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clambear's review against another edition
bruh. A white man writing this book chooses to write the main character having a black girlfriend. At one point he makes her say that she doesn’t care about slavery and lives in the present. At one point the main character says something like “her skin was the color of… well who cares, color doesn’t matter”
Like jfc. Anyway I refuse to finish this book because the writing and racist implications are disgusting and I hate that this writing is available to young adults.
Like jfc. Anyway I refuse to finish this book because the writing and racist implications are disgusting and I hate that this writing is available to young adults.
einnymydog's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
hat02's review against another edition
4.0
This is a review for the entire trilogy, but anything specific to the second and third books will be hidden as spoilers.
I'll start with some thoughts on the series overall. Firstly, it surpassed my expectations for a young adult thriller. Part of that may be that that was a low bar, but this series also managed to not make the mistake so many YA books do of having the characters seem either way too old or way too young. The teenage main characters—Jazz, Howie, and Connie—all felt like realistic 17-year-olds. They had the maturity responsibility of high school seniors, but they still had realistic limitations from their parents. They were frustrated with the power that was withheld from them because of the few months left before they turned 18, but also made the kind of irresponsible mistakes that come with being young. On the flip side, Lyga also managed to avoid the other common mistake of YA of writing the adults as children.
Secondly, while Jazz is emotionally removed, through the entire trilogy he avoids the trope of emotionless genius. Outside of just shutting down his emotions he shows other signs consistent with abused children, and through his perspective it can be seen that he does want to be able to emotionally connect, he just finds it hard. He also is clearly shown to not just be some kind of wonder kid. He's not a genius, he has a lot of expertise in one specific area, that came at a high cost. He also isn't always right.
Another aspect that impressed me was despite how many main characters there ended up being over the course of the series, they were all well developed and felt like real people. Most of the background characters did too.
One thing that I personally liked was that unlike many police procedural stories, there isn't a narrative of "the police/FBI/government are always right, and when they violate your rights it's justified". Part of this probably is that most of the characters don't work for the police or FBI, but even most of those who do don't just detain people or break in some place to search on a hunch, they go through the process of getting a warrant, even if it's difficult. I think this is especially important since the target audience for this book is teenagers, who are getting to the age where they have to worry about the legal consequences of their actions and know their rights.
One last thing about the series as a whole is that it was clearly meticulously planned. Every detail flows through all three books consistently and what seem like frivolous details from the first book become important in the end.
Book 1: I Hunt Killers 4/5 stars
In my opinion, this was the strongest book in the series. The opening scene was engaging and draws the reader in. A lot of backstory is explained, but there are few info dumps. While there are many plot twists and red herrings, none of them feel too forced. I don't have a lot to say about this book that hasn't been covered above.
Book 2: Game 2.5/5 stars & Book 3: Blood of My Blood 3/5 stars
For a start, the pacing was all wonky because of it. Almost all of book 2 was rising action, the climax began at the very end of the book and there was no conclusion. Book 2 on its own had no plot arc. I understand, and even appreciate when books in series don't rap up every loose thread to leave mystery for later on, but still each book should have a plot of its own. Game didn't.
This left Blood of My Blood in an awkward situation because in order to keep the momentum from Game going and not have most of the book be wrapping up loose ends, there was constant action. There was always some fight happening somewhere. Laws were being broken. There was chase scene after chase scene. And it just got exhausting. I honestly enjoyed Howie and Connie's scenes the most because they were the only ones who weren't too busy to have any sort of character development.
On that note, one thing I think BoMB did well was portray trauma. A lot of action books either have their characters walk away with seemingly no psychological harm or just close off emotionally. In BoMB Connie has trouble trusting people and feeling safe after she gets kidnapped, but she knows that her friends and family are worth trusting, so she works on it. There are similar scenes with other characters.
Overall, I think Game and BoMB should have just been one book and that would have solved most of the problems.
I'll start with some thoughts on the series overall. Firstly, it surpassed my expectations for a young adult thriller. Part of that may be that that was a low bar, but this series also managed to not make the mistake so many YA books do of having the characters seem either way too old or way too young. The teenage main characters—Jazz, Howie, and Connie—all felt like realistic 17-year-olds. They had the maturity responsibility of high school seniors, but they still had realistic limitations from their parents. They were frustrated with the power that was withheld from them because of the few months left before they turned 18, but also made the kind of irresponsible mistakes that come with being young. On the flip side, Lyga also managed to avoid the other common mistake of YA of writing the adults as children.
