This omnibus edition includes all three books in the trilogy. In the first book, Jenny is doing some last minute preparation for her boyfriend Tom's birthday party and stumbles across a mysterious game store, where she buys a game in a blank white box. The game turns out to be a paper house, with paper figures you can draw on to look like the various players, and paper cards on which the players are expected to draw their worst fears. It seems like harmless fun, until the game becomes real, and Jenny, Tom, Zach, Dee, Audrey, Michael, and Summer are all trapped in the house and forced to face their fears if they want to survive. The one putting them through all of this is Julian, an evil but handsome being who wants to make Jenny his.

In the second book, everyone tries to adjust to the consequences of Book 1, and Julian's back for another game. In the third book, Jenny and her friends must travel to the Shadow World for a rescue attempt. They end up in a deadly amusement park, and this time around Julian isn't the only threat they need to worry about.

L.J. Smith was one of my top favorite authors when I was a teen, despite her book's frequently ugly covers (seriously, the original Night World covers were hideous, although they were at least more memorable than the current "face on a black background" omnibus covers). She was my go-to author for YA paranormal romance, and I loved several of her books enough to reread them multiple times.

I don't think I ever reread the Forbidden Game trilogy, though, and all I could remember about it was that it starred a hot evil guy and had a disappointing ending. I can tell you right now that the reason Teen Me was so disappointed was because I approached this trilogy as paranormal romance. In reality, it's more like YA horror with romantic elements, or maybe a YA horror love story. Even though I'd adjusted my expectations for this reread, the trilogy's ending was still a bit disappointing.

Smith's writing was as compulsively readable as I remembered it being, although it felt a bit dated, especially during the first book, and the computer scenes in the second book made me laugh a bit. Jenny was very much an "L.J. Smith trilogy" sort of character: the gorgeous blonde girl who was loved by everyone and viewed by everyone as being very good and kind. It was a bit much, but I suppose it fit with the "Persephone and Hades" vibe that the story was going for.

The horror aspects in the first book were a bit cheesy, but still decent. In Book 2, I liked the creepy moments before the newest game started (Audrey and Dee's experiences were my favorites), but the game itself was largely forgettable. Book 3's horror elements, on the other hand, were fabulous. It's no wonder that the primary thing I remembered about this trilogy was the amusement park. I'm a fan of creepy animatronics, so I considered Leo the Paper-Eating Lion and the stuff in the arcade to be some of the best parts.

The romance aspect... Even with my vague memories of how the trilogy turned out, it was hard not to read it as paranormal romance.

I appreciated aspects of the ending more now than I probably did as a teen - the way all of the characters were forced to face the things they most feared about themselves and how others viewed them, and how they supported each other in the end. But I can't help it, I still read (or reread, I guess) L.J. Smith's books for the romance more than anything else, and this trilogy was just painful in that respect. I can understand why Teen Me never reread it.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Much like the last book I read with a knife wielding heroine on the cover, there is hardly any stabbing. It seemed like she spent most of this book lamenting that she didn't have her knives on her. I find this very frustrating. The last book I read with a knife wielding heroine - wait, the LAST TWO - have had almost no knife fights at all. 

I don't feel my expectations should be lowered. If there's a topless man on the cover, there should be sex. If there's a space ship on the cover, we should spend a good portion of the book in space. If our heroine is holding two kris on the cover, I should get more than one decent knife fight out of it.

It also manages to include some non-hetero characters, something I remember feeling the lack of in the first book. Perhaps book 3 will manage to include even a single one whose role isn't tied explicitly to transactional sex acts. Whether for espionage or for a living in the pleasure district, this book will manage to refer to each as whores. 

Leaving those laments aside, this is a good continuation of the first book, but also quite the change-up. One of the plot lines finds characters on a mysterious ship, and a second offers a glimpse into the lives of rebellion members on Kayla's home world, while the main line continue's Kayla's story. All are interesting for different reasons, and none a retread of the games featured in the previous book. Part space horror, part political thriller, this sets up a third book I'll definitely check out.

27/7 - Due to some hasty hold placing at the library I somehow ended up with this book (#3) borrowed before the previous book (#2). Then I did it again with Richelle Mead's Blood Promise and Shadow Kiss, somehow mistaking Blood Promise for the third book in the series, when it's actually the fourth. So I had to quickly get a hold of the next books in both series and read them, so I could get to this and Blood Promise before they were due at the library (they're obviously popular as they immediately had further holds on them). Didn't quite get all that? Don't worry, it's a bit strange and complicated and comes from placing a hold through the library's computer without access to GR to check the true series order (no, I don't have an iPad or phone with internet access), instead of doing it at home with GR open in another tab, as I usually do.

Oh well, it looks like it's going to work out fine in the end. I have until the 4/8 before this and Blood Promise are due back and while this is a decent sized book, I managed to read Buzz (which is only slightly shorter than Bubble) in just two days earlier this month, so I think I can get all three books finished before I have to start paying fines for them. Plus, I'm really pumped for the big ending, how everything's going to be wrapped up.

Will HP finally manage to kick his fame addiction (or any of the others)? What's going to happen to Rebecca when she starts working for the company that runs The Game? Will they beat The Game? Or will the ending be like those horror movies where you think the final characters have managed to kill the unkillable bad guy, only to have him prove he truly is unkillable (think Jason Voorhies) by popping back up again to chop off one more head before disappearing back into the forest. I think I sped through my last book Whisky Charlie Foxtrot so fast because I knew that this was next on my internal list and I could not wait to get started.

Although, now that I could be seconds away from doing just that (depending on how fast I type) I'm nervous it won't be as good as the first two, that it'll be a let down after all the tension of The Game and Buzz. I guess there are only two ways to find out, read the GR reviews (obviously not going to do that because not only will I ruin any plot twists, but I also still won't have a definitive answer because what one person one stars another five stars) or read the book. I'm going to read the book and try to forget the fact that I happened to catch a glimpse of the average rating for the book. 3.65 is a good book, just good, not great or fantastic or amazing, but I'm not going to think about that I'm just going to trust that my opinion is usually the opposite (or at least different) of a lot of others and read with an open mind. To be continued...

28/7 - As I exhibited with my pre-review ramble last night, I was a little bit excited and nervous about starting the possibly climatic, or possibly disappointing, final book in this fast-paced series. Now I don't know if it was a symptom of that mix of excitement and nerves, but I didn't really notice or become annoyed by the quick POV changes that I felt a little plagued by in Buzz and Game. I wonder whether, now that I've gotten over those first date jitters, the lightning fast changes will become more apparent and irritating. I'll be back tomorrow to talk about it.

Oh, before I go I just want to mention that I just realised that with 400 pages to go in Bubble, approx. 450 in Shadow Kiss and a little over 500 in Blood Promise that I've got about 1300 pges to read in six days and a few hours. With a little rounding off that works out to around 200 pages a day, which doesn't sound too hard, until you know that you're reading to a timetable and know that if you only manage 100 pages on one day that means you'll have to make it up somewhere in the remaining days, either with pages added to every day or just a chunk to one day. All that mathematising could lead to stressful, rushed reading. I think, if it comes down to enjoying my reading or paying a small fine (and at only 50c a book per day it would be small), I'll pay the fine and finish the book happily rather than hurriedly skimming it in the car outside the library (my 'I have to return this book today' last chance reading spot).

Later - How bloody stupid can HP be? Imagining that, after being bitten by a rattlesnake and passing out (supposedly due to the effects of the venom, not sure how fast rattlesnake venom would take to kill you, but that's another discussion) he would be able to successfully inject himself with multiple syringes of antivenin, then collect all his breaking and entering tools and a loaded gun and get back to his apartment before once again passing out. It certainly seems crystal clear to me that the bad guys came back, fixed him up and deposited him back on his own bed, all for some nefarious ulterior motive. Possibly so he can be setup as their patsy in whatever terroristic act they're planning. I really shake my head at HP's stupidity, stunningly bad decision-making and blindness to what's really going on around him. I was very pleased when I read that he hadn't smoked marijuana since it got him in so much trouble in Dubai, over six months ago, because really, look at the trouble he gets himself into when he's not high. To be continued...

