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Forbidden
Deep beneath the roots of the rainforest, a cancer has festered in the darkness for generations...
Kiara has grown up in a cave where people have believed one imprisoning lie for generations: there is no such thing as the outside world. Though, she herself has always felt like there must be more, when she stumbles upon a letter from her mother who she thought was lost forever and learns she’s not only alive, but alive somewhere on the surface, trapped in a prison, deep in the heart of the jungle, all her suspicions are put to the ultimate test of their mettle.
Trapped in a world where every good thing, even sunlight, is forbidden, Kiara, the very princess of this cavernous prison, is determined to fight her way out of the darkness and prove against all odds that there is more to life than shadows, but escaping a city your own father rules over is no easy feat, especially when your not sure who you can trust.
On her search for light, she encounters both horrors and wonders, and creates an unlikely connection with an orphan boy with secrets to tell when she catches him mining gems despite the strict rules prohibiting such activities.
Up against her own fears, self doubt, and darkness itself, she soon finds out some of the hardest fights never leave the battlefield of one’s own heart.
Can she bring herself to trust or even hope long enough to fight her way out of the darkness? Or will her own chains around her soul keep her locked down.
Launched into the adventure of her life, she set out to find her mom, but first she has to find herself.
Kiara has grown up in a cave where people have believed one imprisoning lie for generations: there is no such thing as the outside world. Though, she herself has always felt like there must be more, when she stumbles upon a letter from her mother who she thought was lost forever and learns she’s not only alive, but alive somewhere on the surface, trapped in a prison, deep in the heart of the jungle, all her suspicions are put to the ultimate test of their mettle.
Trapped in a world where every good thing, even sunlight, is forbidden, Kiara, the very princess of this cavernous prison, is determined to fight her way out of the darkness and prove against all odds that there is more to life than shadows, but escaping a city your own father rules over is no easy feat, especially when your not sure who you can trust.
On her search for light, she encounters both horrors and wonders, and creates an unlikely connection with an orphan boy with secrets to tell when she catches him mining gems despite the strict rules prohibiting such activities.
Up against her own fears, self doubt, and darkness itself, she soon finds out some of the hardest fights never leave the battlefield of one’s own heart.
Can she bring herself to trust or even hope long enough to fight her way out of the darkness? Or will her own chains around her soul keep her locked down.
Launched into the adventure of her life, she set out to find her mom, but first she has to find herself.
426 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 22, 2021
3 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 19, 2022
Good: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ This book is really amazing. I absolutely love the themes, the world building, the concept. It could have flowed a bit better if some of the scenes were rearranged and if the story was a little more structured.
Clean: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ So clean!
Fun: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ I loved this book! I can’t wait for the rest of the series to come out!!
Clean: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ So clean!
Fun: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ I loved this book! I can’t wait for the rest of the series to come out!!
November 18, 2023
This book was not for me.
February 28, 2026
I love the mystery and anticipation set up in this book. Also love the characters (is Hayden not the cutest thing ever? 🥰). Really fun read!
September 18, 2022
Good: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ This book is really amazing. I absolutely love the themes, the world building, the concept. It could have flowed a bit better if some of the scenes were rearranged and if the story was a little more structured.
Clean: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ So clean!
Fun: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ I loved this book! I can’t wait for the rest of the series to come out!!
Clean: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ So clean!
Fun: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ I loved this book! I can’t wait for the rest of the series to come out!!
October 1, 2024
Okay, so this is yet another book by someone I know. Add your own dose of sodium to my opinion because I think highly of Ellie. That disclaimer done, I don't hand my friends good ratings and they know that.
Negative out of the way first:
- The book rambles a wee bit in places (I'm giant hypcrite even mentioning this, but we'll come back to that).
- Some dialogue was very on the nose. I can't remember examples, so it wasn't egregious as much as it was a pattern.
Pros:
- That same rambling led to descriptions that pulled me down into far deep depths of story.
- The characters were sweet but also unique from each other.
- The antagonist had depth, but it wasn’t over-developed, so he also remained a mystery.
- Speaking of mystery, the story world was filled with it, and it had me forshaking a lot of sleep to understand WTF was going on!
- The writing had a few meta moments from the writer, but they were so subtle, and I started loving the narrator as a character all on their own.
All-in-all this book reminded me of The Hobbit for its whimsy and City of Ember for its level of thought and world building.
Solid story with a very sweet message.
Negative out of the way first:
- The book rambles a wee bit in places (I'm giant hypcrite even mentioning this, but we'll come back to that).
- Some dialogue was very on the nose. I can't remember examples, so it wasn't egregious as much as it was a pattern.
Pros:
- That same rambling led to descriptions that pulled me down into far deep depths of story.
- The characters were sweet but also unique from each other.
- The antagonist had depth, but it wasn’t over-developed, so he also remained a mystery.
- Speaking of mystery, the story world was filled with it, and it had me forshaking a lot of sleep to understand WTF was going on!
- The writing had a few meta moments from the writer, but they were so subtle, and I started loving the narrator as a character all on their own.
All-in-all this book reminded me of The Hobbit for its whimsy and City of Ember for its level of thought and world building.
Solid story with a very sweet message.
July 14, 2025
It was a sweet story of dark secrets come to light.
I want to preface this review with how much I love Ellie and her creativity and writing. She has a way with words that makes me pause and think. Or even pause and wonder at her beautiful prose.
The worldbuilding was awesome, creating an interesting setting. I only wished that it was explored more. We, the readers, are taken on many “outings” into the dark tunnels of Caverna, but only go in for a few moments before they go back and regroup. The constant regrouping and going out for small bursts of time was kinda disappointing and jolting. I know there were reasons for going out to gain tidbits of information, but I felt some scenes could have been combined to make it flow better.
The prose and footnotes were amazing, though the wide array of characters we meet were the best part. I love Tick and Cida. They made me smile on multiple occasions for different reasons.
The last 20% of the book was what I was kind of expecting for the whole of the book, so when it came around, I breezed through that bit. It was a well-paced ending.
As for the main characters, Kiara is a spunky and bold princess with a lot of insecurities. I liked that part of her, but was a bit annoyed at how back and forth she was emotionally. She would switch how she felt about something, sometimes on the same page, and left me a bit confused. At least Hadyn calls her out on her crazy mood swings. I liked her tenacity, and though her trust has been broken time and time again, she was quick to trust and think well of others. I appreciate that about her character.
While Cida was like an anchor to Kiara’s storm, Hadyn was almost like a steer. He didn’t shut her down like her father did, but was good about redirecting her flames towards the greater good.
Journals. If you don’t like sitting down and reading journal entries in books, fair warning, this happens a lot especially in the later half of the book. I am not a huge fan of reading entries. If I see a big chunk of italicized text, I automatically start skimming. But I forced myself to slow down and read. I felt like some of them could be cut, but some of it was definitely needed.
All in all, it was a good book, and I look forward to see what Ellie has in store for book 2.
I want to preface this review with how much I love Ellie and her creativity and writing. She has a way with words that makes me pause and think. Or even pause and wonder at her beautiful prose.
The worldbuilding was awesome, creating an interesting setting. I only wished that it was explored more. We, the readers, are taken on many “outings” into the dark tunnels of Caverna, but only go in for a few moments before they go back and regroup. The constant regrouping and going out for small bursts of time was kinda disappointing and jolting. I know there were reasons for going out to gain tidbits of information, but I felt some scenes could have been combined to make it flow better.
The prose and footnotes were amazing, though the wide array of characters we meet were the best part. I love Tick and Cida. They made me smile on multiple occasions for different reasons.
The last 20% of the book was what I was kind of expecting for the whole of the book, so when it came around, I breezed through that bit. It was a well-paced ending.
As for the main characters, Kiara is a spunky and bold princess with a lot of insecurities. I liked that part of her, but was a bit annoyed at how back and forth she was emotionally. She would switch how she felt about something, sometimes on the same page, and left me a bit confused. At least Hadyn calls her out on her crazy mood swings. I liked her tenacity, and though her trust has been broken time and time again, she was quick to trust and think well of others. I appreciate that about her character.
While Cida was like an anchor to Kiara’s storm, Hadyn was almost like a steer. He didn’t shut her down like her father did, but was good about redirecting her flames towards the greater good.
Journals. If you don’t like sitting down and reading journal entries in books, fair warning, this happens a lot especially in the later half of the book. I am not a huge fan of reading entries. If I see a big chunk of italicized text, I automatically start skimming. But I forced myself to slow down and read. I felt like some of them could be cut, but some of it was definitely needed.
All in all, it was a good book, and I look forward to see what Ellie has in store for book 2.
January 19, 2025
The story of Kiara and Caverna comes from a self published, MN based author, who wrote it as a teenager. Honestly, she could have fooled me. I cannot wait to see how this author grows. I really hope she continues to write and publish her stories.
A few thoughts on a few characters:
Kiara is a princess who finds herself living in a palace full of lies. The world she knows is one of darkness. Being born and growing up in a cave makes for a number of different and difficult challenges. I would have felt so seen as a teenager reading about Kiara. She battles self doubt, not seeing her worth, and "the monsters in her head" and you can see the struggle play out so well. In the midst of the mental battles she never lets her fire go out completely.
Hadyn is one of my favorite characters. He is so steady as he holds onto hope. It's really fun to watch his friendship with Kiara grow while they go about their quest to find a way out of Caverna.
