Plot: 4/5
The plot was interesting and well developed. Psychics and crystals and mad scientists are a couple of things I never expected to be thrown together.

Characters: 4/5
Some of the characters were very interesting, while others lacked depth.

Character development: 3/5
There were several characters in this series. Ony three of them really changed from beginning to end.

Romance: 2/5
I found the Rob & Kaitlyn romance to be incredibly hokey and not believable. I also found Gabriel’s initial infatuation with Kaitlyn did not make sense. If he had not been attracted to her in the beginning, I probably would have found it more believable.

Other comments: I found the story to be incredibly cheesy at places. Otherwise, it was good.

Overall grade: 13/20
That’s a D, people.
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Summary:
In this trilogy of "The Strange Power", "The Possessed", and "The Passion" leads the reader on a journey as lead character Kaitlyn and her friends, all with psychic powers, escape from a school everyone thinks it is to teach them how to use their powers. The owner of the school tries to use as powerful crystal on the students amplifying their powers and turning them evil for his use. During the many twist and turns the teens become homeless and receive help in strange ways from the evil doctors daughter and a cult of crystal worshipers. In the end a friend the teens thought they lost to the dark side saves them all from becoming evil with a shard of a crystal from the cult people, thus destroying the evil doctors crystal.

Personal Reaction:
I loved this series when I first read it because I am drawn to fantasy books that make you think there might be unknown abilities of the mind. These books open up a world of possibilities and what if which keep you reading on the edge of your seat. I also enjoyed the good versus evil tug of war and how the teens make stand their ground against the adults for what's good.

Classroom Extension:
1. I think this would be good read for junior high/ middle school in class readings and would spark classroom discussions of good versus evil and standing up for what you believe in, even to adults.
2. I would have my students do some creative writing of their own and have them write a short story that fits into the fantasy genre.

Kait is tired of being an outsider so she agrees to part of a research program, for a chance to get out of her small town and learn to control her powers. Unfortunately Kait and her new friends learn that the program is not all that it seems.

I liked the plot but the only characters the author really developed were Kait and Gabriel. Ray was slightly more developed then Anna and Lewis but only slightly. I liked Gabriel and Kate but I really liked Anna and Lewis and wished they had been a more developed. They seemed like they had a lot of potential to be interesting characters.

The book is a good paranormal read but there isn't a lot of depth here and it really isn't incredibly original. Many of L.J. Smith's are really very similar.
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Kait is tired of being an outsider so she agrees to part of a research program, for a chance to get out of her small town and learn to control her powers. Unfortunately Kait and her new friends learn that the program is not all that it seems.

I liked the plot but the only characters the author really developed were Kait and Gabriel. Ray was slightly more developed then Anna and Lewis but only slightly. I liked Gabriel and Kate but I really liked Anna and Lewis and wished they had been a more developed. They seemed like they had a lot of potential to be interesting characters.

The book is a good paranormal read but there isn't a lot of depth here and it really isn't incredibly original. Many of L.J. Smith's are really very similar.
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(Lol, do you guys like how I'm just randomly doing a bunch of book thought blogs? I'm being a book omnmonmoner right now.)

So, as opposed to doing these books one at a time, I thought that I would just wait until I finished the trilogy and write up my thoughts on them as a whole. Let me start off by saying that L.J. Smith is one of my favorite authors. Honestly, as a teenager I read The Forbidden Game Trilogy over and over again until I wore my book out. It was fun, after not having read her for a few years to take a step back and read some of her books again.

Let me start out by saying that I really do love the plotline of these books. Without ruining anything for anyone (because I know quite a few people probably haven't read these books, so I won't be so spoiler-y here). It's got a great pace, especially if you purchase the 3-in-1 collection so you can sit down and take it all as one bigger book as opposed to 3 much shorter ones. The pacing is done really well. To give you a nice, brief overview of the story.... let's see.

In book one, The Strange Power, we meet our central characters. Kaitlyn Fairchild is a teenager who sees the future via her drawings. She is, of course, beautiful but an outcast amongst her community. She is approached by a woman named Joyce Piper who wants to take her to the Zetes Institution, a place where she can learn to use and control her powers. Of course, she goes (because how fun would the book have been if she'd just said no and stayed home?), and meets the other characters in our little storyline. Rob, the 'good guy' character of the book who is a healer. Anna, her dark haired friend who can communicate with animals, and Lewis, who has PK.

And then, of course, there is Gabriel Wolfe.

He's your typical bad boy, but he has such a good story behind his actions. Again, trying not to give away too much here.

The Institute is run by a man names Mr. Zetes, whose motives are figured out later to be something not so pure as simply helping them to discover their powers. The events after they find this out and decide to do something about it span over the next two books (The Possessed, The Passion). To sum it up... we have an amazing fight, wonderful romance, betrayal, sabotage and a very spicy love triangle!

>_> There, heh. I think that was a good little summary going on here. Honestly, this book is full of enough twists to make it interesting, even if it is a little bit of a generic teenage SP book.

The only thing that I wish is that, perhaps, the books had been a little longer so that L.J. Smith could have explored and developed her characters to a fuller extent. I think that's the trouble with some of the shorter teen books - authors are forced to rush themselves to get to the end of their story without the novel becoming so lengthy that it isn't appealing to the targeted group anymore. However, there's enough spice and life in the characters that the book is still wonderful.

Maybe it's just me, a fan of the series, wanting more?

Still, I'd really say they're excellent books to read - give it a 9/10 easily. :3 Go pick them up (or buy them on ebay for 5 bucks like I did.)

(Full Review can be found http://wp.me/p4eQRH-U here) ( )