Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: May 8, 2012
Format: CD
Status: First in The Hunt series.
Source: Received from the publisher for review.
Genre: Teen, Dystopian, Vampires
Other Info: Fukuda is also the author of Crossing.
Description and link from Goodreads):
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?
Narrator Review:
Right out of the gate, Sean Runnette did not strike me as the right narrator for
The Hunt. For one thing, his voice was far too gravely and deep to suggest "teenage boy." For another, it's slightly pedantic. Runnette won me over as I got to know Gene a little better--Gene
is methodical and intensely cerebral--and these are things that are communicated through the quality of the narration. On the other hand, I've never met a male narrator who can voice a female character to my satisfaction, and Runnette is no exception.
Review Review:
I am the world's biggest wimp. I
hate gore, and I will never,
ever see another boxing movie for as long as I live. The scene in the body switch episode of
Glee where Tina conks her head on the bottom of a fountain nearly ruined the episode for me. I bring up my squeamishness because
The Hunt is extremely graphic in terms of grossness, the eating of humans and general gore. And, yet,
despite the scene where a vampire essentially turns into gooey cheese (I just vomited a little), I
loved this book. I had issues with 90% of the characters, but it made me think, and it stuck with me. To me, that is the mark of seriously bada** writing.
The most interesting question that
The Hunt brings up for me is what it means to be human. Gene, the narrator, has only survived amongst these vampire-zombies by completely subverting his humanity. And while it's saved him, it's also killed him. His is a character that I was on the verge of disliking, even to the very last word. Gene flirts with being irredeemable and it's that, more than the threat of his being discovered, that kept me on the edge of my seat.
I can't really talk about the rest of the characters because doing so would be spoilery, but I want to touch on what I said about disliking 90% of the characters. The characters I was rooting for the most were the ones the least seen. Sissy totally kicked butt and, of course, I'm a sucker for kids. They better live, do you hear me Andrew Fukuda? Fortunately, I'm fairly certain we'll be seeing a lot more of them in the next book.
Another thing that I enjoyed about
The Hunt was its sheer bizarreness. Fukuda must have had a
lot of fun coming up with the whole armpit/elbow make-out scene. After I read that part, I hurried over to Small's blog because I
needed to talk to her about it, pronto. There are plenty of bits from the world-building that will make you go,
Wait, WHAT?! And then there's the wrist-scratching.
Finally, there were definitely times when suspension of disbelief was required. When Gene gets chosen for the Heper Hunt, it means leaving behind all the tools of his deception. The vampire-zombies don't sweat, bathe, have hair, require water and, apparently have perfectly groomed fingernails. Fukuda makes a
big deal about all the rules Gene's father taught him to survive. Some of the problems are addressed--the need for water being one of them. But others--the lack of deodorant, how he got a razor, etc.--required the readers to look the other way. Not to mention the sheer unbelievability of being in control of yourself
at all times. Humans just aren't made that way. Or maybe I just mean that
I'm just not made that way. Who knows.
I highly recommend
The Hunt for anyone interested in the Paranormal and Dystopian genres. In fact, I recommend it to almost anyone, period. It's insanely gripping, thought-provoking and exciting. The only problem? The sequel isn't even listed on Goodreads yet.
But wait! I'm not done talking about The Hunt!
Join me tomorrow (Monday, May 28) for an in-depth, spoilery discussion!
Let's get started!