Secondly, while Jazz is emotionally removed, through the entire trilogy he avoids the trope of emotionless genius. Outside of just shutting down his emotions he shows other signs consistent with abused children, and through his perspective it can be seen that he does want to be able to emotionally connect, he just finds it hard. He also is clearly shown to not just be some kind of wonder kid. He's not a genius, he has a lot of expertise in one specific area, that came at a high cost. He also isn't always right.
Another aspect that impressed me was despite how many main characters there ended up being over the course of the series, they were all well developed and felt like real people. Most of the background characters did too.
One thing that I personally liked was that unlike many police procedural stories, there isn't a narrative of "the police/FBI/government are always right, and when they violate your rights it's justified". Part of this probably is that most of the characters don't work for the police or FBI, but even most of those who do don't just detain people or break in some place to search on a hunch, they go through the process of getting a warrant, even if it's difficult.
Spoiler
In the second book, evidence is even thrown out because Jazz got it by breaking into somebody's apartment.One last thing about the series as a whole is that it was clearly meticulously planned. Every detail flows through all three books consistently and what seem like frivolous details from the first book become important in the end.
Book 1: I Hunt Killers 4/5 stars
In my opinion, this was the strongest book in the series. The opening scene was engaging and draws the reader in. A lot of backstory is explained, but there are few info dumps. While there are many plot twists and red herrings, none of them feel too forced. I don't have a lot to say about this book that hasn't been covered above.
Book 2: Game 2.5/5 stars & Book 3: Blood of My Blood 3/5 stars
Spoiler
You can't talk about Game without talking about Blood of My Blood, because they felt more like one book than two. The end of Game could be thrown right in front of the beginning of Blood of My Blood, and if I hadn't read them before, I would think it was just a chapter break. I found this very frustrating.For a start, the pacing was all wonky because of it. Almost all of book 2 was rising action, the climax began at the very end of the book and there was no conclusion. Book 2 on its own had no plot arc. I understand, and even appreciate when books in series don't rap up every loose thread to leave mystery for later on, but still each book should have a plot of its own. Game didn't.
This left Blood of My Blood in an awkward situation because in order to keep the momentum from Game going and not have most of the book be wrapping up loose ends, there was constant action. There was always some fight happening somewhere. Laws were being broken. There was chase scene after chase scene. And it just got exhausting. I honestly enjoyed Howie and Connie's scenes the most because they were the only ones who weren't too busy to have any sort of character development.
On that note, one thing I think BoMB did well was portray trauma. A lot of action books either have their characters walk away with seemingly no psychological harm or just close off emotionally. In BoMB Connie has trouble trusting people and feeling safe after she gets kidnapped, but she knows that her friends and family are worth trusting, so she works on it. There are similar scenes with other characters.
Overall, I think Game and BoMB should have just been one book and that would have solved most of the problems.
imldsquared's review against another edition
5.0
I could not stop reading Jasper's story. This page turner, although realistically gruesome, is a wonderfully suspenseful read. I haven't given a book five stars in quite a while, but "I Hunt Killers" deserves nothing less.
jrosenstein's review against another edition
4.0
This is a seriously dark and wonderfully tense YA thriller, definitely not for the squeamish. Lyga starts with a fantastic concept and main character. Jasper (Jazz) is the son of a notorious serial killer, whose father tried to mold him into the perfect sociopath. With his father now in jail Jazz is trying to be a normal teenager, but he is haunted by his father's lessons. Those lessons prove useful, however, when a string of dead bodies starts to turn up in his small town. Jazz is a very well-realized character and his father, Billy, is a terrifying villain. Like Jazz, we are never quite sure if he will turn out to be his father's son or not. Lyga evokes a convincing atmosphere of dread and paranoia, and keeps you guessing till the end. This is a very promising start to a series.
paige555's review
5.0
stupid stupid paige was expecting a resolution at the end of this book even though it’s the first in a crime series
trinite's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jpustka's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to the audiobook version and really enjoyed it. The story is a creepy, fast-paced mystery told from the point of view of the son of an infamous serial killer. In spite of the subject matter, there are some humorous moments as well which give the story some levity and balance. The characters are interesting, too. The ending was a bit abrupt with a huge cliffhanger, so I am tracking down book #2 in the series right away.
blessedwannab's review against another edition
4.0
The Weight of Hate and Crazy
Jasper 'Jazz' Dent spent the first 13 years of his life raised by his father, the infamous Serial Killer Billy Dent. Billy Dent wasn't your typical Serial Killer either. He didn't have one specific type he killed, or prospected as he called it. His range for targets was very broad and he enjoyed switching up his methods which casued him to have many many different Serial Killer nicknames, and through it all he kept poor Jazz with him teaching him how to get away with the perfect murder and how to clean up blood spatters. His main job, other than training, was to hide his fathers "trophies" if the police ever came nosing around.
