YA Horror Review: The Prey by Andrew Fukuda

The Prey by Andrew Fukuda (The Hunt #2)


borrowed from the library

Synopsis from Goodreads
For Gene and the remaining humans—or hepers—death is just a heartbeat away. On the run and hunted by society, they must find a way to survive in The Vast... and avoid the hungry predators tracking them in the dark. But they’re not the only things following Gene. He’s haunted by the girl he left behind and his burgeoning feelings for Sissy, the human girl at his side.

When they discover a refuge of exiled humans living high in the mountains, Gene and his friends think they’re finally safe. Led by a group of intensely secretive elders, the civilisation begins to raise more questions than answers. A strict code of behaviour is the rule, harsh punishments are meted out, young men are nowhere to be found—and Gene begins to wonder if the world they’ve entered is just as evil as the one they left behind. As life at the refuge grows more perilous, he and Sissy only grow closer. In an increasingly violent world, all they have is each other... if they can only stay alive.


Amazon  US/UK | Amazon kindle US/UK | The Book Depository US/UK | Fishpond

9/10

* * *
 The Prey punches you in the gut just as much as The Hunt did. It might not be as horrifyingly intense as the previous book, but it still creeps the hell out of you.

When Gene, Sissy and the boys escape from The Hunt, they think their future is pretty straightforward: follow the river, get into the promised land of milk and honey...



What they get instead *SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD* is a very creepy village full of pregnant girls with bound feet and drunken fat Elders.

I admit first I was enraged. Why every bloody dystopia I read reduces a woman to a womb on two feet, seen but not heard, smiling and following orders? And these girls sure smile and sing all the time and talk about their sacred laws and earning right to go to Civilisation...

However, once we start digging under the surface, the design of the village makes a sort of a horrible sense. It's a horror story, peeps, and as such it chills you to the bone when the realisation hits closer to the end of the staggering scale of the group's difficulties in reaching what the Scientist promised.

My only complaint is that too much time was spent arguing in a face of immediate danger instead of acting, and because of that opportunities were missed.

I can not wait to read the next book in the series. The ending of The Prey leaves you breathless and slightly heartbroken. Highly recommended to all fans of paranormal horror and thrillers.


* * *
Ах, какая книга! Какая концовка! Проморозила меня до костей.

Всё-таки умеет Эндрю Фукуда писать ужастики. Поразила меня своей напряжённостью первая книга, Охота. Но вторая, Добыча, ей по силе ни в чём не уступила.

Джин, Сисси и ребята думают, что их путь к обещанной земле молочных рек и медовых берегов довольно прост - следуй реке и она приведёт тебя туда, куда надо.

Однако когда они достигают деревни на границе "Цивилизации", люди, к которым они так стремились сразу же вызывают у них подозрение своим поведением  и неисчислимыми запасами еды.

Скажу сразу, деревня вызвала во мне мгновенное раздражение и ярость. Она была полна босоногих беременных девочек и полножопых пьяных старейшин, которых ужасно хотелось перестрелять. Но почему каждая грёбанная дистопия, что я читаю сразу же низводит женщин до положения чрева на ножках? 

Здесь эти ножки к тому же перебинтованы (как в китайской империи), чтобы девочки не могли быстро бегать. Они ещё поют, цитируют Писания и постоянно улыбаются, что добавляет к атмосфере ужаса.

Однако должна признаться, что когда начинаешь копаться в структуре деревне, в её построении находится своя извращённая отвратительная логика, а концовка вообще переворачивает всё с ног на голову и оставляет читателя в шоке и довольно таки травматичном состоянии. 

Жду и требую продолжения, и читать советую всем любителям ужаса и паранормального триллера!

Comments

  1. Ohhhh creepy! I like it, but def should read book 1 first. Some rules I do not break

    ReplyDelete
  2. NGL, I was never convinced that the city had to be like that. It was over the top for me. Sigh. Glad it worked for you, though. I would hate for everyone to be as pissed off by this book as I was!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Blodeudd, you'd really need it. This is one of the series where you can't read books not in order. Great series, hope you'd read it!

    Christina, technically it's a village and a creepy one at that :) I was pissed off at first too but then I could see the twisted reasoning behind it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts