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57th out of 295 books
—
296 voters
The Hunter (The Forbidden Game #1)
by
L.J. Smith
When Jenny Thorton and her friends open the mysterious white box given to her by Julian, they discover a mysterious game and enter a house of horrors full of their worst nightmares.
Mass Market Paperback, 240 pages
Published
March 1st 1994
by Simon Pulse
(first published 1994)
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Nov 09, 2008
Krystal
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Becky, Vanessa, Dawn, Jenn
Shelves:
more-than-once
To anyone who has ever loved Labyrinth, you would think this novel somehow tells the history of The Goblin King. Well, there is no actual tie-in to Labyrinth except the one I make in my mind.
Jenny only wanted to get a game for her boyfriend's party she was throwing that night. She ducks into a store in the sketchy side of town and impulsively buys a plain white glossy box--without knowing what's in it--from a handsome man in the store. Boyfriend who?
She gets home and realizes how stupid her deci...more
Jenny only wanted to get a game for her boyfriend's party she was throwing that night. She ducks into a store in the sketchy side of town and impulsively buys a plain white glossy box--without knowing what's in it--from a handsome man in the store. Boyfriend who?
She gets home and realizes how stupid her deci...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Book 1 of 3. The Forbidden Game trilogy. Very good. Middle school level reading. However, has many classic themes that all ages will enjoy. Find, read, and re-read! (put on keeper shelf!)
The first book in the trilogy which introduces Jenny and group (her boyfriend Tom, her cousin Zach, her friends Audrey, Michael, (who are dating each other) and Dee) to the Shadow Man- Julian who has fallen in love with Jenny and won’t rest until she is his. Jenny buys The Game from Julian (unbeknownst to her at...more
The first book in the trilogy which introduces Jenny and group (her boyfriend Tom, her cousin Zach, her friends Audrey, Michael, (who are dating each other) and Dee) to the Shadow Man- Julian who has fallen in love with Jenny and won’t rest until she is his. Jenny buys The Game from Julian (unbeknownst to her at...more
Aug 11, 2008
Carla
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
LJ Smith fans, horror fans, teen fiction readers, faery tale lovers
What teenager hasn't dreamt of being taken away by David Bowie? Not too shabby, I say. Even if he is a demony creature from Beyond!
It's pulp. Pseudo Sexual horror romance for teens. I was compelled to finish the series by my libido, plus the spooky bits aren't bad at all.
First book I read as a kid that had words I didn't recognize, too, like laconic.
The description of the things the kids are afraid of, sticks with me the most--especially the one of the Black Forrest. Fairly creepy.
It's pulp. Pseudo Sexual horror romance for teens. I was compelled to finish the series by my libido, plus the spooky bits aren't bad at all.
First book I read as a kid that had words I didn't recognize, too, like laconic.
The description of the things the kids are afraid of, sticks with me the most--especially the one of the Black Forrest. Fairly creepy.
Aug 12, 2007
Sakura Koneko
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who likes the supernatural
Shelves:
favorites
Having gained an interest in L.J. Smith as an author after reading the Vampire Diaries series, I decided to pick up this series of books (it also helped that there was a complete hottie on the cover... come on, I was 13 at the time).
I was thrilled through the entire book by the actions of the antagonist Julian as he tried to woo Jenny in the most outrageous ways possible. While it did seem wrong of him to put her friends in danger in the process, it was still very exciting.
I was thrilled through the entire book by the actions of the antagonist Julian as he tried to woo Jenny in the most outrageous ways possible. While it did seem wrong of him to put her friends in danger in the process, it was still very exciting.
This is one of the books that absolutely fascinated me as a kid (and undoubtedly contributed to my obsession with the Byronic hero/ine). Some of it's kind of over the top, but the way L.J. Smith weaves together mythology, fairy tales, fantasy, and good old-fashioned sexy teenage angst makes for a great story. I'm still pretty attached to the series, and I read it from time to time. I get all worked up in the same places every single time.
