Review: The Hunt - Andrew Fukuda

Where I got it: Library
Rating: 4 stars  
Cover Rating: 4 stars (I'm not sure what I don't love about this, but I do like it quite a bit. Maybe I just hate the weird tribal thing in the middle.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: December 24, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Page Count: 293 p.
Add it: Goodreads

Gene's different from other people. He's slower, clumsier and doesn't crave blood like everyone else. It's probably because he's human. To survive though, Gene can't let on to what he is. Every second that he is surrounded by other people he must be on top of his game. One minor body error and it would be the end for him. Something as small as a sneeze and his whole world would come undone. He seems to be coasting by perfectly fine and then they called numbers for The Hunt. It's an opportunity that everyone is excited about because it means hunting the last of the humans. As you can imagine, Gene is less than excited, he's terrified. Without his privacy in his home he will have a much harder time keeping up his charade. He's going to have to be smarter than everyone else if he wants to stay alive.

What a story. I was not expecting to enjoy this nearly as much as I did. It sounded interesting, but it was action-packed. I didn't want to stop reading—I was on the edge of my seat most of the time. I can't believe I didn't buy the second one yet. Now I will just have to wait until it comes, which is okay since the third book isn't out quite yet.

Just when I thought there would be no more vampire stories that would catch my interest, Andrew Fukuda pulls out this little number. What a thrill. I couldn't even imagine how much self control has to go into Gene blending in. A sneeze or a cough or a giggle would mean death. I liked that these vampires had a few more non-human quirks than usual ones. Fukuda made these vampires a little bit more his own. It was weird, but I think it worked.

Gene just had me biting my nails so many times. His terror was my terror and there was plenty of it to go around. This book did make vampires seem a bit dim-witted though for not catching on to Gene sooner once he left for The Hunt. There were also some lines that were written strangely, though writing this now I can't recall an example. Gene has a very strong instinct for survival and it made him a great character to watch survive.

Then there was the ending of book one. I had made many guesses throughout this novel and some of them I was correct on, but this one I just didn't see. I had kind of forgotten about it until it was right in my face causing me to groan and wish I had the next book to dive into. Alas, I did not so I will suffer until it gets here.

If you're willing to take a chance with just one last vampire novel. Make it this one. It's not wholly typical and it's full of action. I will definitely be recommending this to my teens because I'm sure they will devour it.

First Line:
"There used to be more of us."

Favorite Line:
"And then her fingers interlace with mine."

"Funny how that is, how it's the beautiful things in life that betray you in the end."