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omair's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
Hunted is an easy read, with short chapters that change scenes at a frantic pace. Mixed with the extremely generic world - more on this in a moment - everything feels foggy or blurry. If this is by design, as I'm choosing to believe to credit author Darcy Coates, then it meets the mood at every turn of the page. If you don't believe this to be intentional, well, then the cracks in the story will likely prove to be too great.
From the first paragraphs, Hunted really imparts a vision of a horror B-movie, something made to be straight to streaming. The character and story tropes are laid on thick
One of our main POVs
And with that, the mystery is afoot... except that it's not really a mystery at all. Pay just a bit of attention, and you quickly
But what it does lack is anything to really draw you in, to get lost amidst the details or to feel transported into its world. Nothing feels particularly vibrant or lived in. Frankly, I found myself questioning when and where the story takes place. It may as well be set in an alternate USA where they did adopt the metric system and Zuckerberg's rise stalled well into the 2010's.
In the end, I did not hate reading it, nor did I particularly enjoy it, but - most telling for me - I'm not even sure I'll remember having done so a month from now. As such, it's hard for me to recommend this to others, but maybe it'll be a guilty pleasure read for you. I finished it over the course of two nights, so could be worth for anyone wanting to sneak in a title while waiting for a hold on something else.
Graphic: Murder, Abandonment, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Suicide, Gun violence, and Stalking
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Mental illness, Self harm, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Classism, Miscarriage, Vomit, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts
natsirt_was_taken's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Gore and Death
honorfodder's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Pros:
-easy read
-suspenseful scenarios
-great build up of clues to the finale
Cons:
-short chapters jumping from each protagonist make things disorienting when things ramp up
-characters are shallow and frustrating in the beginning half of the story
Overall a great read. Would recommend to those starting thriller/horror genre
Moderate: Blood, Murder, Death, and Gore
claude_'s review
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Stalking, Suicide, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness and Vomit
Minor: Alcoholism
maregred's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Violence, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Minor: Alcoholism
elentikvah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Overall, the premise is that a young woman disappears off a forest hiking trail, leaving behind only some cryptic photographs. Driven by concern for her safety and grief, her friends attempt to find her - therein horrific chaos ensues, with a surprising (maybe?) whodunit plot twist.
After reading three different "horror" books this month, I think that this just isn't the genre for me. This particular book was reasonably well-crafted, and it was an ok storyline, but it felt predictable and not at all scary to me.
Rating 3/5 stars
~409 pages
Kindle
Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence and Miscarriage
Don'tSplitTheParty!sasisaskia's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Gore and Death
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Homophobia and Ableism
witchy_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Stalking, Alcoholism, Death, Murder, Suicide, Torture, and Gore
Moderate: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Vomit, and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy
ahbmacgregor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Aside from Todd (ugh), none of the character perspectives were flawed in an annoying/frustrating way, and at least Todd feels less present when more perspectives are introduced.
The twist was guessable, but not in a way that felt obvious and more like a reward for paying attention. In some ways it felt like the final confrontations were with the wrong people/not enough people, but that wasn't enough to ruin the book. It's worth picking this up if you don't mind some horror tropes and semi-expected beats.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Gun violence, Gore, Blood, Body horror, and Violence
Moderate: Stalking, Miscarriage, and Grief
Minor: Vomit
snaggy95's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, and Murder