I want to see more of Cida. I think she is a wonderful and supportive character.
Tick is an interesting and fun character. Wait till you meet him and hear about what he does.
The King leaves a lot to be desired but I could see there was so much more going on as to why he acts the way he does and treats Kiara like he does.
Three thoughts on the book itself:
1) The themes in this book were so good; found family being my favorite!
2) I personally, really enjoyed how the Christian faith is so seamlessly intertwined throughout the story.
3) Though, this was a slower read than what is normal for me I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I cannot wait to see where these characters go in the next two books!
A few thoughts on a few characters:
Kiara is a princess who finds herself living in a palace full of lies. The world she knows is one of darkness. Being born and growing up in a cave makes for a number of different and difficult challenges. I would have felt so seen as a teenager reading about Kiara. She battles self doubt, not seeing her worth, and "the monsters in her head" and you can see the struggle play out so well. In the midst of the mental battles she never lets her fire go out completely.
Hadyn is one of my favorite characters. He is so steady as he holds onto hope. It's really fun to watch his friendship with Kiara grow while they go about their quest to find a way out of Caverna.
I want to see more of Cida. I think she is a wonderful and supportive character.
Tick is an interesting and fun character. Wait till you meet him and hear about what he does.
The King leaves a lot to be desired but I could see there was so much more going on as to why he acts the way he does and treats Kiara like he does.
Three thoughts on the book itself:
1) The themes in this book were so good; found family being my favorite!
2) I personally, really enjoyed how the Christian faith is so seamlessly intertwined throughout the story.
3) Though, this was a slower read than what is normal for me I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I cannot wait to see where these characters go in the next two books!
February 11, 2025
I tried to read this like 2 or 3 years ago, and thought it was way too description-y and I couldn't understand anything that was going on, but now that I'm older and can actually understand, this book is awesome!! I definitely need to get the other two books right now 😂 Ellie did such a good job with everyone's internal conflicts, and showing their emotions! I also absolutely loved Hadyn and Tick!! And I read this the whole way through reading to my sister, and it's a really fun challenge reading all the descriptions, so if you like reading allowed to people and want a challenge, here you go 😆 it's also awesome that she drew her own covers!! I really hope when I actually publish a book someday I can do that too 😄 so anyway, if you want to read a heavier/more descriptive book, definitely read this!!
February 9, 2026
This book is unique in so many ways. We enjoyed the premise characters, setting, and suspenseful and mysterious story, but this book (and the rest of the series) provides something deeper than that. The philosophical and religious themes, while explicit, are woven into the story as the very subject of discovery, giving them a natural quality that so many other stories fail to capture. We highly recommend this novel, as well as the entire series, and can't wait to see what else Ms. Maureen has to offer!
February 17, 2022
Ellie has this way of bringing you right along into this world without the sunlight. The beautiful descriptions and attention to detail have you right there with the main characters fighting for a way out. Her characters feel real as they deal with emotions, like grief, desperation, and even hopelessness. But a sliver of hope is the guiding light.
You'll be greatly anticipating the next in the series by the end! I highly recommend reading it!
Bonus! It's wholesome and clean.
You'll be greatly anticipating the next in the series by the end! I highly recommend reading it!
Bonus! It's wholesome and clean.
May 8, 2024
Ellie has this way of bringing you right along into this world of darkness. The beautiful descriptions and attention to detail have you right there with the main characters fighting for a way out. Her characters feel real as they deal with emotions, like grief, desperation, and even hopelessness. But a sliver of hope is the guiding light.
You'll be greatly anticipating the next in the series by the end! I highly recommend reading it!
Bonus! It's wholesome and clean.
You'll be greatly anticipating the next in the series by the end! I highly recommend reading it!
Bonus! It's wholesome and clean.
August 17, 2022
for a very young author, Elie is amazing with her story telling. I'm a grandmother and I know my 14 year old granddaughter is going to love this book. I look forward to reading more of Ellie's books.
June 2, 2022
I really enjoyed this book!! The characters are unique and 3 dimensional, the plot is intriguing, and the whole book was so filled with love and care!
June 10, 2025
(Review to come)
did-not-finish
December 7, 2025DNF 21%
May 8, 2024
Ellie has this way of bringing you right along into this world of darkness. The beautiful descriptions and attention to detail have you right there with the main characters fighting for a way out. Her characters feel real as they deal with emotions, like grief, desperation, and even hopelessness. But a sliver of hope is the guiding light.
You'll be greatly anticipating the next in the series by the end! I highly recommend reading it!
Bonus! It's wholesome and clean.
You'll be greatly anticipating the next in the series by the end! I highly recommend reading it!
Bonus! It's wholesome and clean.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews