Review: The Hunted

Hunted | Meagan Spooner

Published by: Harper Teen, March 14th 2017

Genre: Fantasy, Retellings, Fairy Tales, Magic

Pages: 352

Format: Ebook

Source: HarperTeen, via Edelweiss

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?

A perfect, delicate blend of Russian folklore, Beauty+The Beast, and an altogether new kind of magic.

I can't rave about this book enough. The setting is vast and detailed and so well built from the very beginning. The relationships between Yeva and her family, winding through the whole book, works so well with the dangerous, seductive, heartfelt story of Beast and Yeva. I just love everything - the magic, the tragedy, the heartbreak lying just under the surface, the huntress Beauty, the tormented Beast, the slow-burn liking to slow-burn love. This book is pure magic. I want to read it all over again.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★★

Reading round up (65)

Reading round up is a weekly journal where I record my daily reading progress, my thoughts on each book as I read it, and any books I've acquired during the week.

9th February

I'm dangerously close to a book slump right now, with Skylark not being what I expected (a kinda flat fantasy instead of an awesome sci-fi - the title sounds totally sci-fi to me) and The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest being murderously slow. 

So I started Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent because I love this series and know it'll make me feel better. I read 148 pages, and the text is pretty tiny. Feels US formatted, different from the rest of the UK ones :/ Still loving this book, though.

10th February

Currently Reading: Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent

Current page/percent: page 280

Read today: 132 pages

Thoughts: my poor bb Alec. You were too pure for this world.

11th February

Finished Before I Wake (59 pages) and it was amazing and painful. 

I also read Never To Sleep (62 pages), Sophie's novella and really enjoyed it. I liked seeing the Netherworld for the first time again and learning more about Sophie.

As well as that, I DNF'd Toxic Love by Jax Garren which was really bad.

12th February

Eh, I might abandon Skylark. I don't love it. I'm not sure I even like it. Instead of reading that, I started The Replaced by Kimberly Derting (36% read), sequel to the hella cool alien abduction aftermath (triple A?) novel The Taking!

13th February

Happy Galentines day, people!! I hope you spent today expressing love to your best lady friends.

Currently Reading: The Replaced by Kimberly Derting

Current page/percent: 100%

Read today: 64%

Thoughts: Oop I read a tonne of this. It was good but also had a love triangle with a threatening, domineering guy. Hopefully this is fixed in book 3.

14th February

I started Endangered by Lamar Giles (19% read) Ordinarily I wouldn't have picked this up or requested it but the POC on the cover and the blurb got my attention. Sadly, it was boring and the MC made really bad decisions. And was kind of a horrible person. She thinks she's a vigilante but really she's just a bitch. So I DNF this one.

But I started A Magic Dark and Bright by Jenny Adams Perinovic (27%) which is HOLY HELL AWESOME!!! The characters are cute. The gothic-ness of it is creepy and lush and I am loving these glimpses into the past!!

15th February

Currently Reading: A Magic Dark and Bright by Jenny Adams Perinovic 

Current page/percent: 81%

Read today: 54%

Thoughts: READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW!!!

Books finished this week: 3
Books DNF'd this week: 3

Crow Moon | Anna McKerrow

SO excited for this one. Witches!!! Boys that have no interest in being witches but when disaster strikes, they're made to face up to their witchy ways!!! Sounds so good. Major thanks to Quercus for sending me a beautiful ARC of this one.

Before I Wake

Never to Sleep

The Replaced (scheduled for 18th April)

Reading round up (64)

Reading round up is a weekly journal where I record my daily reading progress, my thoughts on each book as I read it, and any books I've acquired during the week.

2nd February

I started The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest by Melanie Dickerson because I am impatient to read this and still craving historical romance after Dark Triumph. I read 22% and I don't LOVE it yet. Just wishing something pivotal would happen.

I also read half of Periwinkle Cove by Cassandra Pierce, which was a disappointing story. Read my review here.

3rd February

Didn't read any of The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest because I wasn't in the mood. I started Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan (36 pages) because I wanted something sci-fi. It's pretty interesting so far.

4th February

Read 102 pages of Glow and 7% of The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest. I'm kinda pissed and impatient because I JUST got approved a galley of ACOTAR and I JUST started Glow and I need to read ACOTAR!! But Glow is SO GOOD. Body autonomy issues!!!!!! IN SPACE!!!!!!!

5th February

Finished Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan (237 pages read), and it was so so good. I HIGHLY recommend this. Sci-fi that deals with very important issues.

6th February

Read A Heart For Copper by Sharon Lynn Fisher and it was a cute story, but really short. Choose your own adventure, tho!!! So cool. I need more of these.

I also started Skylark by Meagan Spooner, a book I've been wanting to read for years that I now finally own!!! This is pretty interesting and I've only read 21 pages.

7th February

I read 30 pages of Skylark and I've not got into this yet. I also read 25% of The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest which IS STILL NOT PICKING UP THE PACE. Yes, it's historical, which are always a change of pace, but it's the slowest I've read in my life. I don't wanna DNF it but I'm at 57% and nothing major has happened.

8th February

Currently Reading: Skylark by Meagan Spooner

Current page/percent: 96

Read today: 45 pages

Thoughts: I can see where this is going and what I've read isn't bad, but I'm STILL not into it.

Books finished this week: 2
Books DNF'd this week: 1

I had the best week for review copies, and I got my first ARC!! I'm gonna start requesting a select few physical ARCs that I'm dying to get my hands on so you can expect to see me freaking over those in the future. Here's what I got this week:

Gates of Thread and Stone | Lori M. Lee

The Infinite | Lori M. Lee

I AM SCREAMING BECAUSE I CAN FINALLY READ THIS SERIES!!! I HAVE FRIENDS WHO ADORE IT AND I'VE BEEN COVETING IT FOR SO LONG. I am happy. So, so happy.

A Court of Thorns and Roses | Sarah J. Maas

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*SCREAMING THAT CAN BE HEARD A THOUSAND MILES AWAY*

A School for Unusual Girls | Kathleen Baldwin

Thanks to Tor Teen for this beauty. It's so preeeeeeeetty. And regency era fiction!!!!! Y'all know that's my fave era.

Stitching Snow

Glow
A Heart for Copper (scheduled for March 31st)