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| TITLE: Hunter (Hunter #1) AUTHOR: Mercedes Lackey PUBLISHER: Disney-Hyperion PUB DATE: Sep 1 2015 |
They came after the Diseray. Some were terrors ripped from our collective imaginations, remnants of every mythology across the world. And some were like nothing anyone had ever dreamed up, even in their worst nightmares.
Monsters.
Long ago, the barriers between our world and the Otherworld were ripped open, and it’s taken centuries to bring back civilization in the wake of the catastrophe. Now, the luckiest Cits live in enclosed communities, behind walls that keep them safe from the hideous creatures fighting to break through. Others are not so lucky.
To Joyeaux Charmand, who has been a Hunter in her tight-knit mountain community since she was a child, every Cit without magic deserves her protection from dangerous Othersiders. Then she is called to Apex City, where the best Hunters are kept to protect the most important people.
Joy soon realizes that the city’s powerful leaders care more about luring Cits into a false sense of security than protecting them. More and more monsters are getting through the barriers, and the close calls are becoming too frequent to ignore. Yet the Cits have no sense of how much danger they’re in—to them, Joy and her corps of fellow Hunters are just action stars they watch on TV.
When an act of sabotage against Joy takes an unbearable toll, she uncovers a terrifying conspiracy in the city. There is something much worse than the usual monsters infiltrating Apex. And it may be too late to stop them…
Monsters.
Long ago, the barriers between our world and the Otherworld were ripped open, and it’s taken centuries to bring back civilization in the wake of the catastrophe. Now, the luckiest Cits live in enclosed communities, behind walls that keep them safe from the hideous creatures fighting to break through. Others are not so lucky.
To Joyeaux Charmand, who has been a Hunter in her tight-knit mountain community since she was a child, every Cit without magic deserves her protection from dangerous Othersiders. Then she is called to Apex City, where the best Hunters are kept to protect the most important people.
Joy soon realizes that the city’s powerful leaders care more about luring Cits into a false sense of security than protecting them. More and more monsters are getting through the barriers, and the close calls are becoming too frequent to ignore. Yet the Cits have no sense of how much danger they’re in—to them, Joy and her corps of fellow Hunters are just action stars they watch on TV.
When an act of sabotage against Joy takes an unbearable toll, she uncovers a terrifying conspiracy in the city. There is something much worse than the usual monsters infiltrating Apex. And it may be too late to stop them…
- Source: Goodreads
Rating:
“If you don’t look after your fellow man, if you think that what you want is always more important than what anyone else wants or needs, you’re not human, and that’s that. There is no virtue in selfishness, not one bit.”
Magic, monsters, dystopia, action, and mystery; plus a little frill, romance and TV entertainment added in. That sums up what Hunter by Mercedes Lackey is about.
I requested a copy of this book from NetGalley when I saw that Mercedes Lackey wrote it. While I am well aware of the style of writing she has for Adult Fantasy stories, finding out that she ventured to the Young Adult bracket was something I couldn’t stop myself from nosing into.
Like most of the books I’ve read from her, Mercedes Lackey opened Hunter with a very strong introduction. No doubt that she can definitely tell a story. Although I may have been used to her writing style from her previous books, I have to admit that this took longer than expected to rave on the eventful side of things.
It has been my constant struggle with her books that I get sidetracked from the story with all the descriptions and backstories that she throws in between scenes. While I like informative narratives, there are times when it feels just too much.
Character-wise, Joy and the lot are your typical YA characters. I’ll leave it at that.
I enjoyed the action scenes she presented the characters with, and that the book was quite eventful. However I got a little impatient over the fact that it took a lot of time to get around the mystery of the barrier and all the othersiders’ abilities to cross it.
I wasn’t entirely pleased with how the book ended. I mean, a cliffhanger would have been one thing, but the last few parts of Hunter? I’m not even sure it qualifies as one. Hunter’s climax was a very interesting scene, and it did prompt me to put book two on my TBR list, and yet I feel that was kind of a bland way to end it.
Overall, I think Hunter is a passable story for a first book. I can definitely say it has potential to grow into something way more than what was presented as of now. Still… there’s something about the story that I couldn’t wrap my head around.
*Thank you, Disney-Hyperion and Netgalley for granting my request to view Hunter.