The hunter is about a girl named Jenny who sets out to a rough part of town to buy a speciel game for her boyfriend, tom's, party and for her and her friends to play. The guy who sells it to her is very mysterious and beautiful and Jenny feels a strange connection to him from the very beggining. She and her friends Tom, Dee, Summer, Audrey, Michael, and Zack set up a paper house and draw there worst nightmires. They all sware that they understand that the game is real, thinking its ust a fun gam...more
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I didn't think I was going to enjoy it that much since it is written by L.J.Smith and I have a love-hate relationship with this author. She wrote The Secret Circle series, which I didn't really like and The Vampire Diaries series, which is a guilty pleasure of mine.
The Hunter reminded me of Jumanji, a movie which I loved when I was younger. Jenny and her friends(Tom, Zach, Audrey, Dee, Summer, Michael) decide to play a game and they end being sucked into...more
The Hunter reminded me of Jumanji, a movie which I loved when I was younger. Jenny and her friends(Tom, Zach, Audrey, Dee, Summer, Michael) decide to play a game and they end being sucked into...more
Sep 01, 2012
Greta is Erikasbuddy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Old School 'Are You Afraid of the Dark' Fans
Recommended to Greta is Erikasbuddy by:
Sunny
Shelves:
during-turtle-walks,
sunny-says
I went into this audiobook thinking, "Wow!! THis is dated!"
I mean, they are talking about Ren and Stimpy and some Hollywood people that I don't even know.
SO, I Wiki-ed it. I mean... everything on Wiki is true, right? Well, what I looked up probably is:
The Forbidden Game Trilogy was originally published in three parts, in 1994, by Simon & Schuster
Okey doke!! So, that makes sense. I was probably 15 or 16 when this book came out.
I felt this was really close to Are you Afraid of the Dark which...more
I mean, they are talking about Ren and Stimpy and some Hollywood people that I don't even know.
SO, I Wiki-ed it. I mean... everything on Wiki is true, right? Well, what I looked up probably is:
The Forbidden Game Trilogy was originally published in three parts, in 1994, by Simon & Schuster
Okey doke!! So, that makes sense. I was probably 15 or 16 when this book came out.
I felt this was really close to Are you Afraid of the Dark which...more
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Erster Satz: Jenny sah sich um.
Wer von euch kennt den Film Jumanji? Da gibt es sicher einige, ich selbst kenne ihn auch und ich fand ihn absolut fesselnd. Er hat mir sogar in manchen Nächten Albträume bereitet.... und um Albträume geht es im ersten Band von Das dunkle Spiel. Wer sich sorgen macht das Buch und Film sich zu sehr ähneln, der sei beruhigt, denn genau das tun sie nicht. Die einzige Gemeinsamkeit die es gibt, ist die das ein Spiel all diese Schrecken und Albträume verbreitet.
Jennys...more
Wer von euch kennt den Film Jumanji? Da gibt es sicher einige, ich selbst kenne ihn auch und ich fand ihn absolut fesselnd. Er hat mir sogar in manchen Nächten Albträume bereitet.... und um Albträume geht es im ersten Band von Das dunkle Spiel. Wer sich sorgen macht das Buch und Film sich zu sehr ähneln, der sei beruhigt, denn genau das tun sie nicht. Die einzige Gemeinsamkeit die es gibt, ist die das ein Spiel all diese Schrecken und Albträume verbreitet.
Jennys...more
I enjoyed this book a lot. It was different and at the same time so alike other books that I don't really know what I liked about it.
Jenny is being followed by two guys and to get rid of them she finds a door to a game store, but this is not your ordinary store. Inside that place Jenny finds games she has never heard about. The shop owner sells her a game that has no name, but has everything she was looking for so she could have a fun night celebrating her boyfriend's birthday with their friend...more
Ugh I just did not like this book,I don't even want to continue to the next. Even though the premise was good;the book was not. I read this because alot of people compared it to The Labyrinth but even the similarities didn't make me like it. Most of the problems I had was with the main character she just annoyed me.I ended up not liking her or her boyfriend who she obsessed over way too much.
Not gonna lie I was totally rooting for Julian;I liked him way more then I liked anyone else. I think I...more
Not gonna lie I was totally rooting for Julian;I liked him way more then I liked anyone else. I think I...more
I was really expecting to love this more, after all, I've loved Labyrinth since I was about 13 and a Jumanji/Labyrinth mash-up sounded delicious to me. But I think the deciding factor is that I'm not 13 anymore and didn't have the chance to forge a sentimental bond with the material when I was young enough to have found it engaging.
