Review: The Hunt by Stacey Kade

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on April 14, 2014 | 3 Comments


Review: The Hunt by Stacey KadeThe Hunt by Stacey Kade
Series: Project Paper Doll #2
Published by Disney Hyperion (4.22.2014)
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Format: eARC, 400 pages
Source: NetGalley


3.5 Stars

Ariane Tucker has finally escaped GTX, the research facility that created her. While on the run, Zane Bradshaw is the only person she can trust. He knows who-and what-she is and still wants to be part of her life. 

But accepting Zane's help means putting him in danger.

Dr. Jacobs, head of GTX, is not the only one hunting for Ariane. Two rival corporations have their sights set on taking down their competition. Permanently. To protect Zane and herself, Ariane needs allies. She needs the other hybrids. The hybrids who are way more alien and a lot less human. Can Ariane win them over before they turn on her? Or will she be forced to choose sides, to decide who lives and who dies?

My thoughts

I loved The Rules. LOVED it (I rated it 5 heartbeats!). Sadly, though, the sequel lacked the magic of the first book. I still enjoyed it for the most part, but it didn’t wow me like the first book did.

I felt like little to nothing actually happened in the first 3/4 of this book, and the pacing dragged in the middle. It was mostly Zane and Ariane bickering and disagreeing and keeping things from each other. I understand that conflict is necessary, but their arguments were ridiculous and annoyed the crap out of me. The decisions that they both made (without each other) were idiotic and terrible, and if they’d just trusted one another – like two people “in love” SHOULD – then so many unsavory things could have been avoided. If they had both quit whining about how different they were – they “loved” each other, right? So why should that matter? – then they could have talked about their plans instead of leaving each other out.  There were so many things that they kept from one other, it was damned frustrating. Love is about honesty, for crying out loud! View Spoiler »

Ariane was the one that pissed me off more in that situation, though. She was so focused on being practical, and not getting involved with anyone, it was annoying! She kept harping on the fact that she was putting Zane in danger, that she shouldn’t have gotten involved with him, that they were better off separated, blah blah blah. Shut the hell up! If you’re not going to do anything about it, stop complaining! UGH. Then after she hurts him:

He’d risked so much for me, and I’d crushed him like he didn’t matter. I shook my head. No. Thinking like this wasn’t productive.

It’s not productive to have remorse for stabbing someone in the heart? To think about someone else’s feelings (someone you claim to love, for chrissakes)? Really, bitch?

I do have to say that I enjoyed meeting the other hybrids – Ford, Nixon, and Carter (ridiculous naming, though). I thought the way they worked was awesome!

I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t feel much at all while reading this (besides irritation). Especially at the end. There was a major part toward the end that should have ilicited some kind of emotion – if not tears – from me. But, there was nothing. I felt nothing. View Spoiler » I should have been horrified!

And THE ENDING WTF. Talk about a cliffhanger! I’m kind of on the fence with my feelings about it. On one hand, I like that, because it had the shock factor and it made the rest of the story worth it; and now I want the next book to find out what happens. On the other hand, it pissed me off! You’re really going to end the book like that? Really?!

View Spoiler »

Overall Assessment

Plot: 3/5
Premise: 4.5/5
Writing style: 4/5
Originality: 3.5/5
Characters: 2.5/5
Pace: 3.5/5
Feels: 2/5
Cover: 3/5
Overall rating: 3.5/5

Jessi (Geo)

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3 responses to “Review: The Hunt by Stacey Kade

  1. I hadn’t heard of this series before, but I enjoyed you’re review, though it’s a bit unfortunate for you that you didn’t end up liking this as much as you did the previous book. Zane and Ariane’s relationship reminds me of how I felt about Tris and Four in Insurgent- the fact they don’t openly talk about what’s going on is just so frustrating. When you’ve really loved the relationship dynamics previously, it’s really hard when things change so rapidly in the next book.

  2. Aww, it kind of sucks that this book wasn’t as good. :( Why does it seem like ALL second books suck a little? Or at least, they have a fraction of the epicness of the first book. And I absolutely hate it when a couple suddenly has relationship problems in the second book. Ugh.

    I think I’m going to skip this book. :(

  3. Katie

    Really? I liked this one. I thought it was pretty good…

    Yeah, I think they did inject him with the DNA. I’m guessing Jacobs and Laughlin were friend or something and the other guy wasn’t. Maybe brothers or best friends, but that’s kind of cliche.

    I think Zane might have some problems, like total system failure, because he got the DNA from injection……

    Anyway, Ariane COULDN’T tell Zane, remember? Because she had to find them before they left school, and she thought he didn’t matter in the plan anyway. Plus, Ariane isn’t exactly a people person.

    But, in the end, I still thought it was a good book…. 4.5 out of 5 for me.

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