I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.The Forgotten Ones by Laura Howard is about Allison, a 21 yr old girl who is getting ready to go to grad school. Ever present in her mind, and her main purpose in life, is taking care of her mother who has schizophrenia. She has been mentally ill since Allison was young, since she came home from a study abroad in Ireland knocked up and heart broken. Allison, along with her grandparents, make taking care of her mother their main priority. For Allison, that means forsaking a social life. She has a reputation for being "no mans land" but the super-hot Ethan doesn't let that deter him. Towards the middle of the story we meet Liam, who is buying land near Alison's family but is also her dad who she has never met. He also looks 25 yr old, despite the fact that Allison herself is 21. Obviously, this causes lots of questions. Liam explains that he is human but has lived with the Tuatha De Danaan, or faeries, for so long that he does not age and has developed some of their special skills. He has returned to protect Beth, Allisons mother, from a jealous and vindication faerie princess who original lured Liam there back in the 17th century. They must journey far to save her mom, a journey Allison is determined to go on.This is the first of three books, so there is a fair amount of plot development. The author did a great job with that, not getting bogged down with it but letting us know what is going on. The only detail she didn't get into was the circumstances around Allison and Ethan's infamous kiss. Would have liked to hear about the circumstances around that, but obviously not essential to the story. She also does ALOT of scene description, which is great in a foreign land of faeries but did get tedious after awhile.I felt like the character of Allison could have been flushed out more. We know she likes to run, where she works, about her mom. But that's about it. Towards the end we see some glimpses of her growth with her opening her heart to Ethan, whom she has kept at arms length because of the situation with her mom and not wanting to saddle him with it, too. She also steps out of her comfort zone while trying to help her dad and his fiery friends defeat the evil Princess.Overall, a decent read. Not my favorite but I have high hopes for the next books in the series. Allison is a serious young girl who knows exactly what she wants in life... and that doesn't include the gorgeous Ethan that she has had a crush on forever. She doesn't want him to know that she likes him as she feels that there just isn't room in her life for romance and caring for her schizophrenic mother. She feels what you could call an obligation towards the care of her mother as she is carrying a shedload of guilt as she thinks she is to blame for it. We stay with Allison as she finds out just what is causing her mother's illness and why. The Tuatha Dé Danann are involved and if you have read anything about them, you will know that things are about to get interesting as well as convoluted!Laura Howard has done a brilliant job with this story, keeping it true to it's Irish roots whilst putting a modern twist to it. There is a handy help at the back of the book which will help you with pronouncing the names which Laura has also stuck to the Irish spelling to help give the whole book an authentic feel.A wonderful, intriguing book which will leave you wanting book 2, Stones of Destiny, immediately.
What do You think about The Forgotten Ones (2013)?
4.5 Stars - Very fun read, although the beginning was a bit slow - full review to come!
—princess
Great story, left me wanting to read more. Waiting for next book.
—vatracey
I cant wait to read this book it sounds very interesting.
—Jennifer
good, but more frustrating than suspenseful
—natzumi2011
