MICHELLE'S REVIEW: The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

Title: The Hunt

Author: Andrew Fukuda

Format Acquired: Paperback (UK Version)

Publication Date: May 8, 2012

Publishing House: St. Martin's Griffin

ISBN: 9780857075413
Source of Copy: Purchased from Fully Booked

Summary: Against all odds, 17-year-old Gene has survived in a world where the general population has eaten humans to near extinction. The only remaining humans, or hepers as they are known, are housed in domes on the savannah and studied at the nearby Heper Institute. Every decade there is a government sponsored hunt. When Gene is selected to be one of the combatants, he must learn the art of the hunt - but also elude his fellow competitors as suspicions about his true nature grow...

(Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book) 

Review:

The book description sounds awesome, right? Unfortunately, the book summary is all that  was actually interesting for me. In actuality, The Hunt is packed with wrist-scratching, armpit-to-armpit-pressing bloodsucker action and a heper who, by the second half of the book, transforms from some sort of mysterious, survivor guy, into a complete and utter mess.

Gene, our unfortunate heper, was unluckily chosen to take part in the decennial Hunt, a hot ticket to a sumptuous human feast (+100 bonus points if it’s a virgin human, yo!) Unfortunately as he forgot to pack his necessities to make him look less of a heper  needs water and food for actual human consumption tries to stay alive, all he does in the book is try to keep the others from finding out about his secret. He does this all the while pretending not to have emotions, and trying to ignore his uncalled for attraction towards Ashley June. The Ashley June whom he spent seven minutes in a closet with, pressing armpits together and jostling elbows (because apparently, nothing is more romantic and lust-inducing than rubbing sexy, albeit scentless, armpits all over each other). Gene must also decide whether to help his fellow hepers from being consumed by the always ravenous undead, which poses a problem, because he believes that saving the supposedly primitive folk is pointless has a conscience. 

Aside from the lag in pace, however, the book is not entirely without its good points. Fukuda has a good storyline, but a weak execution of his intended output. I'm sure that if he tried to explore the world he has created and explained the circumstances of the situation, readers would actually be immersed in the dark fantasy world he has weaved.

Needless to say, The Hunt is not my cup of tea. If, however, you found yourself interested in the undead's supposedly unusual and peculiar habits, then take this one for a ride. Who knows, maybe you'll take up wrist-scratching as well. We, at The Twins Read, sure have.

Rating: