The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins (Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Also by this author: Unknown
Published by HarperCollins on March 8th 2016
Genres: Fairy Tales & Folklore, General, Legends, Myths, Fables, Romance, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 432
Format: Hardcover
“Aerity…” Her father paused as if the words he was forming pained him. “I must ask you to sacrifice the promise of love for the sake of our kingdom.”
She could only stare back, frozen.
When a strange beast terrorizes the kingdom of Lochlanach, fear stirs revolt. In an act of desperation, a proclamation is sent to all of Eurona—kill the creature and win the ultimate prize: the daughter of King Lochson’s hand in marriage.
Princess Aerity knows her duty to the kingdom but cannot bear the idea of marrying a stranger... until a brooding local hunter, Paxton Seabolt, catches her attention. There’s no denying the unspoken lure between them... or his mysterious resentment.
Paxton is not the marrying type. Nor does he care much for spoiled royals and their arcane laws. He’s determined to keep his focus on the task at hand—ridding the kingdom of the beast—but the princess continues to surprise him, and the perilous secrets he’s buried begin to surface.
Inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ tale “The Singing Bone,” New York Times bestselling author Wendy Higgins delivers a dark fantasy filled with rugged hunters, romantic tension, and a princess willing to risk all to save her kingdom.
There is a beast terrorizing the kingdom of Lochlanach, killing with brutality. Unfortunately, no one knows where it lives or when it’s going to strike next. The only thing that the king can think to do is gather anyone who wants to put their lives at risk and hunt the animal as a group. Up for grabs to the person who kills it… the princess Aerity. Aerity knows sacrificing the idea of marrying for love is what she has to do to make sure the kingdom she will eventually rule is safe, but it’s heartbreaking for someone who knows her father married for love and was told for all her years that she would be granted the same.
Enter the hunters. I had mixed feelings about them all just like Aerity, but there is one that stands out. Paxton Seabolt…
Paxton isn’t there for the glory or even to win the hand of the princess. He wants to help change the laws that exist against those who have magic. He has his reasons.
Yes… magic – those who have it and can control it are shunned and most don’t use it. Those that do end up with marks on their fingernails.
This is a re-telling of a Grimm fairytale that I’ve never read The Singing Bone so I’m not sure how it stacks up in the way of a re-telling.
I will say that it had fantastic world-building and I loved the way this book starts. My grumbles … I wanted more swoony moments… I wanted more reasons to like Paxton and see him succeed. I can’t believe a romance if I’m seeing anything other than 1 -sided longing looks. Aerity seemed to be so taken with him and he was just kind of …eh – she’s pretty and not what I expected. So the romance didn’t really work for me.
There is a cliff-hanger at the end… something else I wasn’t all that happy about because if I want story closure I’m going to need to read book 2. I shouldn’t say that you get SOME closure, but maybe not about what I was really more interested in.
Overall a good read, exciting in some parts, (the pacing was a bit slow and it lagged a bit in the middle) but I enjoyed the story itself if not the romance so much.
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