The HuntAuthor: Andrew Fukuda
Series: The Hunt #1
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: May 8, 2012
Format: eARC
Pages: 304
Source: Publisher
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?
I don’t even know where to start…
I was not expecting this. Not even close.
Okay, when I first started reading this book, all I kept thinking was “this is so weird” and “what the heck am I reading?” I’m totally down for weirdness and like some super weird stuff, so that’s probably why I couldn’t stop reading it. I was asked early on if I thought it was a good weird or a bad weird, but I honestly didn’t know at the time. As I read more, I started to understand what the author was doing, and by the end, I decided that it was definitely a good weird.
The author built a world where vampires are the “normal” ones – they are the people. In fact, they refer to themselves as people, not vampires. Whereas, the humans are called hepers and thought of as dumb animals. To the vampires/people, hepers are the most delicious thing ever – they literally can’t control themselves if they even know there is access to one. These aren’t the type to just bite you and suck your blood; they savagely rip you apart and devour you!
Ultimately heper/humans became close to extinction, but there were some who hid right under the vampires’ noses. They adapted to living like the vampires; doing everything they could to blend in, like shave all their body hair, perform the same mannerisms, don’t sweat, eat raw meat, etc. It’s hard work keeping up the charade, but when they’ve been conditioned to do so from a young age like the main character was, it becomes part of who they are. They continue a lot of the mannerisms even when not around vampires because it’s ingrained in them – they behave the way they were taught. They even hold a lot of the same ideologies as the vampires regarding hepers, even though they technically are hepers themselves. Honestly, the psychological aspect of this was great. This was my favorite thing about the book; I would love to just break it all down from a psychological standpoint.
The characters, though, didn’t exactly wow me. Don’t get me wrong, I did like them. I thought they were interesting, but I can’t say that I necessarily loved any of them. The story is told from Gene’s POV, which I liked. I got a kick out of his tendency to break down exactly how he was going to die during certain situations. He still felt restricted and stiff to me, though. I’m hoping that his personality will blossom more in the second book.
Overall, I thought this was a pretty good book, with action and plenty of intense moments. I definitely recommend it, but I also recommend that you keep an open mind and try to appreciate the creativeness of such a different book. Think outside the box.
You can read an excerpt HERE.
Even though it weird-ed you out I am an glad you enjoyed this..I loved it. I thought the vampires studies on why humans sing was hilarious..they really were stupid, mindless creatures in Fukuda’s world so different from any other vampire book.
agreed with kimba
it was lovely weird
gr8 review
I had an interest in The Hunt but had no idea of the psychology within it. Thank you for opening my eyes to it and I definitely need to buy this book when I’m adble. Great review and thanks for commenting on my blog.
I’ve heard all sorts of strange things about this book, including ear-hugging and elbow-sex. I have to admit… I’m kind of curious to find out more. Sometimes weird is a good thing. 😀 I’m glad to hear you liked this overall. Great review!
lol – elbow sex? No. To the vampires it is the equivalent of making-out … something that feels good. Honestly, when you just hear weird stuff like that, it does make it sound stranger than it is. These are not your traditional vampires, though, and it’s actually great how Fukuda flipped it around. Some people will be able to see what he did and appreciate the creativeness of it, and some won’t. I hope you try it.. just go in with an open mind.
I didn’t think it was *that* weird. Then I scrolled down past the comments and saw ‘ear-hugging’ and ‘elbow-sex.’ Which was definitely kind of weird. And why humans sing? O.o But it’s weird in a good-weird way, right?
I might give this a try 🙂 Thanks for the review!
Misa
Skyway Avenue Reads
Like I just told Sam, when you hear just those things, it makes it sound weird in a dumb way, but it’s not. And it’s not elbow-sex (lol) … to the vampires it’s the equivalent to making-out, something that feeling good. You just have to get the traditional vampires out of your head, and Fukuda even kind of makes fun of that. To the vampires, the humans are similar to how apes are to us. Except extremely tasty. That means they really don’t know much about them because they always eat them. I don’t know, it’s just really clever. I hope you try it.
This sounds awesome 🙂 seeing the psychological reasons behind stuff is always so intriguing. Definitely need to buy this!
It is. I don’t think some people will quite get it, but I hope so. Fukuda is pretty clever. I hope you read it… at least give it a try 🙂
I heard a couple of strange things about this book and I’m not sure if I want to try it. I’m glad that you enjoyed it, though 🙂
Let me guess… you heard there was elbow-sex? lol. If so, it’s not quite true. I explained it in response to some other comments here.
I’m planning on reading this one soon, and I have to admit…I’m really curious about it! I’ve read a LOT of mixed reviews on it, so it’s been hard to get a handle on whether it’s the book for me or not, but maybe that’s a good thing!
Honestly, I haven’t fully read any other reviews for this, so I don’t know what other people are saying. Except some are saying they heard there is elbow-sex.. lol. Not exactly. I hope you read it soon, because I’d love to hear what you think of it.
More vampires (yawn), but an interesting twist that seems to make it a more enticing read. I’m just glad it’s not zombies. So tired of that craze.
Ha – I know, but Fukuda did take a clever twist with it. Believe me, there are no human sympathizers among these vamps.
Ah, I will never tire of zombies! I loved them before this craze and I’ll love them after it’s faded 😀
I had the same exact reaction when I first started reading this book. I had ro tread some reviews to find out what they were! Glad you liked this, Christy!
Hahaha this book sounds so funny! I’ve read a ton of mixed reviews about this one — liked, loved, hated, gawked at — but I think your review makes me want to read it most! I get that it may not be the perfect book, but the way the vampires are portrayed sounds really intriguing just for the fact that they’re so DIFFERENT from what we’re used to.
Awesome review, Christy! I’m glad you enjoyed this one — hopefully I do too? x) <3
I hope you do read it, Mimi! It is different in a very clever way. 🙂
Awesome review! I’ve been very undecided about this one because like everyone else, I’ve heard some VERY weird stuff about it! But I do like the general premise, especially the idea of vampires being the default in a way. I’ll certainly be giving this one a go!
Default… yeah, I like that. It IS strange and different, but it’s supposed to be. These aren’t the vampires of our world (I know vamps aren’t real, but you know what I mean – lol). Just try it 🙂
Your favorite time of the day. I am here to leave you an awesome comment. How come you didn’t go on and on about the gore in this? I hear it is disgustingly gorey? Yes or no? I have a copy of this and I am just waiting for the right mood to be grossed out. I gather that this book is weird and more weird…
As soon as I got back from my trip, I checked to see if I had any comments from you. It was all I could think about while I was gone!! lol.
Gory..? I don’t think so. I guess it depends on what you think is a lot. Yeah, there were description of the vamps melting in the sun… but I think that was probably the goriest aspect of it. I mean that’s my opinion. I’ve read A LOT gorier YA than this, especially since I like zombie books. But gory wouldn’t be in the top 5 words I personally would use to describe this book.
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