At first I was really hooked, the creep factor is really well written, from the opening scene with the stalkers to entering the game I was afraid for these characters...more
At first I was really hooked, the creep factor is really well written, from the opening scene with the stalkers to entering the game I was afraid for these characters...more
Desperate to find the perfect game for her boyfriend's birthday, Jenny strays into a bad part of town. Followed by tow suspicious men, she escapes into the mysterious "More Games" shop. Here she meets Julian, the enigmatic owner with frost white hair and brilliant blue eyes, who persuades her to buy "The Game". Despite the fact it appears nothing more than a cardboard house, Jenny and her friends decide to put it together, little knowing that it will draw them into the shadow world. Trapped in J...more
The Forbidden Game trilogy is L.J. Smith's fourth series originally released in 1994 but recently re-packaged, as Smith's other series have massively increased in popularity. The Hunter is the first book in the Forbidden Game trilogy.
Jenny is a beautiful, blond, blue-eyed teenager who always manages to see the good in people. When she ventures into a magical and mysterious game shop to purchase a board game for her boyfriend's birthday party, she is unexplainably attracted to Julian, the shopkee...more
Jenny is a beautiful, blond, blue-eyed teenager who always manages to see the good in people. When she ventures into a magical and mysterious game shop to purchase a board game for her boyfriend's birthday party, she is unexplainably attracted to Julian, the shopkee...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I think it would be an understatement to say that I am impressed by L.J. Smith. Smith's name is one that is familiar to nearly everyone, if not for anything else then for her widely popular Vampire Diaries Series. I was more than a little nervous going into The Forbidden Game though, merely because I wanted to like her just as much as everyone else did. I wanted to fall in love with her characters and her world and I can assure you, there are very few authors who I really want to love. I a...more
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L.J. Smith's The Hunter is an unexpected delight. While embellished with a few 90’s era clichés Smith manages to create an interesting plot out of something highly improbable, teenagers being sucked into a demonic board game. Instead of the plot and characters coming of as completely ridiculous, Smith is careful to ensure that both characters and the fantastical elements are responsibly delt with and never seem misplaced. Her ability to build tension and balance it with comic relief and even rom...more
Somewhat of a throwback to Jumanji I'd say. (I actually really liked that movie btw) xD Find a board game, play the game, only the results of the game become real until u finish it. o_O
Only in this case, the main character is about Jenny who tries to find a cool board game to play for her boyfriend's party. xD Wow what a party am I right? She goes into a store and meets Julian- who is actually the Shadow Man from the game. The big problem? He's in love with her and wants her to stay. That, or sh...more
Only in this case, the main character is about Jenny who tries to find a cool board game to play for her boyfriend's party. xD Wow what a party am I right? She goes into a store and meets Julian- who is actually the Shadow Man from the game. The big problem? He's in love with her and wants her to stay. That, or sh...more
So I know I'm getting a bit old for Point Horrors, but I've wanted to read this particular trilogy for a while.
There's not really all that much to say. Yes, some of the writing is cliche, jarring and fan-fiction-esque, but the one redeeming factor for me is: Julian. He's pretty fascinating, as are all the love stories involving an evil male "villain" - Phantom of the Opera, Hannibal etc. (Haha, I think I'm going to be one of those women who fall in love with men on Death Row for murder.)
It was...more
There's not really all that much to say. Yes, some of the writing is cliche, jarring and fan-fiction-esque, but the one redeeming factor for me is: Julian. He's pretty fascinating, as are all the love stories involving an evil male "villain" - Phantom of the Opera, Hannibal etc. (Haha, I think I'm going to be one of those women who fall in love with men on Death Row for murder.)
It was...more
3.5 for this one. It’s a scary, fun read. I liked the suspense and the way the story unfolded. My only problem is that I liked the villain, Julian, more than I should have--much more than good old Tom. I didn’t really feel the love for Tom in this book--in fact he came across as kind of a jerk. Julian is way more dynamic, interesting, and sexy!! The very end of the book seemed kind of weird and “out of the blue” to me, too. But, I guess it encourages continuation of the series!
