The Hunt (Hunt Trilogy, #1)

by Andrew Fukuda

Against all odds, 17-year-old Gene has survived in a world where humans have been eaten to near extinction by the general population. The only remaining humans, or hepers as they are known, are housed in domes on the savannah and studied at the nearby Heper Institute. Every decade there is a government sponsored hunt. When Gene is selected to be one of the combatants he must learn the art of the hunt but also elude his fellow competitors whose suspicions about his true nature are growing.

• ISBN10: 0857075411
• ISBN13: 9780857075413
• Publish Date: 10 May 2012 (first published 8 May 2012)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 10 April 2015
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[melanchalina]

Отзыв:
Представьте себе мир, где практически не осталось людей. Где они считаются деликатесом, изысканным блюдом. Где ни у кого нет имен. Никто не выражает эмоцией и не любит солнце. Это мир, в котором живет Джин, главный герой серии «Охота». Человек, тайно живущий среди вампиров. И для того чтобы выжить, он должен скрывать свою сущность, иначе ему грозит смерть.

Это очень, очень странная книга. Вызывающая абсолютно такие же эмоции. Вроде и интересная задумка, собственно из-за которой я и начала читать книгу, но с другой удивительная нелогичность. Просто невозможно, чтобы герой так долго смог скрывать свою сущность. Никак. Он каждый день, перед школой проделывает массу процедур: полностью бреется (ведь у вампиров нет волос на теле), умывается (вампиры не потеют и не пахнут), тренируется не выражать никаких эмоций: нельзя улыбаться, морщиться, хихикать, зевать… Он никогда не болеет, он даже ни разу не испытывал недомогания от того, что постоянно питался сырым мясом. Как такое, черт возьми это возможно. Максимум он смог бы продержаться месяц. Ни больше. Да это мистика, антиутопия, несуществующая реальность, но даже в выдуманных мирах должны действовать законы логики.

Как я уже говорила сама идея довольно захватывающая и интересная, но исполнение далеко от совершенства. Читателям предоставляется новый взгляд на вампиров, их реальность. Но вот что я хочу сказать, дорогие авторы, если вы решаете стать профессиональным писателем, то пожалуйста потрудитесь в своих творениях предоставить читателям побольше справочной информации. Нам не обязательно знать все на свете, до малейших подробностей, но по крайней мере мне было бы интересно узнать, как наш мир оказался в таком состоянии? Как вампиры захватили власть во всем мире? Откуда они появились? Как размножаются (у них довольно странный секс, к слову)? Весь мир захвачен вампирами или только США? И почему, черт возьми, Джин так мало знает о собственном виде, его наследии? Неужели его отец ничего ему не рассказывал? Почему Джин предпочел слиться с этими существами, чем попытаться бежать и найти других людей? Почему он просто не стал одним из них? Слишком много вопросов и слишком мало ответов.

Что насчет персонажей? Не могу сказать, что они вызвали у меня какие-то особые эмоции.
Главный герой довольно несообразительный и глупый. Он не воспринимает себя как человека. Он настолько сжился со своей маской, что считает себя выше других обычных людей. И когда у него есть шанс им помочь, просто рассказав правду, он не делает этого. Он использует их пищу, воду, но не делает никакой попытки дать им хоть малейший шанс на спасение. С одной стороны мне нравятся эгоистичные герои. Не подвластные эмоциям жалости, с другой автор мог бы сохранить такой образ Джина, но при этом сделав его… более человечным что ли. Да, да, знаю звучит противоречиво, но так и есть.

Самое забавное, что с Пепельным Июнем все это работает наоборот. Практически все те же самые черты – придают ей шарм, выделяют ее из ряда других героинь YA. Не смотря на то что она так же относится к обычным людям, как и Джин, но с другой стороны, она сделала так много для него.

Определенно творческая книга, но очень сырая. Я капризный читатель, я люблю логику, продуманность. И да, идея Охоты действительно напоминает Голодные Игры, конечно, это совершенно разные книги, с разными концепциями, но что-то общее прослеживается. В общем продолжение я почитаю, когда оно выйдет, так как конец довольно неплохой вышел, но эта не та книга/серия, которая заставляет меня мгновенно искать продолжение и переживать за то, что дальше придумает автор. В моем личном списке серия находится в разделе «На испытательном сроке».

[layawaydragon]

I won a copy of both books, The Hunt and The Prey through a giveaway on The Reading Date.

The Hunt is different than the other vampire books I’ve read. The world, the protag set up, the vampire society. I love how they justify humans aka “hepers” as being a barbaric and atavistic. It’s a dystopian horror with action, drama, suspense and a bit of instalove. Thankfully, the romance doesn’t steal the show though they are stupidly in love.

I just wish we had more background information. Like how the vamps came about and their society. It’s fascinating. It’s the best of traditional vamps with new tidbits that mix and match so well. Their social gestures and the armpit thing? OMG.

