Malinda Los beautifully written debut novel, Ash, was one of my favorite books of 2009, and I awaited the release of HUNTRESS with trembling anticipation. HUNTRESS turned out a little differently than I had hoped, but it was still a book that had me reading with bated breath and tearing up at the end.
The strongest part of HUNTRESS is, in my opinion, the romance between Taisin and Kaede. Their romance starts out hesitatingly: both girls are scared to acknowledge their growing feelings for each other. As the story progresses, however, their romance blossoms into an innocent and utterly beautiful thing, what they aptly describe as a warm gift in the middle of all their danger and worry. Taisin and Kaedes relationship really makes you believe in the power of love without taking it over the edge and into unbelievability.
HUNTRESS is told in a sort of old-fashioned fairy tale narrative style, which employs omniscient third-person narration. The constant shirt in point of view may be a bit jarring, but its not wrong, especially considering the fact that books written in the nineteenth century used this literary technique all the time. However, I think it did contribute to my feeling of distance from most of the characters. I wanted more from all the characters: the constant switches in POV made it so that there didnt seem to be a particular main character, and as a result everyone felt like a supporting character, with the potential for but not the actuality of depth.
Overall, however, HUNTRESS was a wonder-inducing fantasy read that spans time and distance. Dont miss it particularly if you were a fan of ASH.
The strongest part of HUNTRESS is, in my opinion, the romance between Taisin and Kaede. Their romance starts out hesitatingly: both girls are scared to acknowledge their growing feelings for each other. As the story progresses, however, their romance blossoms into an innocent and utterly beautiful thing, what they aptly describe as a warm gift in the middle of all their danger and worry. Taisin and Kaedes relationship really makes you believe in the power of love without taking it over the edge and into unbelievability.
HUNTRESS is told in a sort of old-fashioned fairy tale narrative style, which employs omniscient third-person narration. The constant shirt in point of view may be a bit jarring, but its not wrong, especially considering the fact that books written in the nineteenth century used this literary technique all the time. However, I think it did contribute to my feeling of distance from most of the characters. I wanted more from all the characters: the constant switches in POV made it so that there didnt seem to be a particular main character, and as a result everyone felt like a supporting character, with the potential for but not the actuality of depth.
Overall, however, HUNTRESS was a wonder-inducing fantasy read that spans time and distance. Dont miss it particularly if you were a fan of ASH.
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