Hunted Hardcover – March 14, 2017

4.5 perfectly shimmering stars !!!I have been SO disappointed by the YA fantasy titles I've read lately, reading "Hunted" took me by surprise, and then totally wowed me. Sure, there are plenty of 4 and 5-star reviews for this novel, but a lot of horrendous books get showered in gushing praise. Especially YA fantasy titles.I was actually inspired to pick up this book after reading a scathing 1-star review. A review that absolutely shredded the plot of this book as well as the characters.I expected "Hunted" to be a trainwreck, a Beauty and the Beast retelling stuffed with tropes and plot holes and lackluster prose, but I was so curious about the Slavic/Russian folklore in this story that I couldn't help myself. The scathing one-star review had mentioned Slavic/Russian folklore played a role in the plot, and that was when I decided I had to read "Hunted."And thank my fairy tale stars I did! Because this book is WONDERFUL. The very best way to spend a cold, gray afternoon at home. Sometimes the universe is kind.The beginning was the hardest part for me, because the novel is set in medieval Russia, and there were a number of anachronisms that grated against my little history-loving brain. At first, I made note of them (as I always do when I read, especially if I think I might be reading a trainwreck). But the setting of the story soon switches, as Beauty journeys from her town to the enchanted/cursed land where the Beast lives, and the issues I had in the beginning all vanished.The plot of this book honors the original Beauty and the Beast fairy tale in so many brilliant ways, both in structure and character, and by weaving in the Slavic/Russian folklore, author Meagan Spooner added some truly delightful and inspiring depth to this classic story.The prose of "Hunted" is well above average. The sentences flow, and some of the descriptive passages are quite lovely. The characters are beautifully drawn. Beast is a point of view character as well as Beauty, and I really loved his chapters. The relationship between Beauty and her two sisters made me tear up, especially toward the end of the book. There is a wonderful canine named Doe-Eyes and a reinvented Gaston character named Solmir. The magic of this story world was subtle, unique, and added so well to the dialogue and plot.The novel had a quiet, relentless drive that built toward the last fifty pages, and it was this final section of the book that made me really sit back and say, WOW. Wow. Fricking awesome."Hunted" is a rare YA fantasy that features a lot of emotional depth in the characters, whether they are main characters or secondary. This is a novel in which actions have consequences, psychologically as well as physically, a story in which bodies are not machines full of limitless power, but fragile objects that often struggle and suffer.My highest praise for "Hunted" is this: the novel has a depth of understanding about human nature, storytelling, and the power of reshaping stories, that made my brain explode with pleasure as I witnessed Beauty undergo the final part of her hero's journey. The finale of this book is wise and rich and perfect.If you are a reader who loves fairy tale retellings, interesting magical worlds, or stories that weave folklore into their plots, I would recommend you add "Hunted" to your reading list.

Ever since I read Robin McKinley's Beauty, I've had a special place in my heart for Beauty & the Beast retellings. It's crashingly disappointing when the retelling does nothing but rehash old themes, and does nothing to uncover untapped nuances from the story. I wasn't disappointed with Hunted. It's a fitting successor for Beauty. Yeva is her father's youngest daughter-- a daughter he taught his own love of the woods and hunting before becoming a rich merchant. When the inevitable misfortune hits his business, he moves them back to the small hunting cabin in the woods where Yeva first fell in love with the forest.Only he becomes distant, obsessed, and then disappears. Its up to Yeva to find him, but she finds an abandoned castle and a beast instead.Beauty, Yeva, in this retelling, is as much a Hunter as the Beast. And that's the twist that I loved so much in this telling, as well as the more nuanced emotional connections to her older sisters. Yeva is first taken because she can hunt-- and the emotional journey from captive to someone who would consider the Beast as more than just a tormentor stays true to Yeva's love of the hunt. She attempts to kill the Beast, and their back and forth in harming/not harming each other really spins this tale a interesting, dark way. Yeva has lots and lots of agency in this, not much is done TO her, and that I appreciated as well.And then there are leshy and rusalka and other Slavic myths bound up in this, so that was cool. A dark, and more active-Beauty retelling, completely worth your while.

