Review: The Hunt by Amy Meredith (Dark Touch #2)

Publisher - Red Fox
Publication Date - 5th August 2010
Paperback - 272 pages
Genre - Young Adult/Urban Fantasy

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating - 3 out of 5: I liked it

Book Info - Something is hunting. Something that will kill to get what it wants. And it isn’t human.

Eve knows that her supernatural powers are called for, but she’d rather focus on dating than demons and gorgeous Luke is, frankly, pretty distracting. He’s already a friend – but could he be something more? Do Luke and Eve really have a future? And with demons on the hunt, will either of them live long enough to find out?

Review - I must admit that I din't like the first book in the series much, but I was promised that book two was better so I decided to give it a go. I'm glad that I did read The Hunt as it did manage to iron out some of the problems that I had with book one, but it still didn't manage to amaze me.

One of the best parts about The Hunt for me is the potential romance between Eve and Luke. It is very much a will they/won't they situation that will leave the reader guessing as to whether anything will happen between them. What I like most about this relationship is that it is very different to most romances in YA fiction. First of all there is no love triangle! And secondly they are not falling all over each other in a 'Oh my God, I've fallen in love at first sight and we must be together forever and ever' kind of way, which I think is pretty unrealistic of most 15 year olds. They are friends who are developing feelings for each other and it is all very sweet and tender.

I also found the characters of Eve and Jess more likeable. Although they do still come off as being pretty shallow due to the fact that they constantly talk about clothes and make-up, I could also see that there is a very close bond between them too. They are willing to put themselves into any kind of situation in order to help each other out.

Once again, the storyline is written in such a way that it is a quick and easy read, but I was able to solve the mystery very early on in the book and this did ruin the ending for me. This is about the only complaint I can make about The Hunt, but I still felt it was a pretty average read. For me the romance was average, the friendships were average and the storyline was average. There just wasn't a single part of the book that made me feel any kind of strong emotion towards it.

Summary - The Hunt is a fairly enjoyable book, but don't expect it to blow you away.

Other books in the series:
1. Shadows
2. The Hunt
3. Fever
4. Betrayal

Other reviews of this book:
Booktastic Reviews / I Was a Teenage Book Geek / Teenage Fiction for all Ages

Review: Shadows by Amy Meredith (Dark Touch #1)

Publisher - Red Fox
Publication Date - 1st April 2010
Paperback - 240 pages
Genre - Young Adult/Urban Fantasy

Source - Library

Rating - 2 out of 5: It was ok

Book Info - Fifteen-year-old Eve Evergold is cute, sassy and enjoying a busy social life. What she doesn’t know yet is that someone close to her is an evil demon that only she has the supernatural power to defeat. She needs to work out who it is – and fast! Because although there’s something very attractive about the dark side… dating a demon? Pure hell!

My Thoughts - Eve and her best friend Jess are written in a believable way, and whilst reading Shadows it is easy to believe that you are reading a story told from the perspective of a fifteen year-old girl. However, I didn’t feel as though their characters were fleshed out well enough. We, as readers, do not really get much of an insight into Jess and Eve, and what we do find out about them gives them the appearance of being spoiled and shallow. This made the two main characters slightly unlikeable and left me unable to really connect with them, which did make the book slightly disappointing for me.

Mal and Luke are both new boys in town and are the topic of much speculation between Eve and Jess. Deepdene is only a small town where everybody knows everybody else, so two new boys arriving at the same time brings a welcome distraction from all the problems around them. Luke is, in the words of Eve and Jess, a ‘player’. Although he has only been in town for a couple of weeks he has already dated a lot of the girls. But when he hears about what Eve is going through, he quickly drops everything to help them find out what is happening in Deepdene. Mal, on the other hand, is dark and mysterious and keeps himself to himself. He is also old-fashioned and rescues Eve on a few occasions, which leads Eve to fall for him pretty quickly. I enjoyed the air of mystery that these two characters brought to the story.

Summary - The premise of the story is interesting and well-written, although pretty predictable at times. It moves along at a fast pace and is written in a style that makes it very easy to read, allowing me to almost finish it in just one sitting. I only wish that Eve and Jess had been easier to connect with and were less two-dimensional. If this had been the case, then Shadows could have been a really enjoyable book.

Other books in the series:
1. Shadows
2. The Hunt
3. Fever
4. Betrayal

Other reviews of this book:
Book Chick City / Feeling Fictional / I Was a Teenage Book Geek / So Many Books, So Little Time