Gene’s life masquerading is terrifying and the consequences of his thinking like them is heartbreaking. It’s very well done. The scene with the little girl in kindergarten is still haunting me. Again, I’d love more information like how the hell they figured it out and got their supplies. But that wasn’t enough to hinder my enjoyment or yank me out of the story completely.

Thankfully, I have The Prey right here to read once I’m done with this review!

[inlibrisveritas]

The Hunt was a book I initially went wild for, I needed to have it…but then everyone started focuses on the weirder side of the book and I didn’t feel as confident in it anymore. However when I saw it at the library I put all that aside and took a chance, and it turns out it was just what I was initially hoping for. A world filled to the brim with vampires and a place where being human is a very quick death sentence.

The story follows Gene, a human among the ravenous vampires. Every aspect of his life is carefully constructed to appear as a normal vampire. He has to act, think, and talk like them…and he goes through some serious trouble making sure he looks and smells like one. Of course everything becomes worse when his name it pulled for The Hunt, which is basically like a lottery where instead of money you get the chance to hunt down and kill a human. I loved the world that Fukuda created. It’s gritty, dark, and full of monsters. I’m all for vampires that feed first and ask questions never, and these are so far gone that a human drives them crazy. Of course there is the odd quirky behaviour that they exhibit which involves scratching their wrists for amusement and odd placement of pleasure nerves, and while I was kind of confused as to why it’s not that big a deal. It’s kind of slow to build up as the world is established and my interest waned from time to time, but after it hit a fast pace it never slowed down. I just wish it had some of that same gusto towards the beginning.

Gene is quite the interesting guy. While he is in fact human in some ways he’s more vampire in nature when it comes to the simple things. It’s interesting to see that even things like smiling or laughing don’t come naturally to him anymore. It’s also interesting to see what happens when fear kicks in and how he’s normal humanity comes quite quickly.

Overall it’s a great concept and it’s definitely something I look forward to continuing. This is what I look for in YA vampire lit. It has the grit, the fear, and it brings something new to the table. Of course it helps that the ending drove me crazy! It’s not a cliffhanger but it definitely feels like one.

[notajammiedodger]

The first thing I have to say about this book is that ending!!!!! Oh my god! That was just torture. There is going to be a second book right? There has to be. I didn't love this book, I didn't hate it either, but after that ending I am going to have to find out what happens to the characters. This is a really original story, not like anything that I have ever read before.

Gene is one of the few lottery winners that were randomly selected to participate in the hunt. But during the "training" process, the other hunters begin to become suspicious of Gene's true nature. So while trying to find a way to get out of being in the hunt, without raising any question, he must also try to hide who or rather what he really is.

At the beginning of the book Gene really annoyed me, he frequently thinks back to his father telling him 'Never forget who you are', but I really felt as though he had. He looks at hepers and thinks of them with slight disgust, when he is one of them. Still looks at them as stupid savages, when he should know full well that they are intelligent. I can kind of understand how he is like this, given the circumstances that he has had to live through, it would be hard not to lose yourself. I liked him a lot more when his true personality sort of broke through the facade that he had to put up for so long. I felt the same way about Ashley June, at the beginning we see her as snobby and controlling, and I didn't like it. But as you get to know her more you see that she isn't really like that.

I disliked the lack of background story to the world tat Gene lives in. I would have enjoyed a short history on how their world came to be run by vampires with no humans in sight. I know some people may have enjoyed the lack of boring description, but I personally felt a little lost without it. Although I am now going to hold out hope that if there is a sequel we will learn more in it. I also didn't particularly like how the vampires in this story were portrayed, that they actually eat human flesh, it was a little too freakishly cannibalistic for me. They were almost sort of like a completely different animal to humans, rather than really just being sort of evil super-humans, that's just how I see vampires though. So although I didn't personally like this interpretation, I do have an appreciation for people that put their own twists on things such as vampires.

I know there was quite a bit that I didn't like about the book, but it was really pretty good. I really liked the description of simple human actions like smiling, it really gives you the feel that they are pretty much in a different world. Also a little forewarning, there is a lot of talk of saliva and descriptions of the vampires turning to pus when they are in the sun, it is really gross. The description of the attack on the heper is not super graphic, but I would probably not recommend this book to fainthearted.

This was a really original story. Something that I have always wanted to see done, vampires taking everything over, and not like anything that I have ever read before. So I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Australia for giving me the chance to win this book to review.

This review is also on my blog The Confessions of a Book Nerd :)

[kimbacaffeinate]

see more of this review and others on my blog Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda is the first in a brilliant new series. Fukuda has created a terrifying world in which vampires rule and humans are almost extinct. I consumed this dark tale in a few hours and it quickly became one of my favorite reads for 2012. Gone are the vampires that sparkle! In Fukuda’s dystopian world we hide among these vicious killers. This tale was fast paced, horrifying and delicious!

