Carregando
Dados do livro
Rampant
Escrito por Diana Peterfreund
Narrado por Luci Christian Bell
Ações de livro
Comece a ouvirDescrição
Forget everything you ever knew about unicorns. The fluffy, sparkly, friendly "horses" so popular the world over don't exist. Real unicorns are killers.
Beasts the size of elephants, with cloven hooves that shake the earth, hides impervious to bullets, and horns that contain a deadly poison, unicorns can outrun a sports car and smell a human from a mile away.
And they can only be killed by virgin warriors descended from Alexander the Great.
Sixteen-year-old Astrid Llewelyn has grown up with her mom Lilith's tall tales about unicorns and their exalted family heritage, but figures her mom's crazy. But the scary stories her mom told her about the monsters in her formative years left her with a firm phobia about unicorns, even the cutesy kind popular with young girls.
But when one of the monsters attacks her boyfriend in the woods—thereby ruining any chance of him taking her to prom—Astrid finds herself headed to Rome to train as a unicorn hunter.
Ações de livro
Comece a ouvirDados do livro
Rampant
Escrito por Diana Peterfreund
Narrado por Luci Christian Bell
Descrição
Forget everything you ever knew about unicorns. The fluffy, sparkly, friendly "horses" so popular the world over don't exist. Real unicorns are killers.
Beasts the size of elephants, with cloven hooves that shake the earth, hides impervious to bullets, and horns that contain a deadly poison, unicorns can outrun a sports car and smell a human from a mile away.
And they can only be killed by virgin warriors descended from Alexander the Great.
Sixteen-year-old Astrid Llewelyn has grown up with her mom Lilith's tall tales about unicorns and their exalted family heritage, but figures her mom's crazy. But the scary stories her mom told her about the monsters in her formative years left her with a firm phobia about unicorns, even the cutesy kind popular with young girls.
But when one of the monsters attacks her boyfriend in the woods—thereby ruining any chance of him taking her to prom—Astrid finds herself headed to Rome to train as a unicorn hunter.
Sobre o autor
Avaliações
First thing I thought when I picked up this book was seriously a book on killer unicorns what has this world come to? But it was something like a children's story on rainbows an such, but I was happily proven wrong. It got me hooked on the first chapter. I felt as if I were the characters going through seemingly impossible times. I love the main character Astrid, though she was given many opportunities to have a way out of this lifestyle she decided to stick it out.
Enjoyed the twist on the fluffybunny unicorns. There were some genuinely hilarious, laugh-out-loud moments, but the "Slayer" attitude seemed ripped from Buffy- Teen who turns out to have amazing, heretofore unknown powers must be bullied, badgered, and dragged kicking and screaming into her "Destiny." They even have a "Watcher"-type who could have been played by Alexis Denisof channeling a pre-Shanshu Wesley...
Library Summary: "After sixteen-year-old Astrid Llewelyn survives a vicious unicorn attack, she learns that she is a descendant of the most famous unicorn hunter of all time and she must travel to Rome, Italy, to train in the ancient arts in order to carry on her family legacy and save the world from the threat posed by the reemergence of lethal unicorns."I liked this book. It didn't have as much action as I thought it would, but the romance and mystery made up for that. I like how Astrid is a strong protagonist. She doesn't appear weak or annoying as female protagonists can sometimes be. Especially in a story like this. I also like how this can change our opinion on unicorns. They appear as harmless mythical creatures with horns and fluffy tails, but are they really? Have we ever stopped to consider that not only could they be real, but dangerous as well? This book puts an exciting new twist on these creatures. I recommend this book to all of my friends!
I must confess, first of all, to having been one of the children that Astrid could never understand; I loved unicorns and owned several My Little Ponies with magic horns. Honestly, I still like the idea of them, although in my world, they certainly are not man-eating monsters. Despite my childish love of pretty, shiny, friendly unicorns, I am not opposed to the idea of these blood-thirsty, fanged, venomous creatures either. Peterfreund does something new with unicorn lore, but she sells it.
The book did not really take off for the first couple hundred pages in my mind, mostly because Astrid spent them trying to escape her destiny. She whined and wished for things to be different. While entirely understandable and necessary even, this does not make for the most exciting reading. Once she starts coming into herself more and accepting her unicorn hunter-ness, the book starts moving at a very quick pace.
The action scenes are well done and do not go on long enough to be boring. The book is definitely violent; be prepared for bloodshed and bad things to happen. Peterfreund tackles really important issues, such as what exactly constitutes virginity and rape. She does so very well, presenting ideas without beating the audience over the head with her opinions. These parts really make the reader think. I even think that (sections, at least) of this book could be used in a study on virginity for a sexual ethics course (yes, they do exist, as I took one).
