Book Review: The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

Don’t Sweat. Don’t Laugh. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them. 

Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood. 

When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him. He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

My first thought was that this book was a lot like the premise of the Hunger Games. Except the people are all vampires and they are hunting Humans or “hepers”. Now these weren’t your normal vampires, they don’t sparkle for one, they have no body hair, and no real facial expressions. They also salivate and go mental when they smell a heper. The story focuses on one human who has managed to blend himself in with the vampires by masking his scent and emotions, until he gets picked to go hunt the last of the human race. 

I thought the book was really good. It was a bit graphic for me though. I really could only read it during the day as to not give me nightmares. The descriptions provided were so detailed that it left me with a graphic realistic vision as to what was happening in the story, which was really scary! 

I had some logical issues with the book but other than a few “huh?” moments, but it kept me on the edge of my seat. I did like the random romance that evolved in the story. It wasn’t totally necessary, but it made the book more versatile to a wider range of audience. I was tickled that the author had the vampires be less intelligent than humans. I thought that was quite funny. 

Overall I thought the book worked. It kept my heart racing the whole time. And end was a cliff hanger that had me reaching for the next book right away. I would recommend this to people who like action movies! 

4 Bards.

Book Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave. 

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

Oh, vampires, how I still grow wary of your role in young adult fiction.  So many vampires….so many similarities.  However, I will say that Black’s novel was a bit different….in a good way, for the most part. 

The book starts out with a pretty big shocker and the description of the massacre that Tana survives was very vivid and her reaction and shock that she experiences was extremely real. As for saving her asshole ex-boyfriend? Well, I take issue with him and will get to that. 

Tana makes friends with a wonderfully insane vampire, Gavriel, who has his own agenda in a world where vampires are practically worshipped for their beauty, elegance, and have their own TV reality empire. 

I think the part that I was most impressed with during this novel was the idea of Coldtowns and how the world seemed to adapt fairly well to the knowledge that vampires were in fact real.  And as sad as it seems, I can only imagine that there would be people like Midnight who would sacrifice their futures to go and live amongst the vampires in the hope that they too would feed off of human blood for the rest of their existance.  It’s probably the thing I respect most about Black’s protagonist, Tana, she struggles to understand why some people would give up their lives for eternity and how that could affect their humanity (kind of like Elena on The Vampire Diaries). 

Things that I did not like: All of those random asides with pieces of Point of View from Tana’s little sister, Pearl.  It got to the point where I was just so bored with her that I skipped over her small parts and tried to get back to the meat of the story, which was with Tana and Gavriel.  

I did not like Aidan.  He was so ridiculously selfish and a complete douchebag. He was too concerned with himself for 95% of the novel that he served as more of a hindrance than a help.  Okay, he helped like ONCE.  Regardless, he really just could have been a better friend to Tana considering their history.  

There was a bit of a twist at the end, that I did predict, but it did not take away from my reading experience. Overall, considering this was my first time reading any of Black’s work, I think that it was entertaining, but it definitely had some pacing issues with the random flashbacks and switches to Pearl’s POV. 

3.5 Bards. 

Book Review: The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally. 

Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike.

Have you read Kagawa’s The Immortal Rules?  Check out my review here. 

Well, let’s start at the beginning: The Eternity Cure starts off a few months after the end of the heart stopping Immortal Rules with our heroine travelling alone across the desolate former United States in order to find and save her maker. 

Something that I really enjoyed in this novel was the evolution of Jackal’s character.  Even when I was almost 80% finished with the book I was never quite sure of which team Jackal was playing for: other than Team himself. I loved how the friendship developed between Jackal and Allie and how they worked together despite their somewhat intense initial dislike of one another.  In addition, we finally learned about Jackal’s past and what made him into the disillusioned Vampire he became. 

Allie’s dislike for her Vampirism was almost non-existent at the beginning of this novel (it does reemerge later), as the journey from The Immortal Rules hardened her and made her much stronger as an individual.  I really admired her willingness to keep fighting for her maker Kanin, and I think that his suffering was something that the narrative needed to kick Allie into high gear and make her a more proactive main character.  

I was completely surprised at Zeke’s reappearance in this novel, because I was fairly certain he would have stayed in Eden with the rest of his crew, and we would get to see a romance develop between Allie and a new character.  However, once Zeke was reintegrated into the narrative, it made the story much stronger.  He has been through hardships during his time trying to find Allie across the country, and it has made him cynical and somehow an even better leader.  Basically the theme of my review is how wonderful Kagawa’s character development was in this novel. 

Sarrin, who was the main foe throughout this novel, really freaked me out as a reader and he really jumped off the page.  His part in the story is not finished, and let me tell you that the ending is going to thrill you, chill you, and fulfill you….and make it super hard to wait for the third book. 

Overall I loved The Eternity Cure just as much as I adored The Immortal Rules, and I cannot say enough how wonderful your reading experience will be. 

4.5 Bards

Cover Reveal

Today we are super excited to share the cover to WINGS, the third and final book in author’s Elizabeth Richard’s BLACK CITY series!

Check out this beauty! 

Wings (Black City #3) by Elizabeth Richards

Get the first two books in the series! 

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Book Review: Black City by Elizabeth Richards

A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war. 

In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong. 

When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

Black City was a mish-mosh of all the popular ideas in literature right now compiled into one book. Some things worked some didn’t. There are vampires, dystopia, star-crossed lovers (that never goes out of style), an evil dictator (think President Snow) and even shape shifters. The book is set in a society where Vampires are segregated from humans. It parallels racial and ethical segregation that has occurred in times past. It is interesting to read a young adult novel based on a time where society has fallen apart. I think the impact of the story is so different from an adults perspective than from a teens. For example, to me this was a book about social injustices and how prejudice can tear apart a society. But to a teen this was about vampires and teen romance. Anyway, on with the review. 

I thought the love story sort was rushed and disjointed. One moment Natalie and Ash were in the denial phase the next BAM they are in love and soul mates. Then out of nowhere she wasn’t his soul mate and another girl was. I got whip lash from the story. 

Around the love story, a story of social injustice was going on. The vampires were starting to rebel against the unfair treatment. Natalie’s Mom, who is in charge of the town, is starting to reveal some secrets about the town and the government’s involvement in spreading a vampire plague. Not to mention the human rights group that starts to cause trouble. There was no lack of action, intrigue or drama through the book. It was a bit jam packed in the book, but it seemed to work. Overall, I thought the book was okay. You could tell the author borrowed some ideas from other books but made it her own. If you are looking for a good action packed read this is your book. 

 3.5 Bards

This review was submitted to A Midsummer Night’s Read by Missy.