way he loves his sister is very fierce, and admirable.
I seriously cannot wait for the second instalment of The Lux Guardians, and will be keeping my eye out for it.e-arcs read-own-physical series-to-finish-incomplete ...more3 s Ruth SilverAuthor 23 books1,117

The Forgotten, is the first book in The Lux Guardians. Although categorized as Dystopian, it's a mix of Steampunk and Science Fiction with a Fantasy feel to the story. I enjoyed the beginning Dystopian elements, learning about Forgotten London and seeing a dark side to the futuristic society that the author created. With each chapter was a new scene, from the point of view of a different character, some of them with similar names (Branwell, Bennet and Horatia, Honour), which made it difficult early on to distinguish who each of them were, and whether they were male or female. I actually preferred when the author started using nicknames, it made it easier to remember. For example, Horatia's nickname was Tia, and Tia sounds a girls name.

The Forgotten, started off strong and fast-paced in Forgotten London, with a Dystopian setting featuring Horatia and Honour. Their story I was drawn more towards with the world building and constant fear they were living in. We also met Branwell and Bennet in Victoria London, years before the solar flares brought about the sixteen strains. Branwell and Bennet's story could be classified as Steampunk and even more so, fantasy, with some science fiction mixed in. I still have a lot of questions, specifically about Bennet, but I have a feeling we'll have to wait until the second book in the series is released for any answers.

I would recommend The Forgotten for those that Science-Fiction Fantasy novels, with a little Dystopian mixed in.

I received a free copy from the author, in exchange for an honest review.blog-tour dystopia fantasy ...more2 s Kristin (Blood,Sweat and Books)370 173

Review

The Forgotten by Saruuh Kelsey is a book that I was really excited to start. The premise really had me sucked in and I was really hoping to see something new with the Dystopian genre. Well let me tell you it was good and I did love the combination of fantasy and science fiction. However, even though I just finished the book last night I can't really recall much about it and here's why:

The characters- I had a very hard time discerning who was speaking. The voices of each character read the same and I found myself having to skim backwards to see who was last in the scene. I did Honour and Horatia but they felt more the same character given a different name then two separate entities. Also, the vagueness on whether characters were male or female really bugged me as it brings me back to the original point of never being able to tell whose speaking.

The World Building- I love world building. I usually am the first to complain about not having enough. The Forgotten however had the opposite problem. Way too much world building for one book. I felt that I was reading two separate books that had been combined into one story and rushed to publication instead of one cohesive story that was intentionally written that way.

The Length- The Forgotten was quite a long book which normally I don't mind but due to the story having so much world building and the characters not really having any distinct identities it made this book hard to power through. I truly believe this story could've been broken up into prequel and main story and worked just fine but together it just felt dragged down by dialogue.

Now I did some aspects of the story. I really loved going back in time and learning about the Lux and London before the solar storms and the Sixteen strains collapsed society. I also loved being in Forgotten London. The world was bleak and grim and really felt fresh to me which was what I was craving. The Forgotten isn't a straight up Dystopian it combines many other elements such as Fantasy, Science Fiction and even Steampunk to create its world. I really d that and ultimately the uniqueness of the world is what will have me coming back for the next installment.

Overall, while I did have plenty of issues with The Forgotten and I still have plenty of hope for this series and can't wait to see where the story heads in the next book. With that being said I'll be giving The Forgotten by Saruuh Kelsey ★★★.1 Kirsty-Marie Jones407 46

The Forgotten was one I was really looking forward to reading because it has such an interesting concept. You'd think it has the basic YA dystopian setup, the same that every other one has when it comes to a drastically changed world, how things work, how things are abysmal and gritty, but that's where the liness stops. It has way more than that. There was a lot of build-up to the end and which way it would go, and it was a little touch and go, which made me scared of a possible, one of my favourite character's kill off, but, the relief!

My favourite thing about The Forgotten though, hands down, were the characters. Separate they weren't that appealing, and it was hard to distinguish them from the other, especially the ones in 2040, and the fact at first you don't know the sex of the characters. But together? Their personalities and differences shone through. The relationship between Yosiah and Mia, and the twins', was really sweet, and you could tell they would literally do anything for one another. And they do.

I was fascinated by the Sixteen Strains, and the conspiracy and cover up of what was really going on, and the zones, but I much preferred Branwell and Bennett's chapters, which I found easier to breeze through and kept me waiting for the next. The hole of Bennett's disappearance annoyed me a little, since I was hoping we'd find out by the end, but we're still left in the dark when it comes to her, and she was my second favourite, boo.

The world building left nothing to the imagination-which could argue that it was a little too much, that sometimes a little imagination is a good thing, and in this case, I agree. It was a little too focused on that than the plot, that some of that some could easily be cut down, but If I'm honest, I'd rather have it than not.

The Forgotten was a brutal futuristic read full of betrayal, devastation, where a ray of hope is a luxury no one can afford, but good and goodness does prevail.


~~A copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.~


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Review originally posted on Studio Reads

1 Bryonna Powell1 review

I really do love this book! Dystopian societies are my favorites because they tend to bring out the strongest part of human values and what it is to cherish freedom. Plus, there's a lot of action, and I'm a sucker for a good action sequence, haha. But, that aside, when it comes to the characters, I've got to say that I loved the majority of them! Bran is precious, Miya is a lot me, in terms of temperament, and I love Honour. I love the small bits of humor that's sprinkled about, especially with Miya and Yosiah's dialogue. Although, I have to say, I was a bit conflicted with my feelings about Honour's outlook and personality toward the middle and end of the book. He was such a relatable character in the beginning, with his natural curiosity, and his will to find something greater, outside of the life that he was living. But towards the middle of the book, he started to get a little irritating to me, in the way that he kept putting Horatia on a pedestal, that I honestly don't believe she should be on. I understand that she's his twin, but it feels to me that he needs her a lot more than she needs him. And that makes me automatically annoyed with Horatia, because it seems as if she's a stumbling block, who's in the way of him developing into a stronger character. She's picked her own life already, and it seems he's just not able to. He's giving away sooo much love, and yet, he's not getting any of that love back. Which is a shame, seeing as he's surrounded by so many opportunites with his friends and such. I just feel as if there should be a bigger balance, in terms of his personality. Is he really the strong, determined, fire-eyed, confident individual that Bran sees? Or, is he the self-depricating, feeble, weak-minded boy, who's so put down by death, that he can't function AT ALL without having his sister around? Even Bran, who's worried about his own sister, seems to have a higher understanding and easier time functioning, and he's not even from that time, so he really has no clue how things will turn out! He still makes an effort though, for his own personal reasons. So, I hope that in the 2nd book Honour will find his own independent way, and have his own ability to become greater through his own effort, and not depending on others as much. I really would to see a bit of the personality that he had at the beginning of the book. ^-^1 Manuela98 54

This novel is a piece of art of the self-publishing and I definitly recommend it. Moreover, it's free, so read it.
Saruuh, I have to tell you I'm in love with Yosiah and Branwell. And I can't wait to find out more about Bennet! Where did she go? Will she be able to confess her feelings to Joel? Will Bran find her?

aaaaaah, I want The Lux Guardians #2 so very much right now!1 emarel49

The story in this book starts off great and enjoyed reading. But the constant changing of point of view is difficult to keep up with and it seems very jumpy. Jey Cee40

This book is geared to young readers who will enjoy fantasies Rose219 3

Rosd

Saruuh Kelsey has done a wonderful job showing the fight for life in this story. The characters are impressive as they live through horrors and devastation. Kira98 10



Saruuh Kelsey’s The Forgotten tells a story about two sets of twins, Horatia and Honour Frie and Branwell and Bennet Ravel, who try to survive humanity.
After most of the earth has been destroyed by solar flares and disease has ravaged the human population a new society was formed. States and Bahrat escaped almost unharmed, the rest of the world became known as The Forgotten Lands. Honour feels that the government is lying to him, but more importantly the government is planning on killing him.
Branwell and Bennet’s world was shaken up after their father was poisoned because a secret society wanted their father’s inventions. After The Lux is stolen the twins discover that the people that stole it are planning to destroy humanity and create a new society.
The Ravels and the Fries try to save their world—even if it may come at a cost.

The Forgotten has an interesting plot line with many diverse characters. That said I feel that at time it got a bit confusing with the various points of view. The constant switching between points of view made me feel a bit torn; I felt that as soon as I got interested in what was happening with one character the chapter was over and I had moved on to the next character. However, it is only fair to point out that the characters in the story provide interesting perspective and help to develop the plot. I the second portion of the book a lot more than the first half because the plot is heavier and it has a faster pace. The Forgotten has some interesting plot twists, and did I mention time travel? Yep! I said it! There is time travel, but to find out what happens you will have to read it.
will-read-and-review Lindsey403 1 followerRead

DNF 22%
I feel bad for not liking this book because I got the second book for free from the author, but I just couldn't get into this book. It's not that the writing was bad per se, it was more I just think I wasn't that interested in the story, none of the characters appealed to me personally. Other people may this book, but for me it just wasn't my cup of tea. I may pick this up at a later time, as I feel you have to be in a certain mood to read this book. Lucy109

I loved the writing style and the plot, but I felt it was too confusing at the very beginning with so many storylines. Despite this, I would still recommend.

(full review to come eventually) Paulina (The Little Book Pixie)95 12

Great World building and cancept but all the different points of view made it a very hard and confusing read.year-2014 Marie599 46

DNF at 6% I usually try and give books more of a chance but it was impossible to get interested with it jumping around every five seconds. 1 reviewed stopped Janice perry176 8

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