Book Review: Hunted

Release Date: March 14, 2017
Author: Meagan Spooner
Publisher: HarperTeen
Length: 384 pages
Source: Purchased Book/Library Audiobook

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?

    

Review:

Protagonist: When Yeva's father loses his fortune in a venture ransacked by bandits, they and Yeva's sisters have to move to their father's old hunting cabin at the edge of the woods. Yeva feels happier there than in the city and hopes to go hunting with her father, but he urges her not to follow him. When he doesn't come back from one trip, Yeva follows him into the woods and discovers the horrors of the woods, including a monster who has trapped her. On the whole, I like Yeva, she's a headstrong and capable protagonist, she knows how to take care of herself and hunt, and she doesn't back down when challenged. Still, I do wish that I cared about her more, I mean, like I said I like her, but there was something holding me back from truly connecting with her as a character and I wish I knew what that was but unfortunately I don't, still as I've repeated already she's a great character, I just couldn't connect for some reason.

Romance: The romance in this book is a slow burning one, at least for Yeva, the Prince trapped in the Beast softens to Yeva rather quickly. Much like with the protagonist, there isn't anything about the romance that I don't like, it's slow burning and I can tell that the two characters truly grow to care and love each other and that love feels earned, but unfortunately, I couldn't connect with the romance very well. It may be because I couldn't connect with Yeva, but I wanted to love this romance, and in some aspects I do, but emotionally I could never get invested in the romance, try as I might.

World Building: This is one place this book truly shines. As many of you may know, my favorite fairy tale, and thus my favorite retelling fodder, is Beauty and the Beast, and I've never seen one set in Russia or based on Russian folklore before and I really enjoyed how this author wove those folktale elements into this story. I think this story takes place in a version of our world, though I'm not quite sure as I don't think it was said where this story takes place, only some mentions of real places every now and then. Still, the valley of enchantments that the Beast is cursed to, feels lush and beautiful full of creatures of all sorts, some I'd never heard of before. While the retelling itself had some unique qualities to it, unfortunately, it read as a very simple Beauty and the Beast retelling and while I loved the Russian folklore elements to the story, I wish there was something more unique about the retelling itself.

Predictability: As this is a retelling, pretty much everything in this story is predictable, save a few things but they are small and I mostly didn't predict them due to not remembering certain parts of the story from before. I mean, every major twist in this story was completely obvious, I really wish that the author had kept some secrets to herself because the foreshadowing in this tale is very obvious.

Ending: So, the end of this tale really serves to drive home the "lesson" of this story. It tries so hard to drive that lesson home that there are aspects to this tale that sort of crumble just to serve this supposed lesson. Don't get me wrong, I like the lesson and it does fit with this story, but I felt the message was very heavy-handed at the end of this tale. There is an epilogue to this tale that while appreciated, isn't really needed, and that's coming from me who loves epilogues.

Rating:

While I did enjoy this tale, I, unfortunately, couldn't connect with the characters and story as much as I wanted to and while I love Beauty and the Beast retellings, this one was, unfortunately, despite the interesting Russian folklore elements, rather basic in its story structure.

Book Review: Ever the Hunted (Clash of Kingdoms #1)

Release Date: December 27, 2016
Author: Erin Summerill
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Length: 392 pages
Source: Purchased Book

Seventeen year-old Britta Flannery is at ease only in the woods with her dagger and bow. She spends her days tracking criminals alongside her father, the legendary bounty hunter for the King of Malam—that is, until her father is murdered. Now outcast and alone and having no rights to her father’s land or inheritance, she seeks refuge where she feels most safe: the Ever Woods. When Britta is caught poaching by the royal guard, instead of facing the noose she is offered a deal: her freedom in exchange for her father’s killer.

However, it’s not so simple.

The alleged killer is none other than Cohen McKay, her father’s former apprentice. The only friend she’s ever known. The boy she once loved who broke her heart. She must go on a dangerous quest in a world of warring kingdoms, mad kings, and dark magic to find the real killer. But Britta wields more power than she knows. And soon she will learn what has always made her different will make her a daunting and dangerous force.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Britta begins this book in a place of despair, after her father's recent death she's been left with nothing, her father's lands are about to be repossessed and she has nowhere to stay in the winter. After getting caught poaching she's offered a deal, her life in exchange for her father's killer. The only catch is that his alleged killer is none other than Britta's only friend, and the boy who broke her heart. One of the of things I love so much about Britta is that she has the capacity to focus and not let her emotions cloud her judgment too much. Since she's been gifted with the ability to distinguish truth and lie, it makes things easier for her to decide where her allegiances lie and find out the truth. I was surprised at how Britta's powers never really affected her character, her abilities, though very reliable, never made it feel as though she ever had an upper hand, it more enhanced her natural abilities and character.

Romance: I have to say I'm a tad disappointed in this romance. Don't get me wrong I like Cohen as a character and I think he and Britta have a lot of physical chemistry, I just wish we got to see more of how their bond started out. We do get to see some flashbacks toward the beginning of the book that help to establish his character as well as the bond he and Britta had, but I never really got a good sense where the romance came from and because of that I'm just hoping for a bit more emotional development between the two in the next book.

