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porcelainheart_'s review
3.0
I had been meaning to review this one for a while, but got sidetracked.
I was on the fence about reading this book for a while. After reading the first in the series, and getting to know who each of the other characters are, the only character that really stood out to me was Miranda, if only for the circumstances of her abduction and the situation she found herself in. Ben seemed like he would do okay by himself, and the conflict wasn't obvious at first. Realizing this made up my mind to read the book.
As we learned in the first book, Ben is a U.S. Marine. He was serving a deployment in Afghanistan at the time of his abduction, and he adapts to the Hunt's taxing survival conditions like it's second nature to him. Ben was originally partnered with Esme from the first book, and an injury separates the two. Ben spends a grueling several days hiding in several hard-to-reach spots from the various alien hunters who want to capture him, but one of them is persistent.
The hunter in question is Adiya Yamma. She's from a planet called Sigi, where she rules as General, over a race of people she belongs to called the Skets. The military distinction isn't just for show. Adiya is a fierce and capable fighter, and has no problem dispatching the other hunters who get in her way. Her participation in the Hunt is strategical - her reign as General is in jeopardy because she's not married. The solution to her dilemma is to find a mate unaffiliated with Sigi, bring him back, and formally present him as her mate before anyone catches wind that she's been gone . She participates in the Hunt using a camouflaging system that displays her appearance to others as a reptilian species, tall and covered in scales. It's only after Adiya claims Ben and they're back on Sigi that she reveals her true form to him.
When they finally arrive on Sigi, Ben struggles to grasp how everything in this new matriarchal society works. At first, Adiya wanted Ben to be a mate in name only. This was to be a marriage of convenience to her, since her position as General was in jeopardy without one. And she doesn't involve him in any of her meetings, discussions, or decision makings when it comes to her duties as General. The romantic feelings came later when they spend more time together, and Ben learns to navigate the new world he's found himself in with the help of Adiya's assistants. The author demonstrated that this was an area of difficulty for Ben pretty well , and I felt that the rest of his reactions were realistic too. He is curious about the world he's in, wary of Siah and her scheming after his first encounter with her, and he expresses worry and concern over the other humans whom he left behind in the Hunt. .
There were several inconsistencies about the story that I couldn't make sense of. For the scant world-building and backstory given to Adiya's people, they really seem no different than humans on Earth.. Every description of the people around Adiya paint them as basically the same as humans on Earth, and it was hard to picture what made them alien in appearance and even mannerism .
Another was Sigi itself. The story begins at the funeral of Adiya's mother, General Elutil. It's worth noting that Adiya and her older sister, Siah, never once refer to their mother as "mom" or even "mother", she is always Elutil or General Elutil. Adiya and Siah are in attendance, and it is expected that after the funeral, Siah would formally and officially be named the new General, following their mother's will.
I thought the social hierarchy was interesting in that it's not often a militaristic society is also a matriarchal society, where leadership is passed from mother to daughter and men have no military power, dominance or authority. But considering that Sigi is borderline isolationist, it didn't make sense to me that they would have the military hierarchies, capabilities, or trainings that they do now. Their main enemies haven't been seen or heard from for at least a millennia, and even that plot device seemed like it wasn't fleshed out completely .
And this ties into my biggest gripe with the story - the plot, while not entirely predictable, had an anticlimactic ending. Throughout the story, Siah is witnessed in various places seemingly plotting against her sister Adiya. Part of the plot centered around how Siah had access to the central building where Adiya lived and conducted her duties as General, and how she was able to throw metaphorical wrenches in Adiya's plans. The other part of the plot centered around Adiya facing punishment from her Commander for leaving Sigi and bringing back an outsider for a mate .
But as the story progressed, with Adiya and Ben's relationship growing, Siah becomes increasingly more unhinged and volatile. At one point, she openly accosts Adiya while she and Ben are at a public event. I guess this connects to why Adiya was ultimately chosen to be General and not Siah. But it does something of a disservice to Siah's character development. It paints her as a sister literally gone mad with vengeance and betrayal .
