Series: Standalone
Author: Meagan Spooner
Stars: 5 out of 5
Blurb:
Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them.
So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance.
Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?
***
Hunted by Meagan Spooner just might be my new favorite YA retelling of "Beauty and the Beast." I am a huge fan of fairy tales and retellings but not every retelling is done well. Authors have to manage a tricky balance between using enough of the original and adding enough twists to make the story unique. In my opinion, Ms. Spooner handled the balance wonderfully.
One of the biggest changes in this retelling is that Yeva, aka Beauty, is not a delicate rose, but a fierce hunter who tracks the Beast and tries to kill him in order to avenge a loved one. Yeva's father used to be the best hunter in the land before moving to the village and becoming a businessman to appease his wife, who worried about him doing such a dangerous job. Yeva is the youngest of three sisters and when her family went to the old hunting cabin, Yeva's father would teach her to hunt in the forest. Now that Yeva is older, her father and sisters encourage her to act like a lady and take her place in society. But when a risky business venture fails and her family loses everything, they are forced to sell their possessions and move to the old hunting cabin in the winter. Yeva's father returns to hunting but he doesn't allow Yeva to join him, though she practices hunting anyway while her father is gone. One night, her father returns rambling madly about a beast in the forest that he must hunt and when he leaves and does not return, Yeva sets out to track him down and bring him home. Yeva soon learns that the beast her father spoke of really does exist and she is captured and held prisoner by Beast, who needs her to hunt a creature to break his curse.
There is so much to love about Hunted and I will begin with the characters. Yeva is close to her two sisters, Asenka and Lena, and I love how the author portrayed their caring relationship. The sisters look out for each other, and when Solmir, a man that Asenka is smitten with, proposes instead to Yeva, Asenka sets aside her own hurt to support Yeva's good match. When Yeva's father loses everything, the sisters work together to prepare for the journey and turn the old cabin into their new home. The relationship between Yeva and her father is done equally well. The depth of Yeva's love for her family is the basis for her reactions and actions later on in the story when she tries to find her father and is trapped by the beast. That brings me to the next most important character - Beast. Between each chapter from Yeva's point of view is a short passage from the Beast's point of view, which gives an interesting look at his perspective and inner struggle. As with the original story, Beauty does eventually fall for Beast, but she has to overcome her hate for him that stems from something worse than just holding her father prisoner and then taking her in exchange, as is the premise in most versions. I won't say, however, what exactly drives Beauty's hate and need for vengeance because I don't want to give any spoilers. I like the way Spooner portrays Beauty's fluctuating emotions and guilt when she realizes her hate for the beast is waning. While Beast is struggling to overcome the beastly nature inside of him, Beauty is struggling with her feelings towards Beast.
Hunted is more than just its characters though, and the plot itself is just as worthy of praise. While the basics from the original are there - a beast under a curse and unable to speak of it, a beauty who must save the beast, and Beauty and the Beast finding their happily ever after - Spooner has added many new elements to make the story fresh and exciting. The biggest element, as I already mentioned, is that Beauty is a hunter. Another is that in this world, there are many other magical creatures, and beyond the normal forest where Yeva hunts is a magical forest where these creatures and Beast live. To break the curse, instead of Beauty needing to fall in love with the beast, she must hunt down one of these creatures, but Beast can't tell her what that creature is. The way Beauty has to break the curse is different because the reason for Beast's curse is different.This story is also different in that there are no invisible servants or servants turned into objects (sorry to anyone who was hoping for more talking candlesticks and clocks) to nudge Beauty towards loving Beast. The relationship that develops between them is due solely to their interactions with each other and not because of the influence of outside forces. Lastly, something that I really enjoyed was that at the end of the book, both Beauty and Beast realize they faced the same struggle all along, and they both learn the same lesson.
Of course, it would not matter if the story and the characters were amazing if the book was poorly written. Spooner makes the tale worth reading through in-depth world-building, vivid descriptions, complex characters, and well-crafted prose and dialogue.
Hunted is a book that I would highly recommend to YA readers as well as adults who enjoy fairy tale retellings.
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