Shameful though it may be thought to admit it, I worried a bit about a book where the main character has to remain virginal or lose what makes her the main character. I suspected there would be a lack of romance and male characters, since romance in paranormal books often equals sex these days. Let me just say that there is romance in this book, although there are no overdramatic declarations of love on first eye contact.
I highly recommend this book for fantasy lovers. It has action, romance and well-drawn, multi-faceted characters that grow and change through the series. This might be a good book for Hunger Games fans searching for something else exciting and fantastical, although not quite as heartbreaking.
The book did not really take off for the first couple hundred pages in my mind, mostly because Astrid spent them trying to escape her destiny. She whined and wished for things to be different. While entirely understandable and necessary even, this does not make for the most exciting reading. Once she starts coming into herself more and accepting her unicorn hunter-ness, the book starts moving at a very quick pace.
The action scenes are well done and do not go on long enough to be boring. The book is definitely violent; be prepared for bloodshed and bad things to happen. Peterfreund tackles really important issues, such as what exactly constitutes virginity and rape. She does so very well, presenting ideas without beating the audience over the head with her opinions. These parts really make the reader think. I even think that (sections, at least) of this book could be used in a study on virginity for a sexual ethics course (yes, they do exist, as I took one).
Shameful though it may be thought to admit it, I worried a bit about a book where the main character has to remain virginal or lose what makes her the main character. I suspected there would be a lack of romance and male characters, since romance in paranormal books often equals sex these days. Let me just say that there is romance in this book, although there are no overdramatic declarations of love on first eye contact.
I highly recommend this book for fantasy lovers. It has action, romance and well-drawn, multi-faceted characters that grow and change through the series. This might be a good book for Hunger Games fans searching for something else exciting and fantastical, although not quite as heartbreaking.
Wow-What a book. When I thought about Unicorns it was never like this. I aways thought of them as magical, loving, kind, soft, cute and cuddly ... I never thought of them as blood thirsty killers. This book has everything & more .. Love, Romance, Betrayal, Blood and Gore ... I loved it. Can't wait to read Ascendant !!!
My mom collected unicorns when I was a child. They have always held a certain level of fascination for me because of that. This book turns my understanding of unicorns as a potentially extinct and or mythical creature completely on its head. The premise of this book is that unicorns were real and they were not fluffy sparkly or in anyway the thing of childhood dreams. Unicorns are nightmarish. They attack people and gore them to death with their horns which are covered in poison. The only people that can hunt unicorns are the virgin daughters of alexander the great. Luckily they were hunted to extinction, all 5 species. Astrid's mother believes in the mythical killer unicorns and it has cost her everything. Though Astrid doesn't believe she doesn't hold countenance with the fluffy sparkly variety. One night while babysitting Astrid's boyfriend comes over and he has one thing on his mind. Things begin moving in that direction when Astrid feels as though she is being watched and then she spots a unicorn and before she can stop it her boyfriend has been poisoned by the unicorns horn. In this one moment on this night everything changes for Astrid the nightmare of her childhood becomes reality and Astrid must become a unicorn hunter and essentialy become a nun. Not exactly the dream of every seventeen year old.
It took me a bit to get into it, honestly. It's been really well reviewed by a lot of my favorite authors, and the concept -- killer unicorns! -- sounded fantastic. I was definitely intrigued.
But it was surprisingly difficult to immerse into. I can't point to any one thing -- Peterfreund writes well enough. She moves the plot along quickly enough. Her character (Astrid) is relatable, though Astrid's mother is never, at any time, even remotely sympathetic.
Seriously, I couldn't understand why Astrid showed any affection for the woman. I get the whole, "She's my mother," thing, I really do. I just don't get loving a mother who doesn't act like a mom, who shows no real love or concern for her daughter as a person. Maybe I was just really lucky in my draw as a mother, so I don't understand and I'll never have to, but I simply do not understand Astrid's motivation or affection toward her mother. Every time they interacted, I was pulled out of the story and sat there shaking my head going, "Why? Why does Astrid seem to care about her? WTF?"
Anyway, other than that, the big WTF for me was the whole magic thing. It was irritating -- normally, urban fantasy asks us to accept that magic and real life exist side by side, or on top of each other, but rarely to never intersect in obvious ways. In Rampant, Astrid's introduced to the reality that unicorns are real and are, indeed, killer monsters when her boyfriend gets gored by one. This is all part of the re-emergence. Astrid is then carted off to Rome, where she begins training as a unicorn hunter. She spends a lot of her time in Rome raising a lot of really good questions, mostly boiled down to, "Why does it have to be magic? Why can't it be scientifically explained?"
Near the end of the book, she meets somebody who basically convinces her to give up all these questions and just accept it. I just wanted to scream. I especially felt this attitude applied to the virgin thing -- I felt like they were willing to take a "science" attitude toward things like bloodlines, alicorn venom, unicorn mating and herding habits, hunting abilities, etc. etc. But especially near the end of the book, I had the definite impression that hunter = virginity. The End. No more questions. It pissed me off.
