Review : Hunted by Meagan Spooner

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: HarperTeen 
Release Date: March 14, 2017
Pages: 384
Source: Own

The Story:

Beauty knows the Beast's forest in her bones--and in her blood. 

Though Yeva 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?

via Amazon

Rating: 

One-word Review:  HAUNTING

Reading Tune:  Howling by RY X / Frank Wiedemann

Tag Line:

A Beauty deadlier than the Beast.

Opening Line:

Yeva watched the sky over the far-off forest, listening to the baronessa with one ear.

My Review: 

I did not even read the synopsis for Hunted. I heard it was a Beauty and the Beast and immediately purchased a copy.

And I am glad I did. 

What I loved most about Hunted was how brave and true to herself Yeva - A.K.A. Beauty - was.

Offspring.

Perhaps our plan is not lost. We watch her  from our hidden place, breathing her smell and listening to the silence of her steps. She moves like an animal in a woman's body.

She moves like beauty. - page 84

The plot was more edgier than the original Beauty and the Beast. And I loved every bit. Hellbent on seeking vengeance for her father's murder, Yeva hunts down the Beast. And lands herself captive. So, armed with the folklore her father told her as a child, she slowly lulls the Beast into trust and friendship. Then BAMMM! Clever and patient, she bides her time until the very moment she can sink her knife into the Beast's throat. 

Yeva lifted the knife.

The Beast's lips parted, his eyelids flickering. "Yeva," he mumbled. "Beauty."

She froze. He was dreaming about her. She swallowed before she could stop herself, body flooding with every ounce of uncertainty she'd been pushing into the dark, unseen corners of her mind where she wouldn't have to face it.

She swallowed, and the Beast heard it, and his eyes opened.

They met hers, still clouded with dreams, hazel-gold reflecting the firelight and hiding no other hint of red. "Beauty," he said again, more distinctly, and his mouth was human, and Yeva could not move. His mouth. She couldn't look away.

The Beast's face cleared of sleep, and he blinked, and then he saw the knife. For an instant his eyes snapped back to Yeva's, shock and confusion and hurt mixing together, and in that moment he was human, and Yeva saw it, that only his human aspect could register and respond to this kind of betrayal.

She knew in another heartbeat he'd be the Beast again. And because she knew she'd die when he was, and because the animal instinct deep in her heart knew what to do, she struck.

THe knife stabbed deep into his throat, and hit bone, and Yeva gasped aloud as she jerked the knife sideways, trying to slice. It wasn't quite sharp enough and it met with resistance, all the tissues and tendons in his neck fighting her. His gasp turned to a gurgle and to a whimper. And then the knife was out, and there was blood everywhere, blood on the rug and blood spattering the wardrobe. Blood spattered the pages of a book that had been left open by his bedside, as though he'd been reading just before he slept. - page 236

Hunted pacing was a little slow but not in so much that I could not get into the story. Spooner's writing is intriguing. The world-building was fantastical and I wish I could have spent more time in the other dimension of the forest - the world beneath; you will understand what I mean when you read the story.

Character Breakdown:

The character's were well fleshed out. Each character was unique and believable.

Yeva  - Yeva was hardcore and loyal to her family and clever.

Beast - As beastly as ever. Lonely, nasty attitude with a capable heart deep down.

Here is one of my favorite quotes:

"You said that you didn't hear music." Yeva watched his face. "What do you hear?"

"For me," the Beast replied, "it is like a heartbeat."

Yeva fought a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. "The heartbeat of the forest."

The Beast gave himself a little shake, then tilted his head eastward. "That is enough for today. We will return now."

As he turned to pass her, the Beast moved o top of the snow, his paws not even stirring the loose snow dusting the icy crust. Yeva' boots crunched through, but he moved like wind, like spirit. He was showing her how he could travel through the forest without leaving a trace, and Yeva watched each step as if hypnotized.

"It is the same sound I heard," the Beast said as he passed her, "when I first saw you." - page 192

Meet the Author:

Meagan Spooner is the New York Times bestselling author of the Skylark trilogy and the Starbound trilogy.

She grew up reading and writing every spare moment of the day, while dreaming about life as an archaeologist, a marine biologist, an astronaut. She graduated from Hamilton College in New York with a degree in playwriting, and has spent several years since then living in Australia. She's traveled with her family all over the world to places like Egypt, South Africa, the Arctic, Greece, Antarctica, and the Galapagos, and there's a bit of every trip in every story she writes.

She currently lives and writes in Asheville, North Carolina, but the siren call of travel is hard to resist, and there's no telling how long she'll stay there. 

In her spare time she plays guitar, plays video games, plays with her cat, and reads.

***Check out Meagan Spooner's website for more information about her and Hunted: HERE

Happy Reading!