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A review by dijeye
Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia
2.0
I picked up a copy of Monster Hunter International at a used bookstore and started reading it while I waited for the last installment of the Iron Druid series to come out on paperback. In the beginning, it was a fun read. Exciting, lots happening quickly, somewhat interesting story of a guy (Owen) getting sucked into the world of monsters and hunting them after a werewolf attack left him hospitalized. Since I'm a diehard Supernatural fan, the similarities to that show are obvious, but I kept reading.
My interest started fading when the "love" story began. We meet Julie, the rough and ready hunter who is smart, a great hunter, and also gorgeous (of course). Not only that, she's and totally into guns, like our main character. He instantly falls in love with her, regardless of her equally gorgeous hunter boyfriend, Grant.
The plot becomes muddled, in my opinion, with vampires, master vampires, Julie's screwed up family, the "Cursed One" and visions that Owen has (with no explanation of how or why) involving a tattooed man and a long-dead Polish hunter who has experience with the Cursed One and is trying to "show" Owen what to do to stop him.
During the many, many, many fight scenes that drag on, we see Owen endlessly "trying to protect" Julie and willingly putting himself in harms way to do so. If Julie is so badass, has a boyfriend and has been a hunter all these years, why does the author feel it necessary to have Owen, a newbie hunter, obligated to protect her? Too much machismo and testosterone for my liking.
Then, Grant essentially leaves Owen to die during a vampire fight - of course Owen lives - but we start seeing totally obvious attempts at making Grant a huge jerk. Up to this point, we know Grant is arrogant, pretentious and rude, but now he's a grade-A asshole who is okay to hate. To make matters worse, he gets kidnapped by evil forces and one hot second later, Julie is hooking up with Owen. No breakup. No real attempt at searching for him. Just hopping into bed with Owen and within days announcing she's in love, too. Seriously? We're supposed to think Julie is a cool chick, she digs guns and killing monsters, she's smart, she's beautiful, and yet she isn't grownup enough to end one relationship before beginning a new one? We're supposed to be okay with her boyfriend getting kidnapped by vampires and her cheating on him - literally within days? No thanks.
And what about our hero, Owen? We find out late in the book that he is "the one" who can stop the world from ending. Kind of cheesy, but okay. However, I have issues with this type of character and this kind of story, especially so early in a series. Where are we supposed to go next if he saves the world from master vampires and an all-powerful "Cursed One" in the first book? I mean, it's essentially saving us from the apocalypse, where do you go next?
I slogged through the second half of the book and lost all will to read the last 100 pages. It was over 700 pages long and could've easily cut 250 of those and been a much tighter, and more interesting, story. I didn't even care about the final big battle because I didn't care at all about Julie, or Owen, at this point. I finished it last night after skimming the last few pages so it would be over. Not the mark of a successful book for me.
In the beginning, I was entertained. I was thinking I might look for the next couple books in the series, but halfway through I knew I wouldn't continue. I don't think the main characters (especially Julie) were well written, was so bored with the endless fight scenes and felt the love story was juvenile and poorly executed.
My interest started fading when the "love" story began. We meet Julie, the rough and ready hunter who is smart, a great hunter, and also gorgeous (of course). Not only that, she's and totally into guns, like our main character. He instantly falls in love with her, regardless of her equally gorgeous hunter boyfriend, Grant.
The plot becomes muddled, in my opinion, with vampires, master vampires, Julie's screwed up family, the "Cursed One" and visions that Owen has (with no explanation of how or why) involving a tattooed man and a long-dead Polish hunter who has experience with the Cursed One and is trying to "show" Owen what to do to stop him.
During the many, many, many fight scenes that drag on, we see Owen endlessly "trying to protect" Julie and willingly putting himself in harms way to do so. If Julie is so badass, has a boyfriend and has been a hunter all these years, why does the author feel it necessary to have Owen, a newbie hunter, obligated to protect her? Too much machismo and testosterone for my liking.
Then, Grant essentially leaves Owen to die during a vampire fight - of course Owen lives - but we start seeing totally obvious attempts at making Grant a huge jerk. Up to this point, we know Grant is arrogant, pretentious and rude, but now he's a grade-A asshole who is okay to hate. To make matters worse, he gets kidnapped by evil forces and one hot second later, Julie is hooking up with Owen. No breakup. No real attempt at searching for him. Just hopping into bed with Owen and within days announcing she's in love, too. Seriously? We're supposed to think Julie is a cool chick, she digs guns and killing monsters, she's smart, she's beautiful, and yet she isn't grownup enough to end one relationship before beginning a new one? We're supposed to be okay with her boyfriend getting kidnapped by vampires and her cheating on him - literally within days? No thanks.
And what about our hero, Owen? We find out late in the book that he is "the one" who can stop the world from ending. Kind of cheesy, but okay. However, I have issues with this type of character and this kind of story, especially so early in a series. Where are we supposed to go next if he saves the world from master vampires and an all-powerful "Cursed One" in the first book? I mean, it's essentially saving us from the apocalypse, where do you go next?
I slogged through the second half of the book and lost all will to read the last 100 pages. It was over 700 pages long and could've easily cut 250 of those and been a much tighter, and more interesting, story. I didn't even care about the final big battle because I didn't care at all about Julie, or Owen, at this point. I finished it last night after skimming the last few pages so it would be over. Not the mark of a successful book for me.
In the beginning, I was entertained. I was thinking I might look for the next couple books in the series, but halfway through I knew I wouldn't continue. I don't think the main characters (especially Julie) were well written, was so bored with the endless fight scenes and felt the love story was juvenile and poorly executed.