BTW, I was intrigued by how sex was handled in the book -- the implications of using sex to avoid duty, the confusion over the social and personal definition of rape, and the various reactions of friends and family to rape. It was an interesting look at something that has been made such a religious and political issue that it's almost impossible for a woman to make the decision to lose her virginity on her own terms without weighing the social and often religious consequences.
But it was surprisingly difficult to immerse into. I can't point to any one thing -- Peterfreund writes well enough. She moves the plot along quickly enough. Her character (Astrid) is relatable, though Astrid's mother is never, at any time, even remotely sympathetic.
Seriously, I couldn't understand why Astrid showed any affection for the woman. I get the whole, "She's my mother," thing, I really do. I just don't get loving a mother who doesn't act like a mom, who shows no real love or concern for her daughter as a person. Maybe I was just really lucky in my draw as a mother, so I don't understand and I'll never have to, but I simply do not understand Astrid's motivation or affection toward her mother. Every time they interacted, I was pulled out of the story and sat there shaking my head going, "Why? Why does Astrid seem to care about her? WTF?"
Anyway, other than that, the big WTF for me was the whole magic thing. It was irritating -- normally, urban fantasy asks us to accept that magic and real life exist side by side, or on top of each other, but rarely to never intersect in obvious ways. In Rampant, Astrid's introduced to the reality that unicorns are real and are, indeed, killer monsters when her boyfriend gets gored by one. This is all part of the re-emergence. Astrid is then carted off to Rome, where she begins training as a unicorn hunter. She spends a lot of her time in Rome raising a lot of really good questions, mostly boiled down to, "Why does it have to be magic? Why can't it be scientifically explained?"
Near the end of the book, she meets somebody who basically convinces her to give up all these questions and just accept it. I just wanted to scream. I especially felt this attitude applied to the virgin thing -- I felt like they were willing to take a "science" attitude toward things like bloodlines, alicorn venom, unicorn mating and herding habits, hunting abilities, etc. etc. But especially near the end of the book, I had the definite impression that hunter = virginity. The End. No more questions. It pissed me off.
BTW, I was intrigued by how sex was handled in the book -- the implications of using sex to avoid duty, the confusion over the social and personal definition of rape, and the various reactions of friends and family to rape. It was an interesting look at something that has been made such a religious and political issue that it's almost impossible for a woman to make the decision to lose her virginity on her own terms without weighing the social and often religious consequences.
I was excited to read this book by Peterfreund. I mean it's about evil, carnivorous unicorns, how can you not be excited? It was a very creative book and pretty engaging.Astrid is your typical teenage girl, except she has a mother than has raised her on stories about evil, man-eating unicorns. Things are going pretty good for Astrid, that is until her boyfriend gets gored by an evil unicorn while they are out in the woods making out. From there things get kind of weird. Astrid is shipped off to a convent in Rome by her overzealous mother, where supposedly, she is going to learn how to become a unicorn hunter. Apparently Astrid comes from a long line of female unicorn hunters.The best thing about this book was the creativity. The whole idea of evil rampaging unicorns is a lot of fun and Peterfreund does an excellent job of integrating the existence of unicorns into current history and society. Astrid is a great character that has a dry sense of humor and a pretty good sense of self. The book itself clips along at a good pace and is engaging. At the end of the book you want to find out more about these huntresses.There was a part mid-way through the book after their trainer left that things slowed down a bit too much. It never got boring, but it didn't match the rest of the pace of the book. Also this book takes place in modern time, which for some reason I was expecting more of a fantasy. It is more of a paranormal or maybe urban fantasy type of book. While Astrid and her cousin were both engaging characters, I didn't find the side characters as engaging as I would have liked. Maybe there were just too many side characters or maybe enough background wasn't provided. Lastly there wasn't as much hunting and fighting as I expected; there was a lot of time spent on the social aspects of being a huntress...mainly keeping your virginity.This was a good read. It will appeal mostly to a young female audience; but fans of unicorns and huntresses may also find it appealing. The main strength of the story is the creativeness of it and the ease with which the unicorns are brought into the modern day world. The characterization of the side characters could have been more well done and the action scenes more plentiful and better detailed; but all in all it is a decent story. I will be keeping an eye out to see what other books along the fantasy vein Peterfreund comes up with.
A fun, romantic and slightly disturbing young adult fantasy novel. Think about unicorns, think about everything you know about them -- and then forget it all. Peterfreund turns our unicorn myths on their head, creating a fascinating story about killer unicorns, young women as unicorn killers, and love. The novel is fast paced, engrossing and has many strong female characters. What girls who kick ass? Look no further. Lots of fun to read.
Astrid has never believed her mother's stories, that they come from a long line of unicorn hunters. At least not until a unicorn attacks her boyfriend, and the Reemergence begins. Now Astrid must travel to Italy and join other virgin descendants of Alexander The Great who are the only ones capable of becoming unicorn hunters.
