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missyansell's review
3.0
Learn the wisdom of the Hound. Always rest, eat, and play when you can, because the universe conspires to keep you from doing any of these things nearly as often as you would like.
3.5 stars
Continues Joy's life in Apex as an Elite Hunter. The attacks on the othersiders are getting worse. Joy is also patrolling the sewers because she was requested by her uncle to do so. Psimons keep showing up dead in the tunnels and Joy doesn't know why.
Joy still irks me a bit, and I don't find her that interesting. I still feel like things come way too easily for her. I want her to work hard, to sweat a bit. I still like the world and the premise of the different monsters, just wish Joy wasn't the main character.
3.5 stars
Continues Joy's life in Apex as an Elite Hunter. The attacks on the othersiders are getting worse. Joy is also patrolling the sewers because she was requested by her uncle to do so. Psimons keep showing up dead in the tunnels and Joy doesn't know why.
Joy still irks me a bit, and I don't find her that interesting. I still feel like things come way too easily for her. I want her to work hard, to sweat a bit. I still like the world and the premise of the different monsters, just wish Joy wasn't the main character.
joylene45's review
3.0
So, I listened to about 60% of this book and then something happened and my progress got erased. I genuinely wasn't sure if I somehow finished it and just didn't notice. So I started book 3 and I had obviously missed some stuff, but it didn't seem important enough to try to figure out where I had lost my place.
yapha's review
4.0
Joyeaux is now an Elite Hunter. With her pack of 11 magical hounds, she can work either alone or with a small team of other Hunters. Because of this, her uncle (the head of police) gives her a special assignment -- to patrol the storm drains underneath the city. Something strange is happening down there, something that her uncle does not want made public yet. As Joy begins that assignment, other unusual events begin to occur. There are severe storms, the likes of which have not been seen in Apex in long time. New Otherworlders are appearing in unusual places. And massive attacks of the regular Otherworlders are happening with alarming frequency. Joy's abilities are tested and her limits are stretched as she works to protect those she loves. Must read Hunter first. Recommended for grades 6 & up.
drolefille's review
I just find this series really novel. In a world of dystopian YA novels with young female protaganists, this is a post-apocalyptic fantasy dystopia where our world is being attacked by the faerie tale monsters that used to be nothing but myth. Our protaganist uses her brains and magic and has adorable psychadelic 'hounds' that hunt the big bad monsters with her.
You're as likely to find Thunderbirds as Naga as D&D style "Beholders".
This is a really good second novel to me, because it gets our main character away from the 'ratings' drive that made the first feel particularly Hunger Gamesy. And while this series certainly owes a nod to Hunger Games, it's also not that different from Lackey's Valdemar novels in its own way. Chosen one books all have to work like this whether the 'chosen' is one of many or a singular one.
You're as likely to find Thunderbirds as Naga as D&D style "Beholders".
This is a really good second novel to me, because it gets our main character away from the 'ratings' drive that made the first feel particularly Hunger Gamesy. And while this series certainly owes a nod to Hunger Games, it's also not that different from Lackey's Valdemar novels in its own way. Chosen one books all have to work like this whether the 'chosen' is one of many or a singular one.
bibliomaineiac's review against another edition
4.0
The second installment in the Hunter series was a bit better than the first. The writing seemed a bit better, and I was invested in getting to the end to find out what was going on. Already looking forward to the third, and I assume final?, book. Thankfully, I have it somewhere in my collection.
agn946's review
5.0
*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5
I don’t know if I’ve been meta-analyzing books for too long, but I found myself willfully resisting the urge to do so with this book. What I mean is that when I started reading it (more or less directly after finishing the first book in the series, Hunter), I found myself spending a lot of time trying to decide if I liked the way Lackey was trying to give enough background information for people jumping in cold vs. hampering the plot developing. From there ,I found myself trying to decide if the pacing of the overarching story was well done. While I have answers to both of these things now (if you are curious, I think she kept it about as short as she could and I actually loved the pacing since it didn’t seemed rushed, respectively) I found I had a lot more fun reading this book when I just took it for the story it is without trying to over think it. And I have to say the result was one of the more immersive experiences I’ve had with a book in a while.
I get scared with sequels, particularly of YA, when I like the first book in a series. A lot of times, authors seem to use the first story to build a great world in the opener and then just hit the turbo button to too-fast-developing-not-super-thought-out plot in book two. This book absolutely did not do that. At one point I found myself thinking that this book can feel at times feel like it is just an extension of adventures from part one, which some may see as a negative but I really enjoyed. This is not to say that the larger plot does not advance. There are a lot of pretty important developments and the conflicts between the different government programs that are theoretically all supposed to be working together is particularly interesting, however, this information is spread out throughout the book with fun “hunts” and social activity thrown in so it feels like a much more natural progression of story than other books I have read.
The conceit that was hinted at in the previous book that all of the Othersiders are represented in some way in human folklore or mythology is expanded upon in this book in an incredibly interesting way which opens up for even more questions about the worlds relationship with the Otherside. I also found the consistency of magic in this universe to be very satisfying. There is something almost scientific about the way magic usage is explained in this world and it leads to new discoveries in magic to be satisfying as a reader rather than random and like a crutch of some type to advance the plot.
Overall I was pleasantly surprised that I liked this book even more than the first one. All the things I said in my previous review remain true, especially that the characters seem to act the way people really would which is something I love particularly in YA. Now I just hope that the series does not suffer from my other largest concern which is not knowing how to end which retroactively makes me not enjoy the previous books as much, but for now I can confidently say that I cannot recommend this series enough if you are at all interested in YA fantasy!
Also posted on Purple People Readers.
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5
I don’t know if I’ve been meta-analyzing books for too long, but I found myself willfully resisting the urge to do so with this book. What I mean is that when I started reading it (more or less directly after finishing the first book in the series, Hunter), I found myself spending a lot of time trying to decide if I liked the way Lackey was trying to give enough background information for people jumping in cold vs. hampering the plot developing. From there ,I found myself trying to decide if the pacing of the overarching story was well done. While I have answers to both of these things now (if you are curious, I think she kept it about as short as she could and I actually loved the pacing since it didn’t seemed rushed, respectively) I found I had a lot more fun reading this book when I just took it for the story it is without trying to over think it. And I have to say the result was one of the more immersive experiences I’ve had with a book in a while.
I get scared with sequels, particularly of YA, when I like the first book in a series. A lot of times, authors seem to use the first story to build a great world in the opener and then just hit the turbo button to too-fast-developing-not-super-thought-out plot in book two. This book absolutely did not do that. At one point I found myself thinking that this book can feel at times feel like it is just an extension of adventures from part one, which some may see as a negative but I really enjoyed. This is not to say that the larger plot does not advance. There are a lot of pretty important developments and the conflicts between the different government programs that are theoretically all supposed to be working together is particularly interesting, however, this information is spread out throughout the book with fun “hunts” and social activity thrown in so it feels like a much more natural progression of story than other books I have read.
The conceit that was hinted at in the previous book that all of the Othersiders are represented in some way in human folklore or mythology is expanded upon in this book in an incredibly interesting way which opens up for even more questions about the worlds relationship with the Otherside. I also found the consistency of magic in this universe to be very satisfying. There is something almost scientific about the way magic usage is explained in this world and it leads to new discoveries in magic to be satisfying as a reader rather than random and like a crutch of some type to advance the plot.
Overall I was pleasantly surprised that I liked this book even more than the first one. All the things I said in my previous review remain true, especially that the characters seem to act the way people really would which is something I love particularly in YA. Now I just hope that the series does not suffer from my other largest concern which is not knowing how to end which retroactively makes me not enjoy the previous books as much, but for now I can confidently say that I cannot recommend this series enough if you are at all interested in YA fantasy!
Also posted on Purple People Readers.
ryanbroadfoot's review
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
remdelacrem's review
3.0
Joy is back with the gang but this time she’s not just a hunter, she’s elite. She’s ready to protect the sits and find out who is trying to kill her. Also, what’s up with that pesky Mage Lord?
Solid second book, the characters are still growing and interesting while the plot moves along nicely. It’s noting outstanding but still a really enjoyable read.
Solid second book, the characters are still growing and interesting while the plot moves along nicely. It’s noting outstanding but still a really enjoyable read.
faeriedrumsong's review
3.0
Entertaining sequel. I'm not banging down the doors for the next one, but I'll probably read it in between books that I'm waiting for.