World Building: For a fantasy story, this world felt a bit textbook, two kingdoms on the brink of war, magic seems to be common in one and nearly outlawed in the other, and a girl who's ostracized because she's from a foreign kingdom. I've seen these tropes many times before and while the adventure of a cross-kingdom fantasy murder mystery was fun, I was just hoping for something to make this world vivid. I like the political intrigue of this tale and I really enjoyed the magic system as well, but I just wish there was something to set this world apart more and really dive in because I feel like this was a very surface look at this world and I wish we had dived deeper.

Predictability: When I went into this story I thought I had everything figured out, it's pretty safe to say that I was wrong. I really loved how the synopsis of this tale doesn't give too much away and actually, most of what's written in the synopsis happen very early on in the book. However, there are a great deal of layers to this story that I wasn't aticipating going in and this book surely has a lot of surprises along the way. The large twist of this book, of course, relates to the main plot, the murder mystery and I was impressed with how the author managed to pull that twist off.

Ending: Going into this adventure I was expecting something that would feel more like the first installment in a series, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this story played very much like a standalone. I mean, the next installment is set up by the end of the tale and the words, To Be Continued are at the end of this adventure, but how everything settles into place after a very tense final climax in which much is revealed, made everything feel very solitary and while there is more to discover in this world, I like how the author didn't go for the easy cliffhanger ending and just let this adventure sort of stand on its own.

Rating:

I really enjoyed this fantasy murder mystery, full of political intrigue, magic, and romance, but I just wish the world was more memorable and I wish I could have felt more of an emotional connection with the main romance.

Book Review: Queen of Hearts (Queen of Hearts Saga #1)

Release Date: May 3, 2016
Author: Colleen Oakes
Publisher: HarperTeen
Length: 306 pages
Source: Purchased Book

Only queens with hearts can bleed.

This is not the story of the Wonderland we know. Alice has not fallen down a rabbit hole. There is no all-knowing cat with a taunting smile. This is a Wonderland where beneath each smile lies a secret, each tart comes with a demand, and only prisoners tell the truth.

Dinah is the princess who will one day reign over Wonderland. She has not yet seen the dark depths of her kingdom; she longs only for her father’s approval and a future with the boy she loves. But when a betrayal breaks her heart and threatens her throne, she is launched into Wonderland’s dangerous political game. Dinah must stay one step ahead of her cunning enemies or she’ll lose not just the crown but her head.

Evil is brewing in Wonderland and maybe, most frighteningly, in Dinah herself.

This is not a story of happily ever after.

This is the story of the Queen of Hearts.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Dinah is the future Queen of Hearts, when she comes of age she will take her place next to her spiteful and hate-filled father until she marries. This is a responsibility Dinah has prepared her entire life for. However, when her father introduces a newly discovered illegitimate daughter to the people of Wonderland, it sends Dinah snowballing into discoveries of the dangerous political games she never fully understood before. Dinah is a very likable character, a girl who hasn't yet been tainted by the world and has a very optimistic outlook on life. However, as the story progresses she is exposed to the seedy underbelly of Wonderland and her eyes are open for the first time to what being Queen one day will mean. We don't see much about the telltale Queen of Hearts from the Alice in Wonderland story, but it's obvious that something is awakening within Dinah, something that could ignite her change from sweet naive girl to the bloodthirsty Queen of Hearts.

Romance: So, there is romance in this book, though honestly not that much of it. Throughout the book Dinah has feelings for her childhood friend, Wardley, but they've never really discussed their relationship or their feelings for one another. Dinah dreams of marrying him and for him to become her king and save her from having to rule alongside her father, but not much comes from it, in this book at least. There are moments when I truly do like them together and think they would make a good couple, but there isn't a lot of romantic tension or really any actual chemistry there.

World Building: So, I've read this book before, when it was published by SparksPress, and on the whole, my feelings for the book remain the same, especially when it comes to the lack of "wonder" in this Wonderland. There are no talking animals, no nonsensical whimsy, it just feels like a standard fantasy world with a few differences from our world, such as pink snowfall. That being said it is a rather interesting fantasy tale, but on the whole, it's hard to find the connective tissue between this story and the Alice in Wonderland tale many of us are familiar with.

Predictability: Like I said, I've read this story before and honestly there isn't all that much difference between the two versions of this story. There's an extended epilogue and possibly a few more small changes, though I'm not entirely sure since it's been a while since I first read this tale. If you want to read my initial thoughts on the predictability of this story click here.

Ending: So, like I said there's an extended epilogue to this tale that honestly doesn't add all that much extra, though we'll see if/how it entwines with the second installment, but on the whole, the ending is really well executed. There are really climactic and tension-filled scenes near the ending that seems like it would have been the perfect place to end the story, but the author takes it a bit farther and ends in a more plateaued place that helps to set up the next leg of this journey and catapult our heroine into the right place to be.

Rating:

So, my rating hasn't changed since I first reviewed the story, though instead of leaving off half a star for the pacing, which didn't bother me at all this time, though I've read the story before, but the fact that it's so hard to connect this to a familiar Wonderland, and if the author had just changed a few names and basic world building things this could have been a completely different world.