Killer unicorns. Virgin hunters. What's not to love?
I figured out from trial and error that attempting to describe the plot of this book ends up making me feel like I should be in a straitjacket. It certainly is a bit bizarre from an outside perspective: Virgin female descendants of Alexander the Great are called upon to defend the world from flesh-eating unicorns once thought to be extinct. But I promise it is not as ridiculous as this short plot summation. It isn't ridiculous at all. In fact, there is an epigraph noting that all of the unicorns depicted are real and are based on histories and religious texts of Europe and Asia. I found that Nancy Hathaway's "Unicorn" to be an invaluable reference tool while reading this book. There were illustrations of the different types of unicorns, such as the zhi and the kirin, as well as Alexander's karkadann Bucephalus, and reprints of artwork mentioned in "Rampant."While it was hard to look my unicorn pillow pet in its fuzzy face while reading this book, the story still made this magical/glittery-unicorn lover into a believer. There were moments when I felt the plot was dragging its cloven hooves, but in the end I appreciated all of the slower expositional moments because it made the characters that much more believable.My first foray into the this world of killer unicorns was Diana Peterfreund's contribution to "Zombies vs. Unicorns", "The Proper Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn," which was by far the standout of the collection. It broke my heart in all sorts of ways. When I first heard about Peterfreund's series, I was iffy about giving myself over into a world where unicorns might as well be werewolves. But there is a lot of social and moral commentary by the characters on whether children hunting these beasts was right or humane, especially because they had to retain virginity to remain warriors. I appreciated that the characters were as skeptical as I was, and I adored the opinionated Phil who kept pushing for alternatives.But, like Astrid, narrator and reluctant heroine, I found myself adapting to the situation. Unicorns are real. And they gonna eat you.
Probably more like 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it, and found it to be an unusual concept. The characters were interesting, but not fully fleshed out. The book felt slightly awkward.None of this is enough to keep me from wanting to read the next book.
Vicious killer unicorns and the women who hunt them? Okay, I'm in.Astrid thinks her mother is crazy for believing in unicorns--and in bloodthirsty, violent unicorns, to boot. Then her boyfriend is attacked by one and nearly killed. The next thing she knows, Astrid is packed off to a Roman cloister, where she is to train as a unicorn hunter. Her fellow hunters, all young women, have different ideas as to how things should be run, and the researcher trying to find the Remedy--a cure-all made from unicorn blood--may not be quite what he seems. When unicorn attacks become more frequent, the girls are forced to fight, whether they're ready or not.I was worried that, because unicorn-hunters have to be virgins, the story was going to end up being moralizing and didactic, but it didn't. The idea that unicorns don't care whether you consented to sex is problematic, but the book acknowledges that.The second book, Ascendant, was released in late 2010. I'll definitely be reading it soon.
My first foray into reading something based on a theme - Unicorns vs. Zombies. It wasn't a completely random first choice but it was initially based on theme rather than the individual book. i felt like I was taking a little more of a chance. It worked out fine this time. This was really exciting. The battle scenes were intense. The romance was in context and necessary. I liked the characters. I'm quite sure I'll be reading the sequel within the next couple weeks.
Rampant is one of those books that starts off a tad slowly, but by the middle becomes impossible to put down. What I liked best was the feeling of modern characters within an ancient setting, and a heavy mythological background. At first the idea of brutal, killer unicorns seemed kind of corny and laughable; even the first encounter within the opening few pages wasn't very impressive. But once I got into the meat of the story they had me appropriately terrified. Astrid is a strong character, but through her constant doubts also comes across as an average teenage girl. Her mother, on the other hand, is completely unbearable and I hated nearly every passage she was in. One of my favorite aspects of this book was Phil, Astrids fellow hunter and cousin. She's the one who seems to hold so much together while facing her own issues. Rampant has a strong sexual undercurrent, with good reason, and does a good job of keeping it appropriate while dealing with the realities of peer pressure, rape, and general teen sexuality. I was impressed because in so many teen books it's either avoided or over sensationalized, but Peterfreund handled it just right. Overall, it was a good book that I will be recommending to a few friends. It was wrapped up nicely at the end, but I still see the opportunities for an interesting sequel.
Great story, fantastic premise. It really got going at the end, and I had a hard time putting it down. The whole alternate mythology of the unicorns was very well done - I found myself wondering if I'd be laughing at images of killer unicorns, but Peterfreund really makes them frightening and horrible creatures (even little Bonegrinder).
There were a couple of things that bothered me, though. I'm older than the target audience, so that may have something to do with it, but I thought the whole virginity thing could get a bit preachy. If you look more closely at the whole "hunters must be virgins" thing, and the powers that hunters have, it has some interesting implications. We see what happens to girls who aren't hunters: vulnerable to attack, lessened physical abilities, etc. So, (and perhaps I'm looking too far into this, but I can't help but look for this kind of stuff) as soon as you lose your virginity, you lose your strength and power as a woman. You can no longer fight for yourself. Hunters (virgins) do not need men, do not need to be protected.