It would have been a lot more dramatic and action-packed if Siah, for all her scheming, managed to bypass Sigi's planetary travel restrictions and brought foreign enemies to invade Sigi and kickstart a war. Up until this point, Adiya acted like a General in name only. She had fighting skills, but we only ever saw them in the Hunt and in the final scene with Siah. In this sense, she was more of a leader than anything else. With the prospect of invaders and a potential intergalactic war on her hands, we would have seen her as an actual General, and it would have proved once and for all that their mother made no mistake in choosing her over Siah. It also would have given us an opportunity to see how Sigi dealt with foreign invaders and other enemies, considering they're a largely militaristic society . It would have been an opportunity for Ben as well; the fact that he was an outsider was an issue for many, including most of Adiya's lieutenants. If Ben fought by Adiya's side, it would have been seen as him proving his worth as a soldier and as a mate to Adiya.
And even if the foreign invasion scenario wasn't feasible, a tidbit that was frequently mentioned was that Siah had loyalists in Adiya's own Cabinet. What if there were loyalists elsewhere on Sigi? Those who opposed Adiya's rule as General and wanted Siah to take over? It was explained that Siah had garnered some support over the years, yet none of it culminated in anything other that her loyalists in Adiya's Cabinet feeding her information, and Siah using said information to try and undermine her younger sister. Siah could have started a campaign against her sister, sowed dissent among her subjects, and kickstarted a civil war. And with everyone having military training of some degree, this would have been a personal battle for Adiya since she would have had to fight off and possibly kill her own subjects.
Overall, this book was alright, and it does provide some context to the other humans that were involved in the Hunt. Many remain, some were captured but found, and two that were widely believed to have died in the very beginning are actually still alive. I just wish the plot was more fleshed out instead of it being as anti-climactic as others have mentioned.
I was on the fence about reading this book for a while. After reading the first in the series, and getting to know who each of the other characters are, the only character that really stood out to me was Miranda, if only for the circumstances of her abduction and the situation she found herself in. Ben seemed like he would do okay by himself, and the conflict wasn't obvious at first. Realizing this made up my mind to read the book.
As we learned in the first book, Ben is a U.S. Marine. He was serving a deployment in Afghanistan at the time of his abduction, and he adapts to the Hunt's taxing survival conditions like it's second nature to him. Ben was originally partnered with Esme from the first book
Spoiler
and Miranda from the fourth book, before she ultimately split from their groupThe hunter in question is Adiya Yamma. She's from a planet called Sigi, where she rules as General, over a race of people she belongs to called the Skets. The military distinction isn't just for show. Adiya is a fierce and capable fighter, and has no problem dispatching the other hunters who get in her way. Her participation in the Hunt is strategical - her reign as General is in jeopardy because she's not married
Spoiler
and the marriage prospects she's been presented with all have political motivations behind themSpoiler
because Sigi has an oppressively restrictive ban on travel to and from the planet, and before she left for the Hunt, her assistant made arrangements to make it look like she was on an extended mountain retreatWhen they finally arrive on Sigi, Ben struggles to grasp how everything in this new matriarchal society works. At first, Adiya wanted Ben to be a mate in name only. This was to be a marriage of convenience to her, since her position as General was in jeopardy without one. And she doesn't involve him in any of her meetings, discussions, or decision makings when it comes to her duties as General
Spoiler
causing Ben to inadvertently make a blunder that throws a wrench in her plans later onSpoiler
since he grew up with his mother and his sisters, and came with a natural instinct to protect womenSpoiler
By the end of the book, he reunites with Miranda and her children, Esme, and Payton, and is appointed by the Commander herself to head a search for the rest of themThere were several inconsistencies about the story that I couldn't make sense of. For the scant world-building and backstory given to Adiya's people, they really seem no different than humans on Earth.
