What happens when you discover you aren't who you thought you were? And that the person you love is the person who will betray you? If your fate is already determined, can you fight it?
When Evie Tremain discovers that she’s the last in a long line of Demon slayers and that she’s being hunted by an elite band of assassins –Shapeshifters, Vampires and Mixen demons amongst them – she knows she can’t run. They’ll find her wherever she goes. Instead she must learn to stand and fight.
But when the half-human, half-Shadow Warrior Lucas Gray is sent to spy on Evie and then ordered to kill her before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy, their fates become inextricably linked. The war that has raged for one thousand years between humans and demons is about to reach a devastating and inevitable conclusion. Either one or both of them will die before this war ends.
If your life becomes bound to another’s, what will it take to sever it?
Sigh. Lately, I've been feeling burned out by the ebooks on my 2012 shelf. I was hoping this one would break that, and for a bit it seemed like it would, but it just fell into so many different tropes.
Evie wants nothing more than to escape her small town and move to New York. She's been working multiple jobs trying to make enough money to leave, but one day after work she is attacked by strange creatures. They look sort of human, but it turns out they are the Unhuman, demons, and Evie is a Hunter. A Hunter is meant to hunt the demons, but Evie did not sign up for this life. She doesn't want to kill, but the Unhuman want her dead and she has to learn to protect herself. Lucas is half human, half Unhuman and is meant to kill Evie. He grows close to her, with the intention to learn Hunter secrets and betray her, but why is he protecting her?
There were interesting parts to this book and for a little while it felt like the book was giving a new spin on the demon hunter trope. There were new creatures and lore, but then there was no world-building really behind that. What started out feeling new turned into tired YA tropes. Both Evie and Lucas are orphans. Evie has one adopted parent still living, but she might as well not be in the book. Evie is the chosen one. There's a prophecy. It's just, I've read books like this before.
There just really wasn't any real development to the characters. It's almost like the book begins and the characters hadn't existed before. Sure, they both have tragic backstories, but a person is more than that. Evie is supposed to be seventeen (I think?) but there's barely any mention of school. I know that this is supposedly during the summer, but she also did not act like a seventeen-year-old. And why does she really want to go to New York? She's escaping her small town, but why New York? What does she expect to do there? There were other characters in the book that I really wanted to know more about. I already mentioned the mom, but I also really didn't get enough background information on the dynamic between those in the Brotherhood. And Risper, a Hunter a few years older than Evie with a strange hatred for her, was a super interesting character. She hardly got any time but I really wanted to know her backstory! Why couldn't she be the main character?
The romance was what really made me lose enjoyment in this book. 2012 wasn't that long ago but back then every YA book seemed to need romance. I'm not usually a big fan of romance in books because it's so easy to screw up and because, as someone who never wants to be in a romantic relationship, I sometimes want to see books where there is none. Lately, there are so many YA books without romance or if there is, there are less that rely on tropes. So, reading this book was disappointing. There was no build whatsoever for the romance. Yes, they start out kind of hating each other, but it was clear from the get-go that they were going to fall for each other. There is no given reason for why they fall in love! They just do! Lucas could've been a really interesting character, but he turns out to be a stereotypical love interest. He's superhot, so hot that all of the girls immediately get crushes on him and stare at him. The girls will glare at any other girls who talk to him because how dare they talk to the hot guy! UGH! Why do I see this sexist crap in books still? GIRLS DON'T ACT LIKE THIS! Lucas also stalks Evie, even spying on her when she is in her undies. Just what you want in a boyfriend.
IN CONCLUSION
I sound really angry, but I'm really just tired. I'm tired of seeing these cliches and this book honestly started out decently, but by the end I really didn't care what happened. I'm not going to continue the series, but I won't let this deter me from reading other books by Sarah Alderson.
I hereby give this book
2 Stars
Meaning: It was okay
No comments :
Post a Comment