Review: The Prey by Andrew Fukuda

I have been wanting to read The Prey ever since I finished The Hunt this May. And now I finally got the chance to do so; and I must say that it was worth the wait :) I remember loving the first book a whole lot. The writing, the plot, the characters. And I still did that. Only, I do think that the first book was better. But even so. I enjoyed this book a whole lot, and I never wanted to stop reading it, and I cannot wait for the third and final one. It will be a long wait. Because this book ends kind of bad. Big cliffhanger. Something awful is about to happen. And it really is the best ending as well. Cruel and perfect ;p

The Prey starts right where The Hunt ended. Which I will be spoiling a lot about right now. So you probably should not read more if you have not yet read The Hunt. You have been warned. Anyway. Book one ended with Gene, Sissy and the four boys leaving on a boat on the river. Gene had to leave Ashley June behind. Sniffs. It starts the day after, while they are still on the river. I must admit that it took me a little time to get used to the writing. I blame it on me having gotten so picky with things I read these past months :p But I did end up loving it, so I don't mind much.

The book is still from the point of view of Gene. And I loved that. Because I find Gene to be an amazing character. He's a bit broken, though. Which I loved even more. There were a few things about him that annoyed me, but yeah, I did love him. He's kind and smart. He doesn't like to open up at first, but he does. I did love that as well. Just wish it had been written even longer (A) Hih. We also learn more about his father. And the Scientist. I must admit that I did not like his father much.

I mean, he isn't in the book. Not really. But we read a lot about him, and at first Gene seems to have some hate for him. And I loved that very much. But then he changes his mind, and starts loving him again. I did not approve of that. I mean, yes, I do understand him. But yeah. I still think his father is an asshole, to be honest. I mean, he left his son alone, when he was still just a kid, with a whole bunch of evil vampires. And no friends, family, or other humans. Yeah. I did not like his dad. At all.

There are vampires in this book. At least, I think they are. The people in this book don't call them that. They call them Duskers. Which is a fitting name. But yeah. Pretty sure they are vampires :) They are a lot different than others that I have read about, and I loved that a lot. They are interesting. And exciting. And scary and creepy. Also kind of perfect. I did enjoy reading about them a lot. Mentioned them more in my review of The Hunt, so I won't do that now :) Anyway. They are an amazing plot twist.

Most of this book is about Gene and Sissy. And there is some romance between them as well. And I did like that. I wanted them together. Kind of. I also liked Ashley June a lot, though. But she wasn't there. Most likely dead. We do get to know for sure, though. Good thing: Gene feels guilty for feeling things for Sissy. I'm glad for that. But I am upset that I didn't feel that much of the romance. Just didn't feel it :\ But I still loved it, and I did want for more. So yeah. I am super excited for the last book ;)

One thing I didn't like were the four boys with Sissy. Well, okay, yes, I did like Jacob and Ben and David. But mostly because they were kids. And they were adorable. I did not like Epap, though. He was about the age of Gene and Sissy. And he was kind of in love with Sissy. Which made him a total asshole, to be honest. Didn't like him much. Might have approved of him at the ending, but still ;) The five of them, the ones who had lived in the Dome, they were a bit stupid in the beginning. At least to me. But they got better. A lot better. And I did like reading about them all. Sigh. I just wanted more and more.

We get to see a new place in this book. The Mission. This little place of paradise where a few hundred humans live. It is kind of amazing. For Gene and them, the first days. But then they see how it really is there. And my god. It gave me shivers. This place is awful. Goddamn awful. And I loved reading about it so much. I do love these awful places. It's a "town" run by a bunch of old men, The Elders. There are just young girls there. No boys or men. Or older woman. It is awful. And so good.

I won't say what happens at this place. But yeah. It's amazing to read about. And I kind of wanted another 100 pages about it. But then a lot more gruesome things would have to happen. Would not have wanted that. A lot of awful things do happen, though. Like the branding of the girls. It was not nice. And the thing they did to their feet! AH! *Shudders.* But also so good. I'm conflicted. I hated that there were a lot of rape in this village, though. We never got to see it, but I was sure it was happening.

I won't share more of the plot now. Have shared a few important things ;) But there is a lot more happening in this book. And it is all so amazing. You really must read The Prey if you have read The Hunt. And if you haven't read the first one yet, you must get on that ;) We get to learn so much in this book. But I also wished we had learned more. But it was also enough. The ending of this book is kind of awful. There is a small hope right at the end, last page. But it doesn't matter. Not when you think back to what happened the few pages before that. And yeah. I really need the third book right now!

There is a lot happening in The Prey. Lots of exciting things. Lots of death. Some happy things. But it was all amazing to read about. And I never wanted to stop reading this book. Wished it had been longer. But I cannot wait for the third book, so I'm glad there is another one coming out :) I really enjoyed this book. Even though I am giving it a four star, because I didn't love it as much as the first one. But it was still so good and a really great read. I'm glad I got to read it. And I will re-read it someday :)

Thank you to Andrew for writing these amazing books. And thank you to St. Martin's Press for letting me read and review this book more than a month before it comes out. You really must get it in January :)

Goodreads - Pre-Order