After seeing a really encouraging review by one of my fellow bloggers, I decided that I obviously had to order a copy of Hunted for myself and see what the deal was. How surprised I was to find that I enjoyed this Beauty and the Beast retelling! There are definitely some common themes that show up in Hunted but it’s not sickeningly saturated with them.Yeva longs to return to the woods where she has fond memories of her younger years, so when her father loses his wealth she is given a reprieve from the trappings of society. Her father begins hunting but after glimpsing the Beast he goes missing and Yeva sets off into the woods with only her bow to find him. Yeva is captured by the Beast (of course) and is carried away to his lair in an enchanted valley where he imprisons her and eventually trains her to hunt magical creatures like himself.I like Yeva and felt that she was a convincing main character- she didn’t magically acquire an incredible skill set, she was actually afraid of her captor, and had totally reasonable emotions (and perhaps a touch of Stockholm syndrome). I also appreciated that, for once, the sisters in a fairy tale weren’t evil and they had a good relationship with Yeva. What a relief! The Beast’s mini-chapters added just enough perspective to make the reader empathize with his plight and understand his actions and reactions towards Yeva. Without them I think the story would have suffered.Overall, Hunted was a well-done retelling that I would absolutely recommend to anyone who love the original Beauty and the Beast story. Though appearances don’t really matter, the book itself is quite attractive- the dustjacket has a nice shine to it, the Beast chapters have some added graphic effects, and the naked book is a pretty white and emerald color scheme. Did I mention that this is also a standalone? I hope it stays a standalone because it worked perfectly as such.

ARC copy provided by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.This is a mash up of Beauty and the Beast and The Firebird, set in a fantasy Russia. I think if you're looking for a straight forward romance this is probably not hoing to tick all the boxes for you. However I loved this a piece of coming of age fiction. Yeva is a dynamic character worth far more than the some of her parts and certainly more than her personal beauty. Torn between the comfort of her loving family and a growing disquiet that something is missing from her life, Yeva is already searching for personal significance before the ruin of her father's wealth. As a hunter like her father - an unsuitable occupation for a woman - Yeva is most at home with the wilderness. In this the Beast becomes an excellent foil for her - they are equally intractable and untamed. Be warned this is not a tale of kindness and gentle wooing. This is two strong personalities wearing the sharp edges off each other and finding some wisdom. If you've ever read any Russian folklore you'll know that kindness is not a greatly lauded virtue - unlike cleverness, cunning and the will to succeed. Hunted is very inkeeping with this view and the world reflects the cold, deadly but incredibly beautiful landscape of Russia.A few minor points that did irritate me; the father lost himself just a bit too quickly in my opinion. The beast had a chain of reasoning that didn't ressemble out earth logic at all. The story seems to try to both address the concept of unnatural or coerced sympathy with your captor whilst at the same time forging an actual kinship by stating that Yeva and Beast were both prisoners. Not sure it came off. Despite that this would definitely go on my list of recommended Beauty and the Beast retellings.

Fairytale retellings are always a joy to read, based on the classics we know but it takes something special to really touch your heart like those first fairytales you heard as a child did.Hunted is a Beauty and the Beast retelling with a beautiful story about love and the want for something more from life. Yeva (Beauty) is a hunter and is overjoyed to move back to the woods where her heart is, but when she is taken by a Beast, revenge fills her heart as she bides her time to destroy her captor.There's always a desire for something else - something more, from Beauty and it takes right until the ending for her to discover herself and what she wants from life.It's just written so elegantly with the short passages from the Beast as we see him become more human with each one, and Yeva's life alongside the Beast taking on a more descriptive fashion. It's so reminiscent of the classic Beauty and the Beast with a different slant taken on the message of the tale.But it's the dedication at the end that does it from the author. This book is definitely one to read if you feel full of life yet empty; like you've found what you're looking for but still searching and have yet to discover what it is you want from life but you only knows it's something more...Astounding.

