I'm Just Prey in a Hunter's World

Published: May 8th, 2012
The Hunt (The Hunt # 1)
By: Andrew Fukuda
St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN-13:  9781250005144

Don’t Sweat. Don’t Laugh. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them.
Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.
When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him. He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

Review

   Gene is not at all like his classmates.  He doesn't sleep hanging from the ceiling, he breathes, sweats and can go outside during the day without being hurt by the Sun.  His fangs are fake and Gene is masquerading as 'normal' among creatures that would like nothing more than to rip him apart and drink him dry of blood.  Then he is chosen to be among those hunting the reamining 'hepers' (humans) in a competition that will be televised.  Another of his classmates, Ashely June, has been chosen, a girl he could care about if their races allowed for it.  Everything changes when the officials pit them against one another for their very survival.  Also, Gene begins to know the hepers that he will be hunting - people just like him, only without the advantage of hiding in plain sight.  Can Gene survive the hunt or will he be slaughtered with the rest of his kind?  I honestly didn't know what to expect with this one.  It's also kind of funny that I never made the connection that the creatures ruling society were vampires until I was almost finished with the book.  I know, I'm kinda flaky and dense!  But as much as the premise interested me, Gene was a hard character to empathize with.  He's just scraping by, instead of truly living.  Plus the amount of time he spent talking about his sweaty armpits and the way the creatures drooled at the thought of hepers got annoying, monotonous and unnecessary after the first few times.  Plus it was disgusting to constantly think about it.  The whole book began to decline when it started to focus onm Gene and Ashley June's 'forbidden love.'  Especially when it turned out that she was heper like him.  This book was disappointing, boring and disgusting a lot of the time.  I will not be reading the rest of the series.  I'm just not interested, it wasn't the book for me.

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published May 8th, 2012.*