Hunted by Meagan SpoonerSeries: Hunted #1
Published by: HarperTeen on March 14, 2017
Genre: Fantasy, Retelling
Pages: 284
Source: Edelweiss
Book Details
Rating: ★★
Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them.
So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance.
Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?
Hunted was the first 2017 book I read, and not liking it was hugely disappointing. 🙁
Not for me
This was solidly a case of “not for me”. I don’t think Hunted was objectively bad, and I’m not going to tell anyone to avoid it. The style just wasn’t my cup of tea.
Slooow
I felt like 90% of the book was just sooo slow. There were so many instances of, “and so the weeks dragged on” — just letting us know that weeks were passing by, but we weren’t really involved in them. It just felt like I was being told a bunch of stuff, but was only actually there for some of it. I think maybe the book just didn’t draw me in or captivate me during these parts. I was a bit indifferent.
During these periods, I was reading with my phone next to me and after every other page I was just bored and picked up my phone instead to scroll through Facebook or whatever. I rarely had a desire to keep reading.. I just just trudging along trying to get the book done.
Then it got… poetic?
Then, towards the end, I feel like the book almost took on more of a poetic feel. It wasn’t actually written in poetry, but it had that kind of super metaphorical vibe that just didn’t click with me. It felt… weird? It was like everything was a dream, except it wasn’t. I don’t know, I just couldn’t get into it. It was funky.
I didn’t really love the beast (but wanted to!)
Also, I NEVER cared about the Beast. I really wanted to care, but… I just didn’t. He even had some chapters in the book from his point of view, which had the potential to be interesting, but ultimately I don’t think they added anything. There wasn’t quite enough there for me to really get invested or feel like he was really contributing.
For me, the ending felt unsatisfying because it ended up being View Spoiler »
Major sadface.
The Verdict
Oh how disappointing – this sounds so promising! I’m usually a sucker for a retelling, and I like the idea of Yeva being a bit of a bad-ass. Did you like her character at all? Or just not care enough to really make an opinion of her?
I know, I adore retellings! I had really high hopes for this one. 🙁
Honestly it’s been a few months since I read this now and I can’t even remember if I liked her character or not. D:
I guess there were parts of her I liked. I definitely liked how much she loved the wilderness and didn’t really care for the silly stuff in town. It was mostly the style of the writing/story that didn’t click with me.
Sorry that you didn’t enjoy it. It really seems like an interesting story. Fairy Tale re-tellings can be fun when done right. Thanks for the review! ~Aleen
Yes I’m definitely a huge fan of re-tellings in general! I’m so bummed this one didn’t work for me.
I am worried now, as I have it to read but now it sounds like I might not like it. 🙁
Sorry Stormi! 🙁 I know a few people who have loved it but I guess it just depends on the writing style you like.
I want to read this book so bad but I have seen conflicting reviews on this too.. I may listen to the audiobook version, though!
I hope you like it! I definitely have seen a few people who have really enjoyed it. 🙂
Wow, 90% slow. not good. Though I have read some amazing reviews for this one. it’s so confusing. lol
I know LOL! Everyone in my whole Twitter feed seems to have adored the book. I guess it just depends on what kind of styles you like and this one wasn’t for me.
Ashley! Okay so since a while ago when I read this review, I’d been meaning to read Hunted and now I have and review is up and I ended up rating it 2.5 as well.
I expected more, you know. I’m not ashamed to say I expected ROMANCE. I did actually like the poetic feel of the end, but of course that’s not enough when I’ve been tagging along for the other 90%, waiting for something to happen, and then it doesn’t? This is something that I’ve been noticing with B&B retellings. In the effort to put a new spin on things sometimes authors forget the FUNDAMENTAL things, the things they can’t ignore. If you say B&B, people expect romance. An amazing, swoon-worthy romance, even if the other parts are amazing too. Unfulfilled expectations can easily break a book for someone!
Good point on the romance! I definitely agree with that. I guess it just wasn’t what I expected. You’re definitely right about expecting an amazing romance!
Sorry you didn’t love it either. 🙁