Then there was Astrid's character. She was a bit too wishy-washy for me. One minute she's on the phone begging her mom to let her come home, even willing to sleep with a guy she barely knows to get out of her "duty" (another interesting facet of the virginity thing) whereas two months ago she had zero intention of going all the way. And then all of the sudden, she's off enjoying the rush she gets with hunting.
Now what I had some serious issues with was her mother. At the beginning, yeah she's a bit kooky, but then again it turns out all her stories about unicorns are true. Okay, that's fine. When she doesn't let Astrid come home, it's a bit mean, but she's a mother living vicariously through her daughter. Happens all the time. Doesn't make it right, but not uncommon. And then, she comes to be the temporary donna while Neil is away. And we discover that she is, apparently, absolutely psycho. Sure, you can be a bit more rigorous in the training. But having no problems with the other girls dying so Astrid (aka she herself) can get the glory? Mocking Phil, her own niece, being downright cruel, and TORTURING her own daughter to get a promise out of her???? Really?? This lady has some serious mental health issues! And even that doesn't tip Astrid off. On the next page, she's defending her by saying that they've become better hunters since Lilith became the donna (hmm, her name is Lilith as well. How interesting). And then we're supposed to be ok with all of it because she grieves when she thinks Astrid is dead. I mean, yes, she's your mother, but after what she did, you should probably disown her and stay as far away from her as you can.
Ok, I'm done with my rantings. It would have been 4 stars if it weren't for these problems with characterization, etc. It had a great story, turned out not to be as predictable as I thought it would be, and really drew me in. A great twist on a myth, that, for the most part, was executed very well. It ended a bit abruptly with some loose ends, which I think points to a sequel. I may not go rushing out to get it, but I'll absolutely read it.
There were a couple of things that bothered me, though. I'm older than the target audience, so that may have something to do with it, but I thought the whole virginity thing could get a bit preachy. If you look more closely at the whole "hunters must be virgins" thing, and the powers that hunters have, it has some interesting implications. We see what happens to girls who aren't hunters: vulnerable to attack, lessened physical abilities, etc. So, (and perhaps I'm looking too far into this, but I can't help but look for this kind of stuff) as soon as you lose your virginity, you lose your strength and power as a woman. You can no longer fight for yourself. Hunters (virgins) do not need men, do not need to be protected.
Then there was Astrid's character. She was a bit too wishy-washy for me. One minute she's on the phone begging her mom to let her come home, even willing to sleep with a guy she barely knows to get out of her "duty" (another interesting facet of the virginity thing) whereas two months ago she had zero intention of going all the way. And then all of the sudden, she's off enjoying the rush she gets with hunting.
Now what I had some serious issues with was her mother. At the beginning, yeah she's a bit kooky, but then again it turns out all her stories about unicorns are true. Okay, that's fine. When she doesn't let Astrid come home, it's a bit mean, but she's a mother living vicariously through her daughter. Happens all the time. Doesn't make it right, but not uncommon. And then, she comes to be the temporary donna while Neil is away. And we discover that she is, apparently, absolutely psycho. Sure, you can be a bit more rigorous in the training. But having no problems with the other girls dying so Astrid (aka she herself) can get the glory? Mocking Phil, her own niece, being downright cruel, and TORTURING her own daughter to get a promise out of her???? Really?? This lady has some serious mental health issues! And even that doesn't tip Astrid off. On the next page, she's defending her by saying that they've become better hunters since Lilith became the donna (hmm, her name is Lilith as well. How interesting). And then we're supposed to be ok with all of it because she grieves when she thinks Astrid is dead. I mean, yes, she's your mother, but after what she did, you should probably disown her and stay as far away from her as you can.
Ok, I'm done with my rantings. It would have been 4 stars if it weren't for these problems with characterization, etc. It had a great story, turned out not to be as predictable as I thought it would be, and really drew me in. A great twist on a myth, that, for the most part, was executed very well. It ended a bit abruptly with some loose ends, which I think points to a sequel. I may not go rushing out to get it, but I'll absolutely read it.
For a book with such a fun premise, it was mired with general angst and more interest in virginity than a coming of age high school movie. All this talk about killer unicorns makes me expect a fun romp with death and destruction. The book delivered some of that, but it also forced me through a few scenes where the main character tries to sleep with someone for various petty reasons. There was also some rape, which is in general unpleasant, but when involving the one character I actually gave a damn about, became devastating.Overall, I wish there was more world building. I know that they came to ruins unaware of the history, but I would have liked to discover that with them, instead of being treated to tempting snippets and denied the rest.
Rampant was a book that I was looking forward to reading but fell a little bit flat. I was very excited about reading a book that put unicorns in a different light and about girl warriors that fight them. Books that put an original spin on something usually makes it better in my mind and Peterfreund did a good job on that but... There was just something missing from the book and not just the usual- there are no adults around so lets do what we want to do! There was a lack of caring in the book. The only people who seemed to have a real connection is Astrid and her cousin Phillipa but even that is not explored to the fullest extent. I also did not like the love interest Giovanni, he just did not strike the right cord with me. This most likely has to do with his best friend being such a jerk but still... There is also a rape that takes place and I feel that it was not treated with the care that it should have been. It was more of a- now she cannot be a warrior, shame on her for dating a boy! I felt a bit sick when there seemed a lack of caring from the "responsible" adults or friends. Especially Astrid's mother. I shudder to think that there are mothers out there who may even resemble her. She made me want to take a shower to take of the icky feeling I got from this book.However, it was not all bad. I did like was the world in which it was set and the different types/levels of unicorns the girls had to fight. The history of Alexander the Great and the bloodlines which spanned the globe was well researched and the action helped keep the book from being a complete dud. I mean come on, Astrid was fighting killer unicorns! I liked that they actually had an instructor to teach them. Although their innate skills were good, they still had to hone them to be great.
I loved the premise of this book (killer unicorns and unicorn hunters) but found the story to be uneven and ambiguous ...were the unicorns really evil, some of them? The presence of the house Zhi made it problematic for me and I found the scenes where she is hurt or tortured to be difficult to read. It made many of the characters difficult to like and root for. Also, Astrid's mother was downright cruel and creepy. There was nothing likeable about her. When she wasn't being controlling and bossy she was overly dramatic, pathetic and immature. I had no sympathy for her at all and the whole section of her coming to Italy fell flat and ended strangely for me. Those problems aside, I liked the idea of different kinds of unicorns of varying sizes and characteristics. I feel like it could've been a much better book with a better editor.
When I was little, every night I'd go outside with my dad and little sister to wish on a star. Every night my sister wished for a horse. Every night I wished for... a unicorn. Back then, I couldn't think of anything I wanted or needed more than a unicorn. Granted, I'd never met Diana Peterfreund's unicorns. If I had though, I'm almost positive I would've just wished for a horse.Rampant was an amazing story, complete with bloodthirsty unicorns, a kickass heroine, and a touch of romance. I was completely enthralled with the plot of this novel: maiden warriors who hunt carnivorous unicorns. Honestly, who wouldn't be at least a little curious? I found the pace of the story a bit slow at times, but, overall, I was kept interested throughout the story. Even if action was lacking, the history and romantic plot line kept me coming back for more! I have never heard of unicorns being portrayed as anything other than gentle, magical creatures, but Peterfreund made it easy to believe that just maybe, we had the story all wrong. The background story was also well written and meshed perfectly with Astrid's story.I liked most of the characters in Rampant. I thought Astrid and the other hunters were well rounded and each had a distinct personality. I really liked Giovanni as a love interest - I was surprised to find that Astrid falls for an American guy, not an European guy - even if he did have a very Italian name! I thought that was a cute twist!I did, however, have a major problem with Astrid's mother. She was absolutely horrible. I don't mean horribly written necessarily, she was just a horrible mother. I found that really frustrating. I felt that not only did she try to live her dreams through Astrid, she also didn't really seem to have much common sense. Then, she changes completely later in the book, seemingly due to traumatic events, though they were not only caused by her, but also acknowleged and accepted. Gah! She annoyed me to no end!
When I met Diana Peterfreund and heard her speak of this book, I was intrigued. While the book has its feet firmly rooted in the fantasy genre, I think this book's realism is what will resonate with young women. Peterfreund has used the unicorn theme as a vehicle to talk about the pressures that teenage girls face, that often lead them away from reaching their full potential. Dealing with everything from low self-esteem to parent pressure to peer pressure and even rape, Peterfreund gives one of the most balanced and level-headed views of teenage love and sex--demonstrating clearly the wonder and joy of it as well as the dangers and pitfalls--ever recorded in the pages of young adult lit. This is an unusual balance to find in a) a young adult novel and b) a fantasy novel. I think it demonstrates the talent and potential of an author whose voice is one that young girls need to hear desperately. Rampant is the grrrl power antidote to books like Twilight that message to young girls that self-purpose and fulfillment only come in the arms of a man. This book has earned its place in the libraries of secondary schools and I highly recommend it to women of all ages (and to boys as well, who will learn much about how to treat a lady from its pages). I look forward to reading much more from this author. I hope she will avoid turning this book into a series, and instead present more stories with strong female characters.
Astrid was born into a long line of unicorn hunters. But she doesn't have to worry about that now. Unicorns are extinct. At least that's what everyone thought until Astrid meets a unicorn in the woods and attacks her boyfriend. Now her mother is sending her off to Rome to train to become a unicorn hunter. There she meets Neil and Cory, the ones who set up everything for other unicorn hunters to stay and train together.Astrid does not want to be a unicorn hunter. When she first shows up at the cloisters she is greeted by the house unicorn, Bonegrinder. She can't fathom killing this cute unicorn that absolutely adores all the unicorn hunters. So when her cousin, Phillipa, comes to join Astrid in the training and takes her out into Rome to get away from the place for a little bit, they meet two boys, Giovanni and Seth. Giovanni just might be the way to get Astrid out of this unicorn killing, because after all, you have to be a virgin to be a unicorn hunter.I loved this book! I waited a few days to write this review because I wanted to think about it for a little. This book has been on my mind ever since I finished it. I loved the mythology, the setting, the history, the unicorn hunters. It made me have a new fascination with unicorns. I'm really fighting the urge to pick the book back up and read it again.There were some points in the book that kind of made me cringe. Cory throws the Bonegrinder off a balcony one day and shoots it in the stomach another day. I just felt so bad for that poor little unicorn that does nothing but love and adore the unicorn hunters. But then again, I can understand considering they are killer unicorns and will kill anyone who isn't a unicorn hunter. But then I got over that once the bigger and more dangerous unicorns came into play.I really don't know what else to say. I want to go so into detail with this book, but I obviously can't do that without spoiling anything. It was action packed and very entertaining and I just loved the mythology. Did I already mention that? I even did some research about unicorns, to see what Peterfeund made up and what was 'real' so to say.So. Yes. I really loved this book and I can't wait to pick up the second novel, Ascendant.
Rampant by Diana Peterfreund is made of awesomesauce. What you need to know is that it is about killer unicorns. If you are a member of Team Unicorn it is absolutely fundamental that you read this book, as it is THE primer for Team Unicorn. Rampant follows the character Astrid Llewelyn whose crazy mother believes she is part of a line of unicorn hunters. Color Astrid skeptical. However, after making out with a boy in the woods, Astrid finds out that Unicorns absolutely do exist, and her crazy mother is not so nutty after all. We then journey to the unicorn hunter HQ in Rome, where Astrid trains to be a fierce warrior. This is also where my fist goes pump.Count me among the fans of Astrid. She is fun, full of spunk, occasionally funny, and loyal. I could totally relate to her for a lot of the book, even though I have never hunted a unicorn and well, am not qualified to hunt unicorns. For example, she's consistently embarrassed by her mother. Granted, my mother is not nuts or anything, but my family is very redneck, so if you have ever listened to Jeff Foxworthy, you are basically listening to a description of my parents. Well, I could feel for Astrid, and I am sure many of you could as well. Yes, our families embarrass us, but we still love them. Astrid is also faced with tough decisions such as whether or not to do the deed. I will say, yeah, that is a huge, huge, huge decision. I mean, I suppose some people don't struggle with that, but for the most part, it is something which does take a lot of consideration. This being stated, don't take Rampant as a v-card manifesto, because it is totally not.As for the unicorns, they are baller. Yes, baller. Got a problem with my gangsta verbiage? That's what I thought! Oh em gee, I think my favorite thing about Rampant was the unicorn-lore. It was AWESOME learning about the different types of unicorns. Of course, we have the most ultimate unicorn, Bucephalus, who is the size of a dinosaur, I guess? He's also linked to Alexander the Great, so excuse me while I go history geek out over Hellenistic cultures. Also, there is a little unicorn, a zhi, which I definitely want to pet, except it would eat me. I do enjoy pint sized terrors, what can I say? It's an adorable little bloodthirsty creature. Furthermore, this book is full of girl power. That's what's up.See, the thing is, only ladies can be unicorn hunters. And I just have to see, the women assembled by Peterfreund into the hunter group are fabulous. They are quite diverse, they have distinctive non-cardboard personalities, and they can really weld some weapons. I guess I just have a thing for determination and grit.Now, along the lines of girl power was the relationship between Astrid and her cousin Phillipa, aka Phil. Let's just say, I loved it! I like that family can be friends. I like that the girls aren't rivals, but that they ultimately lift each other up. Please more friendship in fiction. Not the frenemies type of friendship, but true, awesome, still on your side friends.Rampant definitely has me excited and pumped for Ascendant, the sequel. And yes, it has permanently put me on Team Unicorn.
