A review by romancebookloverinseattle
Forsaken by E.M. Moore

4.0

This was a tricky one for me to rate. On the one hand, I read it in one sitting, and it was so angsty I could not pull away from it because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. But on the other hand, I was frustrated with several aspects to this. Usually I don't care about world building, my mind is able to fill in missing gaps. In the first book in this series(they are both standalones), I was frustrated because the entire rejected mate system seemed unbalanced and this world created, for any shifters out there to uphold and allow a system like this, it means they really aren't decent. So it's this weird world that has been created where everyone just really sort of sucks that isn't in the rejected mate world. In this book there are hints that in this world things aren't all as it seems and there is a conspiracy around fated mates and the rejected mate system, but it doesn't get resolved or answered here and there were no further books. I wish we had seen a bit more of Nathan and Mia as their friendship was developing. The ending felt a little abrupt and because of that unsatisfying which is part of what keeps this from being a five star read for me. My understanding is the author intended to write more books in this series, but the first two didn't sell well enough so never went further with the series, but I really wish she had written an epilogue or another chapter to update the book and at least let readers know that Nathan and Mia find their way and do have their HEA. Without that, it's just not possible to give this five stars, and honestly made me go back and forth between three and four.

UPDATE: I just learned the author intends to release another book in this series in early 2023. My hope is that Mia and Nathan feature in that in some way so they get more to their HFN/HEA.