*SPOILERS*: I kept...more
*SPOILERS*: I kept...more
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Jenny is the most annoying character I have ever had to deal with. She is way too obsessed about only doing things her boyfriend would approve of like he was her dad or something. She doesn't realize that he is a huge tool that controls what she wears, how she wears it, and how to style her hair. The part that really gets me bubbling in anger is that he also controls how she acts in public or when their around their group of friends. But she always does what she is told and swears she loves this...more
Oh, L.J , why are your books so addicting? This book was so incredibly compelling. It reminded me of a dark and twisted version of jumanji....really it did! The characters were very relatable, each of the 7 members of the 'group' i could think back to my high school friends and place them as each character. I have got to say though, that the best part were all the 90's references. It made me laugh so many times. Just like the original Vampire Dairies novels, The Forbidden Game series was written...more
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Normalerweise verschlinge ich die Bücher der Autorin in kurzer Zeit und helfen mir in Leseflauten, weil man normalerweise immer eine gute Story bekommt, gerade ihre "Zirkel" und "Visionen der Nacht" Reihe haben mich umgehauen. Nur bei dieser neuen Trilogie weiß ich nicht was ich davon halten soll, denn ich habe nun den ersten Teil gelesen und wirklich begeistern konnte er mich nicht und ich habe diesmal für einen Band 4 Tage gebraucht, weil es stellenweise echt lahm ist und auch die Idee mit den...more
Ha ha this is such a little teen thriller book but I loved it when I was younger and still do. Its about a mysterious man who lures a teenage girl into his shop and sells her an exciting new game she has never heard of. When she takes it home to play it with her friends they start by putting together a paper dollhouse and writing their worst fears on their little paper dolls. They are shocked and horrified when they become sucked into the dollhouse and have to live out their most horrible nightm...more
*There's two spoilers in this, I'll warn you right before*
Of all of LJ Smith's books (I have read nearly all of them) I think this may have been on the bottom of my list. Not all together, this first book alone was great, but when I got to the end I felt like that could have been it.(*SPOILER, SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH*) I mean there was the unanswered question of the ring, and whether Julian would stay imprisoned, but other than that...I felt like that novel alone might've been enough.
Over all it...more
Of all of LJ Smith's books (I have read nearly all of them) I think this may have been on the bottom of my list. Not all together, this first book alone was great, but when I got to the end I felt like that could have been it.(*SPOILER, SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH*) I mean there was the unanswered question of the ring, and whether Julian would stay imprisoned, but other than that...I felt like that novel alone might've been enough.
Over all it...more
This book was brilliantly brilliant and I've read it over and over because Julian is amazing.
Yes, I know that my view is completely biased because of him but I don't care XD
He is the only baddie to make me positively adore them. Hell, not many characters do that at all.
He's sweet and in love. He just doesn't know how to react to it because he's been raised by evil. It really makes me feel for him.
He sells his love interest The Forbidden Game which transports them to the Shadow World where he tak...more
Yes, I know that my view is completely biased because of him but I don't care XD
He is the only baddie to make me positively adore them. Hell, not many characters do that at all.
He's sweet and in love. He just doesn't know how to react to it because he's been raised by evil. It really makes me feel for him.
He sells his love interest The Forbidden Game which transports them to the Shadow World where he tak...more
We all may know L.J. Smith as the creator of the Vampire Diaries, no not the T.V. series,but the characters and world, which I love. That is why I decided to check out more of her books.
I pretty much devoured The Hunter, really it was that good. I absolutely loved the plot. The main character, Jenny, and her friends get sucked into the haunting world of a game
they were playing. Now the theory of winning or loosing becomes a fight between life and death as the group must face their worst nightmar...more
I pretty much devoured The Hunter, really it was that good. I absolutely loved the plot. The main character, Jenny, and her friends get sucked into the haunting world of a game
they were playing. Now the theory of winning or loosing becomes a fight between life and death as the group must face their worst nightmar...more
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L.J. SMITH has written over two dozen books for young adults, including The Vampire Diaries, now a hit TV show. She has also written the bestselling Night World series and The Forbidden Game, as well as the #1 New York Times bestselling Dark Visions. She loves to walk the trails and beaches in Point Reyes, California, daydreaming about her latest book. She also loves to hear from readers (info@lja...more
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“I fell in love with you. I didn't do it on purpose”
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411 people liked it
“I have never been in love before," Julian said. "You're my first-and you'll be my only.”
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173 people liked it
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