Review: The Hunt

The Hunt (The Hunt #1) by Andrew Fukuda
Release Date ~ May 8, 2012
St. Martin's Griffin ~ Macmillan
ISBN13: 9781250005144
E-galley received from publisher

Goodreads Synopsis:
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?

With a title like "The Hunt" and a description involving the near extinction of all human life as vampires take over the earth, you'd expect an action-packed, wild ride of an adventure when you picked up this book.

But that isn't what you get. I had such high hopes for this book, but it just didn't quite get there. It is, however, a book with a very intriguing background.

1. A story shrouded in mystery:
   The Hunt kept me guessing the entire time I was reading it, and I literally had no idea in what direction it would head. It was such a creative world, one that hasn't been overdone in YA yet, that I found most of it to be very unexpected in terms of development and plot. I really like books with good twists and The Hunt has one at the end that I found to be VERY surprising! All of my guesses regarding that character turned out to be wrong, so that was refreshing to read about :) nearly all the characters ended up different than how I expected them to be, and the story didn't involve the events I thought it would...

But that ended up being a great disappointment of mine. The Hunt largely features the build up and background of The Hunt rather than the event itself. I found that disappointing, because it lacked the action I was anticipating. The story was just frustratingly slow and uneventful. And I'm pretty much convinced that all the vampires who meet Gene in real life must be oblivious to not have picked up that he's human (which is even joked about. But seriously).
I wasn't impressed with much of the writing either; it wasn't bad at all, but I found that the writing style combined with Gene's character didn't nail the desperation and emotion that the situation warranted. I mean, Gene's a human constantly surrounded by vampires and he has to hide who he is just to save his life- that's KIND OF a big deal, but he just seemed so casual with it. I know he's used to doing this on a daily basis, but not to the same extent. It just didn't feel real to me.

Lastly, for a book that did do an excellent job of setting the stage for latter books I still felt that most of the world development was lacking. Things are thrown in (like hooking up with their elbows somehow) but they aren't explained. It's just accepted. But I kept wondering if I had misunderstood or misread something because I just didn't get it.

I have to admit though that I think the next books could EASILY redeem this series. I was so disappointed in The Hunt, but I think it's only going to get better from here on out! Fingers crossed.

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