Review: Hunted

Title: Hunted
Author: Meagan Spooner
Published: 03/14/2017
Genre: YA Fantasy Retelling
Format: Audiobook
Length: 9 hours (384 pages)
Rating: 4/5 stars

“There’s no such thing as living happily ever after – there’s only living. We make the choice to do it happily.”

Goodreads Overview (3.93/5 stars)

Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she 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?

First Thoughts

How did I miss all of the craziness in the Disney story?

Review

OK, so I have to give myself a break, I watched the Disney movies in a totally different state of mind. And, as this is a retelling, things are very different and much more obvious. Throughout the book, there was tension and haste towards life and its meanings. A few strong points that stuck out to me during this retelling were Stockholm Syndrome and bestiality. I didn’t really recognize these things in the original Disney version of Beauty and the Beast, but man did it stick out like a sore thumb here (more towards the end than anything). This retelling is a mix of Beauty and the Beast and Russian folk tales and I loved the combination of both. I was disappointed in the ending and felt it was so rushed. I believe the beginning could have happened faster and then allowed for a smoother wrap up at the end. Overall I would definitely recommend to both lovers of retellings and those not so fond of them.

Characters

Yeva, nicknamed “Beauty”, is a strong woman with a love for the wild. She is supposed to be a proper young lady ready to marry a man courted to her. She loves to hunt and is more of a tomboy than the fine princess she is destined to be.

The Beast, nicknamed “Eovan”, is a sheltered and miserable beast. I was confused during most of the story when they referred to “we” instead of “I”, but with no spoilers, you will figure out why. He doesn’t have too much to say throughout the book, but his small parts really have an impact.

Moral of the Story/Take-away

The moral of this retelling is different than that of the original. I gathered that there’s nothing magical that will make you happy, no man/person will make you happy, and no amount of money will make you happy. You are the only one that can make you happy and the choices you make daily strongly affect that.