When the tale begins we meet seventeen year old, human protagonist Gene. He is in high school and trying to blend in. He knows the rules, his father taught him well. One slip and he will be devoured. Gene lives in a vampire world, where the day begins at dusk and ends at sunrise. He has been on his own since his father was bitten years ago. He is brilliant, but is careful not to stand out. Everyday is a challenge and only during daylight hours can he be himself. While at school it is announced that the ruler will address the nation. This causes immediate salivating and mass speculation amount the vampire students. The last time the ruler address the nation was ten years ago, when he announced a Heper Hunt. This is a huge event. Several heper’s (humans) are released into the wild, and a select few chosen by lottery get to hunt and devour them. *Gulp* You guessed it, there will be a new Heper Hunt and Gene as well as Ashley a young girl from his school are chosen to participate. Before Gene can even think, he is whisked away and taken along with seven others to the Heper Institute. Here they go through training, attend galas and prepare for the hunt. The tale that unfolds is splendid, steeped in horror and riddled with tension and fear. I was captivated from page one, quoting the book by chapter three and running to the computer to check for book two’s release date by the end. The ending wasn’t really a cliff-hanger but the last sentence just about blew my friggin mind.

I absolutely without a doubt loved the human characters. Fukuda does an extraordinary job of giving them depth and believability. The complications that arise from living in a vampire world are astronomical and his attention to all these quirks was quite enthralling. His depiction of this particular species of vampires and their habits was entrancing. The scene where an adolescent vampire gets her first kiss was both creepy and mind-boggling. Fukuda created a complete language for the vampires. The way they expressed emotions and communicated with each other was fascinating. The vampires themselves are incredibly creepy and at times behaved in an animalist way that I found terrifying. The romance that develops is secondary to the tale, but sweet and genuine. I really connected with these characters. Their hopes, fears and desires became mine.

We are giving very little detail about how the world came to be populated almost entirely by vampires and quite frankly I didn’t really care. The world Fukuda creates is unique, original and detailed. Parts of it were horrifying and others made me laugh. I found the education on why Heper’s sing absolutely hilarious. His perception of how another species would perceive us was totally amazing. The Heper’s in captivity emulate humanities ability to survive and adapt. The choices Gene and Ashley must face are extraordinary and kept me completely engrossed. I love when a book consumes you, and this one left me spent and wanting more. The author's writing style was tight. He gave attention to detail while creating a tale that flowed exquisitely.

I highly recommend The Hunt to fans of dystopian and fantasy. Can you tell I like this one?*scratches wrist* Novels like this are why I became such an avid reader. There is nothing like the high a good book delivers and The Hunt left me well satisfied and craving more.

[Amber]

LOVED this one! 4.5 stars/Essential. So creepy.

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Review: http://www.booksofamber.com/2012/04/hunt-by-andrew-fukuda.html

This book is an absolute pleasure to read! I was hooked from the start, and I kept reading well into the night to finish this. All the way up to the ending, this book was fast paced and wonderfully written, and then it went out with a bang! It also left me on a bit of a cliffhanger, that I certainly hadn't seen coming, so that was AWESOME.

The setting is really, really creepy. I'm probably going to overuse that word. This is a dystopian, set in a world in which humans are hunted by these vampire-like beasts. Humans are thought to be practically extinct. The main character, Gene, blends into society by acting like one of the beasts (I'm not sure what to call them, because they're not called vampires in the book, and they don't really have a name for their species).

What I found creepy is the way these things acted, and how Gene was surrounded by them every day. For example, they lacked emotion for the most part and when they thought things were funny, they scratched their wrists. Now this might now sound creepy, but while I was reading I got goose bumps.

Is it bad if I compare this book to The Hunger Games? I noticed some similarities in the way the hunters were chosen (the people who had to go and hunt the humans), the way they were prepared in the run up to the Hunt, and how two people were chosen to be 'winners'. I don't mind this, but it's just something I thought I would mention! Maybe it's just because I went to watch The Hunger Games movie shortly before starting this book.

Gene was a great protagonist, and I loved how he managed to blend in with the society for so long. We learn a lot about his backstory, and about his family, although some of it still remains a mystery so I hope we learn about that in the next book! I'm sure we will.

I was surprised at how little Gene cared about the other humans (or hepers, as they are called in this book). He was ready to sacrifice them for himself, although he did show some remorse eventually, which I liked. I hope his character will continue to grow in the next book in the series, so he can learn that HE is human too.

One complaint I do have about him is that he is meant to be really clever, but he didn't come across that way to me, unfortunately. Maybe it's just academics that he excels in, rather than real life problems?

I really hated Ashley June. She was very bland, and chased after Gene for a long time. She also tried to persuade Gene to do things that I didn't like (that would be spoilery!). I hardly ever like female leads anyway, so this wasn't a big deal to me, though!

Overall, I loved this book! Such a great dystopian, and despite having vampire-like creatures, it didn't feel at all like a paranormal book. There was none of that lovey-dovey stuff with these creatures!