Mini Reviews: The Hunt by Stacey Kade and Boys Like You by Juliana Stone

From Goodreads: 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 Rating: 3 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: The Hunt by Stacey Kade is a sequel that really relies on readers remembering what happened in the previous book because it doesn’t provide much recap of the events that occurred in The Rules. Much more action-oriented than The Rules, I liked that The Hunt expanded the scope of the plot to show what GTX’s competitors are up to and how their hybrids differ from Ariane. The drawback to Ariane and Zane being on the run, however, was that the arguments they kept having became sort of repetitive after a while. But, overall, I found The Hunt to be a solid sequel; and its cliffhanger ending pretty much ensures that I’ll be reading the next book in the series.

The Hunt was released in April 2014 by Disney Hyperion. 

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (Disney Book Group) for free via NetGalley. 

.................................................................................................. 

From Back Cover: For Monroe Blackwell, one small mistake has torn her family apart – leaving her empty and broken. There’s a hole in her heart that nothing can fill. That no one can fill. And a summer in Louisiana with her Grandma isn’t going to change that … Nathan Everets knows heartache first-hand when a car accident leaves his best friend in a coma. And it’s his fault. He should be the one lying in the hospital. The one who will never play guitar again. He doesn’t deserve forgiveness, and a court-appointed job at the Blackwell B&B isn’t going to change that … Captivating and hopeful, this achingly poignant novel brings together two lost souls struggling with grief and guilt – looking for acceptance, so they can find forgiveness. 

My Rating: 2.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Considering that it features two broken characters, I was expecting Boys Like You by Juliana Stone to be a bit more emotionally intense. Instead, I feel like Stone sacrificed a more drawn out healing process in favour of romance. It's not that the characters didn't learn to deal with their issues and understand that life goes on, but they seemed to come to this conclusion in a very simplistic manner and relied a bit too heavily on each other. Also, the romance was very insta-love, and it annoyed me how Monroe and Nathan kept mentioning how hot the other person looked or repeatedly felt that the other person was worth getting to know simply because they could tell they were broken too by gazing into their eyes.

Boys Like You was released by Sourcebooks Fire on May 6, 2014. 

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (Raincoast Books) for free.

 

original image from thegate.ca