The Forsaken has an interesting enough premise for a YA dystopia, but the execution was subpar at best. I'm still not sure whether I read through to the end because I truly wanted to know what would happen to the characters or because I wanted to know how bad of a train wreck it would be. 
 The writing itself was fine, my main issue was with the main character. It's not even that I outright disliked her, it's just that she was so incredibly dumb. Her logic made absolutely no sense, she was ridiculously slow at figuring things out, and don't even get me started on the relationship between her and Liam. 
 Liam was a pretty dull character on the whole, but their relationship had no chemistry. There was no depth or development to show any real emotional connection between them. I almost felt like the author made them a couple just because of the fact that this is a YA novel and GOD FORBID ANYONE WRITE A YA NOVEL WITHOUT A ROMANCE. I think the book would have been better if their relationship had just been left platonic. 
 Gadya was just as bad. Probably worse, though, because I feel like her character had so much potential. She could have been a strong, fiery, quirky role model for Alenna who really contributed something to the story. I think what annoyed me the most was the way her attitude shifted every other scene, 99% due to jealousy about Liam and Alenna's relationship. She just seemed so petty, and it made her much harder to like. 
 There were a decent amount of plot holes, some of which it seemed like the author hurriedly tried to patch up within the last 20 pages. 
 The only plot twist that I found genuinely unexpected and interesting was the identity of the Monk. I also thought David was intriguing, and I would have liked it if he played a more central role.