30/7 - I feel like HP, with no idea of who to trust, whose story, or how much of it, to believe, constantly jumping from theory to theory about what's really going on and who's behind it all.

Was Uncle Tage telling Rebecca the truth and he's being set up by de la Motte to appear sinister? Or has he cleverly revealed just enough of the truth that his story will sound plausible to Rebecca, encouraging her to help him 'help' HP. Also Nora and Jeff... they don't seem all that innocent and straight forward. Some of their answers, like how they found HP so easily, give me suspicions that they're actually working for the Game and have been tracking him for days, or even weeks. How do we know that they're not the next door neighbours and aren't guiding HP towards their intended target for assassination/detonation, all ready for him to be the fall guy? Everything about them is just too convenient for my suspicious mind. To be continued...

31/7 - Well, it looks like I've jinxed myself with all that talk of needing to read 200 pages a day for six days. I am down to two days and a few hours (this is being written at approx. the same time as my update on the 28th) and I haven't even finished the first book - AAARRRRGGGGHHHH READING STRESS!!!!!!!!!!!

In regards to the book itself - exciting, tense, complicated, keeping me guessing at all times. Also the quick-fire POV changes seem to have mysteriously disappeared (or I'm so involved in the story that I haven't noticed them, not sure which), for which I'm grateful. Manga has returned and I'm not sure I believe what he's saying anymore than I believe Uncle Tage's spiel. I'm getting paranoid over fictional character's true motives and I can't stop wondering about who the real Game master is - not knowing is making me a bit insane, also as I read back what I've just wrote I realise that I'm repeating myself, sorry about that. To be continued...

2/7 - The last 10 pages I spent the whole time going "No! This can't be the way it all ends." I was so disappointed thinking that it was going to end the way those annoying horror movies do, with the bad guy rising back up and escaping only to live another day in the next movie, or book, only we know that this is the last in the series and then we would have ended up with a very unsatisfactory ending. Fortunately, that wasn't exactly how things went - the 'bad' guy did rise up to fight another day, but he also died. Eventually, it all made sense, but it's still very complicated, especially HP and Rebecca's father and Sammer's involvement during the 60s. I now have over 900 pages to read in 1.5 days. AAARRGGHH MORE READING STRESS!!

11/2 - Swedish/Danish stories are over-running our screens and pages. You can hardly look at a tv trailer or check out the new releases without coming across something from Denmark or Sweden. Not that I'm complaining, without them I would have missed out on great tv like The Bridge and The Killing or fantastic books like Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Game. That's right, 62 pages in and I'm already calling it fantastic. It's half gamer/techno thriller, half crime drama (at least so far).

I like Rebecca a lot more than HP at the moment because every time I read an HP scene I get the feeling that his next assignment will involve committing violence (or even murder) against another person and his punishment for failing to complete the assignment (which is what I assume would happen, at least the first time) is sure to be dreadful pain and suffering of himself or someone he loves (his sister Rebecca, for example). The scene where Rebecca is doing some personal defence training with her alpha group teammates and is caught in a suffocating headlock, but manages to harness her panic into an explosive attack, resulting in her 'attacking' teammate down on the floor with a broken nose gushing blood was very satisfying for one of those girls whose only weapon is her nails. I was especially triumphant when the instructor praised her and basically told her teammate to suck it up. It reminded me of a scene in the Buffy episode, Phases, the one where Oz first finds out he's a werewolf and Larry admits to Xander that he's gay. There's a scene in that episode where everyone is in gym class and they are paired up in order for the girls to practice self-defence - Cordelia and Xander, Willow and Oz, and unfortunately for Buffy she's paired with Larry. Willow has been warning Buffy that she has to act more like a 'girly girl' who can't kick vampires over the fence, and, to begin with Buffy attempts to remember this. Larry doesn't make this easy, as he makes lewd comments and sexual innuendos out of the feeble grunts Buffy emits as she 'attempts' to flip him over her shoulder, as the teacher is instructing the girls to do. In the end Buffy's had enough and oops, there he goes flying through the air to land flat on his back. Willow gives Buffy an exasperated look, but all the girls (and some guys, too) at home (I'm sure) were going "Take that _______ (any boy who made life difficult during school)!!" Both great scenes of girls being underestimated because of their physical size - I love a strong female lead who blasts the chauvinistic opinions of her male counterparts by saving them/beating them in a physical competition. To be continued...

22/3 - I've really been looking forward to getting back to this after my forced intermission due to library due dates and fines. I considered reading back over my own review to re-familiarise myself with where I was up to in the plot, but then I forgot. It didn't matter though, because as soon as I found the page I was up to it and started reading it all came rushing back. I meant to say this earlier in my review, but I forgot - I don't like the cover image on my copy of the book. The woman playing Rebecca is fine, possibly more model-like, less ass-kicking security officer-like than I would've imagined, but HP has a slightly suave, artfully mussed look that is nothing like the way he's described in the book. In my head I've been seeing a cross between Seth Rogen, Michael Cena, and Jesse Eisenberg. A bit bumbling, not fit (but not fat), actually scruffy rather than artfully mussed, just not well put together. The cover model looks like what he is, a model (very handsome, actually, a cross between Ryan Reynolds and Jonny Lee Miller when he's doing the unshaved look), when he should have looked a bit unkempt, a few cheeseburgers away from 'dumpy'.  He should be wearing slightly ratty clothes (grey hoodie, worn black jeans, scuffed white sneakers, t-shirt with some kind of disaffected youth slogan on it), not designer jeans and leather jacket and an over-priced plain black t-shirt, HP is not that smooth. To be continued...

23/3 - God HP is dense!!  How many times and in how many ways does Erman have to say it before the truth sinks through HP's thick skull?  The Game is using him!  He didn't choose to play The Game, The Game chose him to play.

Also, not a big fan of the way the story cuts from HP to Rebecca and back again for no apparent reason.  It's not like each interjection into HP's story takes us to breaking news in Rebecca's life or that there's some immediately obvious connection between those exact moments in Rebecca and his lives.  The interjections seem to happen at random moments and take us to mostly irrelevant (at least to what's happening to HP) events.  Maybe the connections will become clear later, but at the moment they're just confusing and disturbing to the flow of the main plot - HP's.  To be continued...

Later that night - On page 215 HP says that he can believe that he was tricked into taking part in The Game, and that bored rich guys were betting on him for their entertainment; but he can't believe that it's being played all around the world, that jobs can be contracted out through The Game and that there are players in every walk of life, that anyone might be an 'ant' sent to watch him.  HIs refusal (in the face of good evidence) to believe what's right in front of his face just screams of stupidity, to me.  His apartment's been set on fire, Manga/Farook's work place was set on fire and the whole thing would have been filmed if the police hadn't coincidentally been just around the corner to respond to the emergency call and scare off the arsonists, he's come to the conclusion (on his own) that he was set up at the bridge due to his personal belongings being planted at the scene of the crime, he was hunted down by some kind of light aircraft and nearly killed (out in the middle of nowhere, when the only 'thing' that knew where he was going was Google).  Looking at that damning pile of evidence how can HP continue to shut his eyes and stick his head in the sand?  The Game is a giant, multi-country, multi-million (maybe even multi-billion) dollar business with its fingers in a lot of different pies.  It has people available to hire for all kinds of jobs - no job is too big or too small - bank robbery, intimidation, arson, grand theft auto, impersonation, even assassination.  Whatever you need they'll handle it, as long as you can pay.  I believe it and no one's tried to mow me down with light aircraft today.  To be continued...