Why did Jazz do this? Well folks, he was just a kid. He was afraid of his father, he was manipulated, and like all kids are predisposed to do, he loved him. Thankfully, when he was 13 years old, Billy Dent was thrown in prison for his crimes. Unfortunately the damage was already done to Jazz's psyche.
Now at 17 he lives his life terrified that one day he's going to lose it and follow in his father's footsteps. He can still hear his father’s voice in his head telling him how good it feels to steal someone’s last breath. He knows he would be good at it, but he doesn't WANT to be evil. He aches to know that he is NOT a recreation or protégé of Billy Dent.
So when there's a murder in town and the body is missing 3 fingers (the middle one left behind as a sign) Jazz is POSITIVE that it's another Serial Killer. Worse, the town looks at him as a suspect because of who he is. What better way to clear his name and show that he can use the skills his father taught him for good than by calling on all of his training to help catch the killer!
And none of that was even a spoiler!
I really enjoyed this book. There were some scenes that broke my heart for poor Jazz, and there were others that had me scared for him. Never did I think he was evil, what I really thought was that he'd been damaged by his childhood so badly that there was not one aspect of himself that he could trust. If ever there was a character who should be allowed to throw themselves a pity party, well I would say it is absolutely Jasper Dent.
He had an amazing friendship with Connie and Howie, and I even liked the relationship that he had with G William. The book was even funny at times, thanks to sweet Howie. (Huge yay for a book where the main character is in an interracial relationship and actually talks about the hardships that come with that. I think it's the first one I've read.)
I Hunt Killers met all my expectations and while it's only a 4 star book I can't think of one single complaint, so in summary: Very Good Stuff!
Jasper 'Jazz' Dent spent the first 13 years of his life raised by his father, the infamous Serial Killer Billy Dent. Billy Dent wasn't your typical Serial Killer either. He didn't have one specific type he killed, or prospected as he called it. His range for targets was very broad and he enjoyed switching up his methods which casued him to have many many different Serial Killer nicknames, and through it all he kept poor Jazz with him teaching him how to get away with the perfect murder and how to clean up blood spatters. His main job, other than training, was to hide his fathers "trophies" if the police ever came nosing around.
Why did Jazz do this? Well folks, he was just a kid. He was afraid of his father, he was manipulated, and like all kids are predisposed to do, he loved him. Thankfully, when he was 13 years old, Billy Dent was thrown in prison for his crimes. Unfortunately the damage was already done to Jazz's psyche.
Now at 17 he lives his life terrified that one day he's going to lose it and follow in his father's footsteps. He can still hear his father’s voice in his head telling him how good it feels to steal someone’s last breath. He knows he would be good at it, but he doesn't WANT to be evil. He aches to know that he is NOT a recreation or protégé of Billy Dent.
So when there's a murder in town and the body is missing 3 fingers (the middle one left behind as a sign) Jazz is POSITIVE that it's another Serial Killer. Worse, the town looks at him as a suspect because of who he is. What better way to clear his name and show that he can use the skills his father taught him for good than by calling on all of his training to help catch the killer!
And none of that was even a spoiler!
I really enjoyed this book. There were some scenes that broke my heart for poor Jazz, and there were others that had me scared for him. Never did I think he was evil, what I really thought was that he'd been damaged by his childhood so badly that there was not one aspect of himself that he could trust. If ever there was a character who should be allowed to throw themselves a pity party, well I would say it is absolutely Jasper Dent.
He had an amazing friendship with Connie and Howie, and I even liked the relationship that he had with G William. The book was even funny at times, thanks to sweet Howie. (Huge yay for a book where the main character is in an interracial relationship and actually talks about the hardships that come with that. I think it's the first one I've read.)
I Hunt Killers met all my expectations and while it's only a 4 star book I can't think of one single complaint, so in summary: Very Good Stuff!
"...called nine-one-one," Howie was saying, "and then I heard something in the alleyway, so I went back there and" -Howie coughed- "and valiantly attacked his knife with my guts, to no avail."
"Did you get a good look at him? Could you describe him?"
Howie smiled wanly, "Yeah. He was about yay long," -he held up his hands, four inches apart- "thin, made of steel. Pointy. Sharp."
Jazz grinned despite himself.