My dear bookish friends!
Today I’m back with another review of a book I highly recommend to you! If you love a good fantasy with lots of adventure, beastly, hungry, scary monsters, beast hunters and great mysteries, The Beast Hunters by Christer Lende might just be the book for you!
Keep on reading to find out what it is about, and what I thought about the book!
The Blurb
When a monster brutally kills her parents, Ara is saved by two beast hunters. Becoming their apprentice, she discovers serums, secret bestiary knowledge, and remarkable abilities-all to save unsuspecting souls from the same fate her parents suffered. But, terrifying creatures lurk everywhere and Ara must master the art of beast hunting quickly if she is to uncover the elusive beast plaguing the village of Cornstead.
My Review
Oh, wow! Okay so, first of all, I don’t know why exactly, but for some reason I thought this was a middle grade story. But then I started reading it and IT IS NOT A MIDDLE GRADE STORY!!! Lol. Just in case you are in danger of thinking that too!
This fantastical story is full of ravenous monsters and scary beasts killing people, so if you are not ready to read about such killings and scaly monsters with big teeth, you should look elsewhere. BUT if you love a well-developed adventurous fantasy with monsters, heroes, mysteries, and adventure, this might be just the book for you!
Ara doesn’t have the best youth. Her father is violent, and her mother doesn’t protect her from his attacks either. One day, she acknowledges a weird smell. Of course, her father blames her for it and sends her to the stream to wash – in the middle of the night. Even though he doesn’t mean well, by doing so, he saves Ara’s life. It wasn’t she who was smelling – it was a huge monster the size of a bull – and just as aggressive and strong. In the very last second, Ara is saved by two strangers, and she soon finds herself on the journey of her lifetime with the two beast hunters.
What I loved and found very refreshing in this book was that we get action right from the very first chapter. Very often with fantasy like this, I find it problematic when it takes ages for action to build up. Not so here! We are thrown into the world immediately, and have to learn together with Ara how to cope with the monsters thrown her way (quite literally).
The world we find ourselves in is unique and full of the elements a good fantasy needs, without being too detailed or overwhelming. In some instances I would have liked a bit more depth when it comes to the world, but then again we are pulled along so quickly with the fast-paced storyline that you don’t really miss anything.
The characters are well-written and believable from the start. We don’t get to know the MC very well before all the action starts, but we immediately feel deeply for her. On top of all this, the mystery element we are presented with and try to solve alongside Ara made me want to keep on reading until I knew what exactly was going on. It’s very hard to put this book down!
Another thing I really liked was the beasts. At the end of the book there is a “Beastiary” where you can look up where the specific beast is located, what type it is, how strong they are and what their weakness is. I loved how unique the monsters were, and that they added another layer of originality to the story.
Monsters and man are living close to each other in this thrilling fantasy! I highly recommend this book to all fantasy fans who enjoy beastly creatures, great adventures, big mysteries, and realistic characters who make you want to keep on reading until you reach the end! I can’t wait for book two in the series!
4.5 stars from me!
Thank you all so much for reading, and do let me know if you will pick up The Beast Hunters too!
xoxo
Noly
P.s. A huge thank you to the team of LiterallyPR for my review ecopy in exchange for my honest review!
About the Author
Christer Lende began writing in a library, which sounds fitting, only he was supposed to be there working on his engineering degree. He is a professional screenwriter, working with the Norwegian movie producer behind “One Love”, “Who Killed Birgitte” and “All about my Father” Bjørn Eivind Aarskog, together they are eveloping the manuscript for a Norwegian thriller. Bjørn hired Christer after reading The Beast Hunters, trusting Christer could bring his vision to life.
Christer lives in what Norwegians call a city, but people from actual cities would call a town. Of proud Viking blood, he honours his ancestors by heroically sitting in front of a computer writing Fantasy and Science Fiction books. He believes in writing a little bit every day, through weekends, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, even his own birthday. When he’s not writing, he takes care of his two dogs and tries to broker peace with his girlfriend. He’s often found at a gym, trying to compensate for his height issues, or lazily playing video games.
Christer did get that master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, despite procrastinating by writing fiction in the library, and works for a large IT firm, but writing and storytelling are his passions.
(From Goodreads)