Even later that night (actually, really early the next morning) - All through the last few chapters I've been making snarky comments at HP's idiotic response to the events going on around him.  If I was an updater and had the laptop handy (currently sitting up in bed, reading, which is where I do my best reading) I would be sniping at that idiot with every other sentence.  He just saw the

news and I was like "Are you scared now?  Do you now understand that The Game is dangerous?  Yes, you fool,

Do you still think he's crazy, or is what he said starting to make a bit more sense?"  I also said "Duh!" a lot and rolled my eyes frequently.  I just want to say a blanket "DUH!!!" to all the conclusions HP is finally coming to (the same ones I came to about 200 pages ago).  Everything he thinks is stupid and it seems to be making me stupid because the only word I can come up with as I read is "Duh".  So, I hope if I throw out a giant blanket of "Duh" it'll be out of my system and I'll go back to my normal level of intelligence when writing reviews (above average, if I can say that without sounding boastful).

Only a few pages later - After that "Duh" dump intelligence immediately came flooding back, prompting me to wonder if

Page 221 - "...perfectly ordinary office building..." well what the hell did you think it was going to be?  A casino with "Play The Game here!" in neon lights?  They're trying to be inconspicuous, so it's not likely they would want records of anything to do with the real business that goes on inside showing up on a Google search.  If I was going to hide The Game's head offices I would go with a medical supply warehouse that really does hold and ship out medical supplies, at least that's what you'd see if you went in the front door; but if you went round the back you would find banks of computers with people tracking bets, jobs for players, player payments, etc.  If you're going to have a front for an illegal operation you need to have something real, not something that just looks good on paper.  When the inspectors show up (and they will, they always do) you can show them that you are exactly what your tax return says you are - a medical supply warehouse.  To be continued...

24/3 - Only 65 pages to go, I'm definitely gonna to finish this tonight! Yay! I can't wait to see how it all ends, except it's not really ending because Game is only the first book in a trilogy. So really, I should be saying, I can't wait to see what questions are left unanswered, if there's a heart-pounding cliff-hanger where we're not sure if someone will live or die. One thing I am very curious about is the identity of the person/s leaving notes in Rebecca's locker at work and now calling her home phone, letting the answering machine pick up, but not leaving a message. Leaving Rebecca to come home to numerous messages that all turn out to be hang-ups. Almost as creepy as hang-ups or mouth-breathers in the middle of night. I hope we get further clues about that mystery before the end of the book. I'm getting a little tired of HP's voice with all his excuses for why he still wants to continue playing The Game, despite the damage it's done to his friend's and family's lives (selfish fool), so Rebecca's become much more interesting and sympathetic to listen to. To be continued...

Later that night - Great ending, very edge-of-your-seat reading (although there was no real cliff-hanger of is he/she going to live or die). The mystery behind the notes and the work day hang-ups was solved and you'll never guess how it comes out (I'm the queen of wild theories and this one didn't even cross my mind). The final twist in the tale (I love it when that happens, a shocker is revealed in the last sentences of the book, like in Scream 4, the one with Emma Roberts, I had no idea who the real killer was until they were revealed and I actually said "Oh! They're the one?!" out loud in the cinema, to the embarrassed horror of my friends). Can't WAIT for the next book to be available at the library.<!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]--><!--["br"]-->

The Game has proved to be a very dangerous experience for Henrik "HP" Petterson. He is in the middle of a deep crisis and living an isolated life, convinced he is under constant surveillance by both the police and the Game Master. He keeps catching glimpses of people from his previous assignments, and soon his paranoia grows to madness. He no longer knows who or what to believe and the boundaries between The Game and real life are more blurred than ever. Still, he is determined to accomplish one final mission in order to shed light on the Game and uncover the truth behind it, no matter what the consequences will be. 

Rebecca’s life has changed drastically since her brother became involved in The Game. She has quit the police force and started working with private security for an IT company owned by the behemoth PayTag Group. Her relationship is hanging by a thread after her affair with a police colleague and she does her best to save it. Moreover, she is popping pills in order to cope with the stress. When she gets access to a safe-deposit box that belonged to her father that contains a gun and several passports, she starts her own search for the truth. There might be a connection between her father’s past, The Game, and what is happening to her brother HP… (source)