For Gene and the remaining humans—or hepers—death is just a heartbeat away. On the run and hunted by society, they must find a way to survive in The Vast... and avoid the hungry predators tracking them in the dark. But they’re not the only things following Gene. He’s haunted by the girl he left behind and his burgeoning feelings for Sissy, the human girl at his side.
When they discover a refuge of exiled humans living high in the mountains, Gene and his friends think they’re finally safe. Led by a group of intensely secretive elders, the civilisation begins to raise more questions than answers. A strict code of behaviour is the rule, harsh punishments are meted out, young men are nowhere to be found—and Gene begins to wonder if the world they’ve entered is just as evil as the one they left behind. As life at the refuge grows more perilous, he and Sissy only grow closer. In an increasingly violent world, all they have is each other... if they can only stay alive.
This book takes place right where The Hunt left off. Gene is escaping on the boat with the other humans, still reeling about the fact that The Scientists and his father are one and the same. They're on the hunt for the paradise that The Scientist mentioned and when they come across a village of humans, they think that they must have found paradise, but is it? Gene and Sissy have far too many questions about this society, like where are all the young boys and why are there no adult women in this society? And where did Gene's father go? But this village does not like Gene and Sissy asking questions...
So, I liked this one better than The Hunt. My main issue with The Hunt was that there were just far too many plot holes in the worldbuilding. There are still plot holes, but The Prey actually tries to address some of the questions I had before. I wondered at some points whether Fukuda was just making stuff up as he goes because some things just did not connect, but I must admit that he actually did think through some details. They just don't correlate because no one has the real answer and people seem to be making their own history. In this book, it is really starting to be a hunt (haha) for answers rather than just for survival, which I thought was interesting. Again, there are still holes in the story, but it did not bother me as much in this book.
This book focuses more on the humans rather than the vampires, so if you want to see vampires, this may be disappointing. This did make the book seem more akin to the run-of-the-mill dystopian at points, they literary run into a totalitarian (and misogynistic) society. There are still some unique details though and there are plenty of twists throughout the story, so it is not as predictable as the first book. Although, some points are still predictable.
As for Gene, I sometimes have difficulty with his character because he makes stupid decisions. I did not particularly like him in the first book because he thought himself better than other humans. I chalked it up to how he was raised, but I'm not sure whether he has changed. There is a point where he actually mentions that he does not care whether the girls in the village die "because they brought it on themselves". They did not. They were innocents. I think he still doesn't care about humans, mostly just himself. He extends his care-meter to Sissy, but that's it. By the way, Ashley June is hardly ever mentioned in this book. There is a point in this book that he is given the opportunity to abandon everyone, yet again, and he almost took it. I got so angry for a little bit because it was seeming like he was being selfish again and there was no character growth. But...he did come through.
As for the other characters, we do see a lot more of the Dome humans, mainly Sissy. Sissy is a very prominent character in this book. The others are off having fun in the village. Did I care about them? Yes. Did I feel like I knew them? No. We still aren't really given a chance to know them and I kept getting the boys mixed up. Again, Sissy is a prominent character and I like her character, a lot more than Gene's. There is a hint of a romance, just a small hint, which I'm glad for because I don't like romance overpowering a book. In fact, I don't really want a romance between Gene and Sissy because I think they are strong as a team.
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, I did like this better than the first book. There was more worldbuilding and a lot of twists. I still have some qualms, but I plan on reading the last book in the series.
I hereby give this book
3 Stars
Meaning: I liked it.
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