Friday, April 13, 2012

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

Release Date: 8th May, 2012

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Pages: 304pgs

The Story

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?

The Review

A big thanks to the publisher on netGalley for accepting my request in reading this book early!

In lines with the dystopian-crazed genre and satisfying those readers of Suzanne Collins's best-selling series The Hunger Games, the debut author Andrew Fukuda has offered up an odd but a mostly interesting new take on vampires and it's far from your typical vampires that you have come to know and love over the years. While there was plenty of things in this book that sparked my entertaining side, however I did have a few issues with THE HUNT along the way as I entered this very terrifying and vicious new world.

Before I get straight into the issues, one of the things I will give the author a lot of credit for was how he reinvented everything we know about vampires - from the bad, the ugly and even the razzle-dazzle ones if you know what I mean - and making it his own kind of vampire that we haven't necessarily seen before. I must admit, hearing this book was to be about vampires made me really hesitant in reading this book in the first place, but I'm still thankful that I decided against it and read it instead. The book not only offered uniqueness but the plot went in a completely different direction than I was expecting, giving me even more reason to enjoy the book since predictability can sometimes be a book's downfall. So I'm glad for that part.

Now onto the issues side, I don't have many issues with the book per se - at least not regarding the storyline - but the main issue I had was with the characters than anything else presented in the book. Gene, the main character, is the human tirelessly hiding amongst the vampire population and he's trying his best to adapt to this very blood-thristy environment that has now taken over his human world. Literally. Not only does he have to hide the fact that he sweats, grows facial hair and is simply not as fast as the others are . . . but the list is endless and for Gene everything about his humanity is dangerous no matter where he goes. While Gene was an intriguing character but I couldn't really believe in him lasting as long as he did in this world of Fukuda's and I was surprised the vampires hadn't discovered his secret sooner to be honest with you. Don't get me wrong here, Gene was a pretty smart guy and knew how to undermine his superiors . . . but I don't know . . . I just couldn't believe in it and if I don't believe in something . . . especially in the main character . . . I often find it hard to connect with them and everything else in the book.

On a side note another character I had trouble connecting with was a girl named Ashley June, a former classmate of Gene's and someone Gene has forever had a 'crush' on. Now I didn't mind Gene and his macho exterior, but Ashley June really got on my nerves. There are many shades to Ashley's character and you do end up growing fond of her at certain times as you learn about her backstory and all that, but as a love interest for Gene - if that's what you would call it - I just couldn't see the connection between them let alone feel one coming up on the horizon. So apart from the lack of connection with the two main characters . . . this book and the story presented was still very appealing to me but if a sequel is coming, I hope for more depth in these characters of Fukuda's and some tugging feelings to make me feel more for these characters so fingers crossed for that!

Overall, despite the flaws I found in the characters, my favourite part of the book would have to be its ending alone since Andrew Fukuda wrote a shocking cliffhanger which I'm sure means this is yet another part of a book series and I'm excited to see how things plan out. THE HUNT offers a great amount of mystery, adventure and lot's of I-didn't-see-this-coming sort of moments, so if you love something going beyond those lines with an interesting twist to vampires . . . then this young adult book is definitely something worth picking up!

The Rating

3 1/2 / 5 stars

26 comments:

  1. I keep hearing things about this big cliffhanger, and I MUST KNOW WHAT IT IS. I guess I should pick up my galley then, hah. Nicely reviewed!

    Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

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    1. Thanks Wendy! There's definitely a "WTH!" cliffhanger.

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  2. i loved this book and yes i had some issues with it
    looking 4ward to book2
    tnx 4 the gr8 review

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  3. "From the bad, the ugly and even the razzle-dazzle ones if you know what I mean..." <-- TOTALLY know what you mean!! x) LOL I used to think that there couldn't be anything new people could bring to vampires that we haven't seen yet, but I was wrong too! Now I'm starting to rebuild some expectations for uniqueness in vamp stories, which makes me love them more! :)

    Awesome review, Erin! I'm excited to read those I-didn't-see-this-coming moments especially -- I love surprises! ;)

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  4. I can totally understand your disbelief with Gene. It crossed my mind more than once how he actually survived that long, because it's almost impossible to hide everything that makes us.... human. A paper cut, a bead of sweat, a sneeze, something. But I could let it slide for the sake of wanting to continue on.

    Shame about the lack of connection you felt with Gene and Ashley! But I am glad that it didn't deter you from still enjoying the plot. I loved Andrew's take on 'vampires' and YES. The cliffhanger ending! Ahhhh, need the sequel! Awesome review, Erin!

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    1. Thanks Brodie! It's still a great book but that cliffhanger . . . man I didn't see that coming!

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  5. CLIFFHANGER?!?!?! Oh NOOOOOOO! I have this love/hate relationship with cliffhangers :/ I'm so glad Fukuda has taken unique twist with vampire lore - I really can't wait to read about these vampires! It's a pity the characters were a...'let-down', but I'm still glad you enjoyed it:) I myself can't wait to read this one! Awesome review, Erin!!

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  6. Erin,

    Yes we had some similar experiences with this read. I gave Ashley the benefit as the circumstances.............I had to sit and stare at my computer for a long time before I could get my head right to write the review.

    Anyhoo, very honest , wonderful review !!

    We have a lovely 1,000 blog follower giveaway on at moment that I would love the aussie bloggers to come over and win something:D

    Michelle

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    1. Thanks. Glad to hear you had the same experiences with this novel.

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  7. Loved your review, I cant wait to read this book. im alil bit anxious with the character flaws though but lets see how I go. x

    Ƹ̴Ӂ̴ƷFICBOOKREVIEWSƸ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ

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    1. A lot of other readers loved the characters, so maybe you will too. Thanks! :)

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  8. I became interested in this when I read that the vampires were different to all the ones we've read about before, good review!

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    1. Thanks! That was part of the reason why I read this book. I wanted to see this 'different' side to the vampires.

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  9. eek..i am reviewing this later this month and people are either loving it or hating it. Lovely review, the whole characters issue has me nervous!

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    1. Don't be nervous about the characters because they're still great in their own way.

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  10. Okay, character connections aside, I'm looking forward to the plot. I want to see just how creepy this world has become AND what sort of vampirish people have now overtaken the world! Creepy, thrilling, and surprising is a GREAT mix for me!

    Asher

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    1. It has a great combination this book. I'm sure it will entertain a lot of readers.

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  11. Great review! I was debating about reading this. Characters that I can't connect to is worrying, but then there's the razzle dazzle and the cliffhanger and ending... :x

    Eh, just read your comments above. Think I'll give it a try. ;)

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    1. Thank you! Definitely give it a go. There's some mixed opinions regarding this book.

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  12. This is a really good review, I do want to read it but I'm sceptical about how he hides his human status so I think I'll probably have the same issues with it that you do

    The Cait Files

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  13. I'm (not so) patiently counting down the days till my preorder comes.

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  14. Aw, Erin, so sorry to hear your didn't love it... I've been so excited about this one, but I've been wondering about the same things you just pointed out with Gene... how do you hide your humanity that perfectly for SO long? Like Brodie said... never so much a paper cut? A sneeze? Nothing? But it's kind of only making me more intrigued :D

    Great GREAT review. I'm trying to readjust my expectations, so we shall see :D

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  15. I got a review copy of The Hunt at ALA but been putting off reading it. I haven't read anything on it, even though I thought its sounded awesome. Thanks for review. I am sorry you didn't connect with the characters. I hate when that happens.

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