The Night Hunt by Alexandra Christo is a beautifully written young adult fantasy novel.

Atia is the last of her kind. She is a Nefas, a monster who feeds on fear. Ever since the night when her parents were murdered she has stuck to the shadows, feeding when she needs but above all remaining apart from the world. That is, until she meets Silas.

Silas is a Herald, a messenger for the Gods. For the sins he committed in life, he is cursed to clean up after the monsters of the world, ferrying the souls of the humans to the realm of the dead and generally acting as the Gods' errand boy. Oh, and one more thing - his memory was stripped from him for the duration of his service, a fact which Silas resents.

When Atia finds herself cursed for breaking the Gods' cardinal rule, Silas will offer an irresistible bargain. In exchange for helping him break the curse that keeps his memories at bay, he will help her avenge her family and break her curse. They merely have to hunt and killing a vampire, a banshee, and one of the very Gods who have cursed them both before drinking from the sacred River of Eternity. How hard could that be?

As Atia and Silas set out on their quest, making allies and learning more about the Gods who have cursed them both, truths will come to light that are impossible to ignore. Do they have the power together to take that knowledge and break the curses that plague them?

I found this novel very enjoyable. It is very much a young adult novel. The writing seems to pretty clearly target a younger audience. That being said, this did not detract from the story for me. Atia and Silas make the perfect narrators for this tale of discovery, justice, and finding oneself. Their motivations throughout the story were clear and I don't feel like I ever doubted what the characters wanted. I enjoyed the way they interacted with the other characters. Their banter was light and teasing and felt very age appropriate. I do wish there had been a little more depth to the characters but with a shorter novel some shallowness is expected.

The mythology the author created is both enjoyable and familiar with its clear inspiration in Greek mythology. There were enough differences that the mythology didn't feel unoriginal and enough similarities that a massive lore dump wasn't needed in order to explain what was going on. The setting of the world felt a little ambiguous, there were times when I could not tell if the world was meant to be more of a medieval fantasy world or a modern one but I enjoyed that. It felt to me like the genres were blended and you had little aspects of both throughout.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this read. It was fast and easy and would be something I would pick up and read again.

Introduction:

Atia is a Nefas, the last of her kind, a monster that feeds on nightmares and fear, hiding from the gods who brutally murdered her parents and the rest of her kind. Silas is a Herald, a messenger to the gods and a carrier of dead souls to the underworld who is bored with his monotonous daily routine and struggling to figure out his identity before he became a Herald.

Although Atia would never consider partnering with someone like Silas, circumstances change when she breaks a sacred law and the Gods dispatch monsters to pursue her. Silas proposes an irresistible agreement: if Atia assists him in breaking his curse and recovering his humanity, he will help avenge her family and confront the deities now on her tail. To achieve their goals, they must eliminate three formidable entities: a vampire, a banshee, and one of the Gods who ruined their lives.

Thoughts:

The Night Hunt by Alexandra Christo is a stand alone YA fantasy novel that’s told in dual povs. Mostly influenced by Greek mythology, overall, it was a fun and fast read. There were a lot of good things about this book. The characters were well thought out and the banter among them was well written. The plot had it’s intrigue and suspense.

However I don’t feel there was anything novel or awe inspiring about it for a well seasoned reader. Same recycled mythological creatures/gods with different names and a few add ons, same elemental realms, heaven and hell, same found family and enemies to lovers tropes. Nothing new that I hadn’t read in a hundred books before. Same goes for the plot. If this was the first book I’ve ever read, then I assume I would have been impressed but sadly it is not. Personally I found the world building lacking and the storyline dull. Don’t get me wrong. It had it’s moments but it was very difficult for me to connect with the story or any of the characters. I saw the plot twist at the end coming from the very first few chapters.

Neither Atia or Silas were bad protagonists but I don’t think there was anything substantial in their story arcs for me to actually root for them. Also their romance wasn’t that convincing. I honestly didn’t understand Tristan’s and Cillian’s motive to join Atia and Silas on their journey either. While the author tried to give some depth to the ‘found family’ situation, in my personal opinion she didn’t succeed. I can go on but I never take pleasure in downgrading an author’s hard work because I know she tried her best.

Concluding my review, The Night Hunt isn’t a bad book. It’s just that there are so many books very similar to it out there and unfortunately I seem to have read all of them.

Honestly, not really feeling this one. YA is hard for me to get into but the writing in this felt more directed for younger teens and it didn't hold my interest. The premise sounds interesting but it was just okay.

I will update the review with the link to on our blog closer to publication date.

I'd like to thank the publisher Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Alexandra Christo & Macmillan Children Publishing Group/Feiwel & Friends for providing me this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Night Hunt is a story about a monster (a Nefas) named Atia who is cursed by a Herald, a servant to the gods, and the journey to getting her immortality back. Some common themes are: found family and enemies to love interests.


I would like to start by making it clear that I feel this story fell more on the TEEN age range rather than YA. The writing is definitely less mature than what I am used to, making this read rather difficult for me to get through.

While the intrigue was there, I found the characters lacking depth and personality. The characters were enjoyable on a surface level but there was no sense of connection with any character at any point.


However, I did enjoy the quick read and the journey the story took me on. The world is relatively unique, as are the creatures and gods. The mythological aspects of the story were sound and the witty side characters provided comedic relief.

I think many young readers will find this enjoyable.


My review can be found on Goodreads.

"You must have faith in which you are today and not think so much of who you were or who you think you need to be."

The Night Hunt is a story about a monster named Atia who is cursed by a Herald, a messenger and transporter for the gods, and the journey to getting her immortality back. I enjoyed the lore and the mythology of this story and the combination of multiple mythological elements to create an expansive setting and story. I also really enjoyed the journey aspect of this story and the specific tasks of the quest and the pacing of such. My favorite aspect of this entire book was the sarcastic side characters, I feel as if these two made the story.

However, I did have some issues with this story. First of all, I did not feel like we got enough of an explanation of the "found family" trope. I think the beginning was rushed in the sense that I don't understand where the side characters got the motivation to go on this journey. I understand where Silas and Atia would want to work together but there was no good explanation for the other two. Also, I thought the monsters and the gods were interesting in their powers and abilities, however, there were a few times I was lost during the story because I didn't get enough context overall.

In conclusion, I found this book to be an enjoyable fast read. I loved the mythology and the elements of different culture's mythology included in the story. I loved the quest aspect and the journey was so fun to follow. Cillian and Tristan were my favorite characters by far, they are so sarcastic and I laughed out loud at some of their comments. Overall, a super fun and engaging young adult fantasy.