The snow is a canvas, her father would say, upon which the beast paints his past, his home, his intentions, his future. Learn to see the picture and you will know him as you know yourself.This is the Beauty & the Beast retelling everyone has been waiting for. I tried dozens of Beauty & the Beast retellings. Okay, maybe not dozens, but enough to know it's one of those fairytales (like Alice in Wonderland which, by the way, I still haven't found a good enough retelling of) that is hard to get just right.I have never had the pleasure to read anything by Meagan Spooner, but that is definitely going to change if Hunted is anything to go by. She's a fantastic author, capable of weaving magic and reality seamlessly, and capable of making even the most strong-willed people fall head over heels in love with folklore.My reactions whilst reading Hunted were visceral. I felt the cold in my bones; the ice seeping into invisible boots and chilling my toes. I felt the dampness of the cell at my back, the hairs standing on end at the back of my neck as the Beast stalked his prey through the woods. I felt the magic, I heard the animals as they fled. It was an experience like no other, and it was impossible to put the book down long enough to even grab a glass of water.Hunted follows Yeva, youngest child out of three, the apple of her father's eye, as she goes from lady in waiting to the sole caregiver of her family. When her father loses their fortune, and the family has to pack up and move to his old hunting cabin in the woods, Yeva isn't worried. She knew they'd be okay. It isn't until her father's hunting trips become longer and longer, less staggered, and he brings home less game, that Yeva begins to worry. She knows he's no longer hunting for survival -- he's hunting the mythical Beast, convinced that if he brings home the Beast's head, their fortune will fall into their lap.The hunt drives him to madness.He stopped, looking up from his pack to meet her gaze, though he seemed to be saying through her at a distant memory. "It is a Beast," he said. "A monster unlike anything in any story. It was there twenty years ago. When your mother ask me to give up hunting, it was the one thing I had not, could not catch. And it is there still. When I kill it, it's head will bring such a price that we will be able to return home."Yea heard one of her sisters, she could not tell which, stifle a gasp behind her. There was madness in her father's faceAnd so, one day, Yeva decides to follow her father into the woods. There, she meets the Beast in all his horrifying glory, and in order to survive, Yeva strikes a bargain. The Beast needs her (for what, she doesn't know), and Yeva promises the Beast a story in exchange for comfort and, secretly, she begins to hatch a plan: murder the beast, escape the fortress, and bring home his head.Hunted is a fairytale in its own right. Spooner knew exactly what she was doing (which is a comfort when it comes to retellings) and managed to create something wholly original whilst also managing to stick to the original tale.I've read Beauty & the Beast retellings before. I enjoyed A Court of Thorns & Roses, I put Cruel Beauty on hold and never finished Uprooted. They were all good, but they weren't enough. Although I adore Maas' ACOTAR series, I wouldn't recommend it as a B&B retelling. From now on, if anyone ever asks me, I'll always recommend Hunted.Slow burn romance, legends and myths, storytelling and a family relationship that I've been, personally, dying to read about (there is no competition between the sisters: they all love each other, and they will do absolutely anything for their father, and in the name of family), Hunted is the retelling I've been waiting for.I cried, I laughed, I felt. I felt so much that it's a wonder my heart beats at all any more.

I was skeptical at first. Another Beauty and the Beast re-telling, yeah, like we need one of those. And a tagline that reads ‘A Beauty Deadlier Than The Beast’ is just begging to reveal all it’s cliches.But this book was NOT cliche!Whilst it ended romantically, there was little romance in this story. There was grittiness, there was raw emotion (often the more violent emotions like rage, and vengeance), there was realism. Yes, Yeva was made to feel indebted to the Beast, and at first that made her have feelings for him, understandably. But as soon as the blindfold was off, that all changed, and Yeva reacted exactly how any person on this planet would react to a monstrous beast locking her up. The characters touched upon Stockholm Syndrome and I thought that was cleverly done and how Yeva didn’t dismiss this, but rather worked through her thoughts and feelings.Yeva was a real girl crush for me. I honestly would have followed her anywhere.I like how there was internal conflict for Yeva that made the story tense, and how Meagan didn’t fall into the trap of needing to create tension between sisters, or with other love interests. This to me shows far more skill as an author than simply making other characters give your MC a hard time.Yeva to me was brave, she didn’t shy away from her weaknesses and she was very intelligent. The hunting thing didn’t make her a strong female character to me, it was her mind, and her heart that did this. Take away the bow and I still would have called Yeva strong, so thank you Meagan for not making it all about a girl who knows how to wield a weapon (which many of us cannot, and will not ever be able to relate to anyway).It was torturous reading the Beast’s chapters and Meagan did an amazing job of showing his humanity surfacing. When his chapters stopped, I think my heart stopped too (!)My advice? Pick this up, now. You’re missing out.

A different take on retelling the story of Beauty and the Beast which at first I wasn't too sure on but heard good things so thought I would give it a read.I did find the story a bit slow at first but once I got through the first 5 chapters it definitely picked up and I became enthralled in the world of Beauty and the Beast. The story became quite violent and touched on subjects of anger, sorrow and, vengeance.Yeva the main character was a favourite, she was depicted as a strong woman and even though she is essentially a prisoner she doesn't lose who she is. I would have liked more back story to the Beast as felt that this needed to have been developed further.I loved that there wasn't much romance in the story and that it was assigned to the lesser characters and didn't cloud the actual telling of Yeva and the Beasts story.A definite must read if you haven't already as not only have you got fantasy and realism you have some action/violence as well.