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?
Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite stories, so I was excited to pick this one up.
This book was recommended to me a number of times when I mentioned that I was looking for a fairy-tale retelling. I enjoyed how Meagan Spooner weaved Russian folklore and history together with the original fairy tale. I thought it was a well-done overlaying of source materials. That being said, very little remains from the Disney movie(s). There are no talking teacups or musical numbers. Instead, Spooner switches out the fun and whimsy of Disney's versions for gritty realism.
I enjoyed how Hunted is a darker, more grim version of the story we all know and love. However, it does take longer for the bond for our Beauty and Beast to begin in truth, which, while more realistic, was a bit of a drawback for me as certain moments did not feel one hundred percent earned. I did enjoy alternative interpretations of certain characters (i.e. the "Gaston" character wasn't a selfish jerk in this story, and you feel sympathy for him and understand where he is coming from). I loved how supportive the sisters were of each other, and thought the characters of Yeva's two sisters was a great addition as it adds more to the stakes and gives Yeva something to look back on while she is with the Beast.
The writing style was very simple and easy to follow, making for a quick, easy read. I think that Meagan Spooner has a great writing voice, and I liked how she switched perspectives for each chapter, with Yeva's point of view for one chapter and Beast's point of view the next chapter. On the other hand, however, some things were drawn out too much in certain spots: it took too long to set up the actual meat of the story, which pulled me out of the narrative in parts. In certain moments near the end of the book, it felt like there was still more to be uncovered and not everything was on the table yet. In certain parts, the writing was spot on, beautiful and haunting, but in other parts it took way too long to get anywhere.
All in all, I liked Hunted just fine. I think it is a unique version of Beauty and the Beast with sometimes messy pacing issues. While I did love the alternative character interpretations of all the lead characters, and the addition of two family characters to add to the stakes, I found that there were some character moments that were unearned. On the whole, though, Meagan Spooner has an incredible writing voice. It just takes a while for the plot to get going sometimes. This version is gritty and it is more grounded than one of the Disney films. It didn't take too long for me to read, and I did enjoy how it all played out. I'm going to give Hunted a 3.5/5 - it's a good retelling of a classic fairy tale, but there were some moments that didn't quite fit or took to long to get to.
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