So this book is about teenage virgins who fight killer unicorns because it's their inherited destiny. I enjoyed the adventure well enough, and I think that the discussions of virginity, and at one point rape, were useful for the audience, but I had a bit of a problem with suspense of belief. However, it was NOT with the killer unicorns or the destiny of the young ladies in question. What I had a problem with was the actions and beliefs of a lot of the characters. The main character's mother is basically insane in her quest for her daughter to be a hunter, throwing the girls carelessly in harms way in the name of glory. Then she suddenly collapses after one battle and locks herself in a room with lots of weapons threatening to harm herself. After establishing that she was seriously unstable, I suppose the latter made sense, but I just had a terrible time believing that she would be so disconnected from reality before that when it's been established that what everyone thought was her delusion was totally true all along. Also, everyone involved seems very tied up in bloodlines and their expectations for the girls. After everything else having to do with the Order has been thrown by the wayside and considered outdated and ripe for change, to rely so heavily on something that ridiculous feels like it doesn't fit.There were a few parts that I had trouble dealing with the characters' believability, but lots of action and thoughtful discussions made it an overall positive experience.
This is a story about poisonous killer unicorns, and the virgin unicorn hunters who protect the human race from these monsters. If that's not enough hook to get you curious, I'm not sure you and I have even remotely the same taste so you're probably wasting your time reading a review from me. This unusual concept brings you into a fairly typical young adult reluctant-hero narrative, something along the lines of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, only it's Astrid the Unicorn Hunter, whose mother is thrilled when a supposedly extinct unicorn shows up and gores Astrid's boyfriend, because she just knew her little girl had a destiny. I enjoyed it, but I'm going to warn you right now that the series should be rated the same as Buffy: there's plenty of monster hunting violence as one would expect, but also much more intimate violence. No graphic glorifying descriptions and I don't think the treatment is awful, but I'm kind of sick of rape in half the fantasy I read, so consider yourself warned.Overall, I didn't love this the way I loved "For the Darkness Shows the Stars" which is the novel that introduced me to author Diana Peterfreund, but "Rampant" was probably good enough for me to give the others in the series a try.
The premise was really fun, and the story was entertaining. I had a hard time believing that so many parents would send their kids to such a sus training facility. I'd give this to teen urban fantasy/adventure story fans.
Just did not live up to my expectations. I could buy the killer unicorn parts, but had trouble with the "realistic" characters. The mother was really creepy and the teens just did not seem right.
Unicorns are not the light happy creatures we think they are, they are dangerous man eating beasts and after 150 years of supposed extinction they have suddenly reappeared in the world. Only virgins descended from Alexander the Great can hunt unicorns but very few people remember this, but Astrid's mother does and she is shipping Astrid off to Unicorn hunter training camp.
At first I couldn't get into this book because I was so incredibly turned off by what happened to Astrid with Brandt and Kaitlyn. However once Astrid got to Rome and Phil showed up I was entranced. I loved watching Astrid develop as a person and Phil was a ray of sunshine in amid a bunch of heavy, troubled characters. For me Phil was what this book needed to keep from getting too dark and it is a very dark book. But Phil wasn't all light and sunshine, she had darkness too keeping her from being the obnoxious peppy character.
Trying to avoid spoilers so I am going to be as general as possible there was one issue regarding sex and rape that I wish had been clarified by the author. This is a book for teens and I felt the author should have clarified that the second someone says no, it is rape. While she did do a good job handling the mixed feelings that people experience, there should have been a more solid clarification that it wasn't that certain characters felt it was rape and others didn't. As soon as the character said no, it was date rape.
I feel this story could end here and doesn't really need any sequels since all of the major villains appear to be vanquished and the only real loose ends involve a minor character I wasn't really thrilled with to begin with. However I am extremely curious about where the story is going to go since it is clearly being labeled as a series.
At first I couldn't get into this book because I was so incredibly turned off by what happened to Astrid with Brandt and Kaitlyn. However once Astrid got to Rome and Phil showed up I was entranced. I loved watching Astrid develop as a person and Phil was a ray of sunshine in amid a bunch of heavy, troubled characters. For me Phil was what this book needed to keep from getting too dark and it is a very dark book. But Phil wasn't all light and sunshine, she had darkness too keeping her from being the obnoxious peppy character.
Trying to avoid spoilers so I am going to be as general as possible there was one issue regarding sex and rape that I wish had been clarified by the author. This is a book for teens and I felt the author should have clarified that the second someone says no, it is rape. While she did do a good job handling the mixed feelings that people experience, there should have been a more solid clarification that it wasn't that certain characters felt it was rape and others didn't. As soon as the character said no, it was date rape.
I feel this story could end here and doesn't really need any sequels since all of the major villains appear to be vanquished and the only real loose ends involve a minor character I wasn't really thrilled with to begin with. However I am extremely curious about where the story is going to go since it is clearly being labeled as a series.
Killer unicorns and the girls who hunt them: what a great idea! The characters were believable and the pacing was mostly good and I really felt that the story was in a well researched and believable world. I loved the fact that there were several different types of unicorns based on the many mythologies in the world. And, finally, a male love interest that isn't some writer's ideal. Giovanni is complex and not sappy. Yay! The book may have some problems, but I found it to be an enjoyable experience. Can't wait to read the next one.