Spoiler
The Skets descended from an advanced race of humans called the Pharaohsites, and their history is loosely based on Egyptian mythology. Eventually they "got tired" of Earth, and the Pharaohsites left. But seven Pharaohsites stayed behind, presumably one for each of the seven continents on Earth, as it's said they each claimed land for their own. They shared advanced technology with the hybrids of Earth humans and Pharaohsites, originally called Pharaohs but renamed Skets by the seven Pharaohsites.Spoiler
as they didn't act that much different from humans on Earth, either, aside from technological advancements at their fingertipsAnother was Sigi itself. The story begins at the funeral of Adiya's mother, General Elutil. It's worth noting that Adiya and her older sister, Siah, never once refer to their mother as "mom" or even "mother", she is always Elutil or General Elutil. Adiya and Siah are in attendance, and it is expected that after the funeral, Siah would formally and officially be named the new General, following their mother's will
Spoiler
but the shock comes after the recorder reading the funeral rites announces that their mother has chosen Adiya to succeed her instead of Siah, even though Siah had been groomed for the position since she came of age, and had extensive training and knowledge for the position that Adiya did notI thought the social hierarchy was interesting in that it's not often a militaristic society is also a matriarchal society, where leadership is passed from mother to daughter and men have no military power, dominance or authority. But considering that Sigi is borderline isolationist
Spoiler
and has an absolute ban on any travel to and from the planetSpoiler
called the OkuthyuSpoiler
because the first few paragraphs of chapter 1 is a prologue, detailing the history of the Skets, and towards the end it was described that the Okuthyu had instituted strict protections of humans and left them alone when the Pharaohsites left, then came back after a millennia and found the Skets had grown incredibly powerful and wanted no overseers for their planet, and there was no resolution or clarification on what the Okuthyu did after this pointAnd this ties into my biggest gripe with the story - the plot, while not entirely predictable, had an anticlimactic ending. Throughout the story, Siah is witnessed in various places seemingly plotting against her sister Adiya. Part of the plot centered around how Siah had access to the central building where Adiya lived and conducted her duties as General, and how she was able to throw metaphorical wrenches in Adiya's plans
Spoiler
and it was quickly resolved that some of the lieutenants Adiya had appointed were loyalists to Siah, and believed she should have been the true General and not Adiya, disagreeing with their mother Elutil's final decision and helping her plot against their own GeneralSpoiler
which was also resolved when they learned the circumstances of Ben's arrival, and Adiya's findings that other humans were involved in an illegal hunting gameBut as the story progressed, with Adiya and Ben's relationship growing, Siah becomes increasingly more unhinged and volatile. At one point, she openly accosts Adiya while she and Ben are at a public event. I guess this connects to why Adiya was ultimately chosen to be General and not Siah
Spoiler
because according to their mother, Siah lacked the empathy and compassion needed to be General and would not be able to put the needs of their nation over her own, which made Siah unfit in their mother's eyes. The Commander revealed this in front of Adiya, who had no prior knowledge of this, while she was scolding Siah for her inappropriate behavior, along with the revelation that Siah knew this all along, and never once bothered to tell AdiyaSpoiler
who ultimately snapped after the bombshell revelation, openly assaulting Adiya, and being sentenced to prison time, which is something else that bothered me. There were several other people in the room other than Adiya, Ben, the Commander and Siah when the assault occurred. Yet Ben was the only one who interfered in the fight between the two sisters. Was everyone else just frozen? In shock, maybe? If they all had the military training to earn the ranks they had, why didn't anyone else step in to subdue Siah? Especially considering that Adiya is the General, the highest ranking official in the room, second only to the Commander???It would have been a lot more dramatic and action-packed if Siah, for all her scheming, managed to bypass Sigi's planetary travel restrictions and brought foreign enemies
Spoiler
like the Okuthyu supposedly wereSpoiler
And the prologue never mentions what the Okuthyu do after they find how powerful and formidable the Skets have become after a millennia.Spoiler
and the prologue explained that a "fight" not to have any overseers for their planet was continuing to this dayAnd even if the foreign invasion scenario wasn't feasible, a tidbit that was frequently mentioned was that Siah had loyalists in Adiya's own Cabinet. What if there were loyalists elsewhere on Sigi? Those who opposed Adiya's rule as General and wanted Siah to take over? It was explained that Siah had garnered some support over the years, yet none of it culminated in anything other that her loyalists in Adiya's Cabinet feeding her information, and Siah using said information to try and undermine her younger sister. Siah could have started a campaign against her sister, sowed dissent among her subjects, and kickstarted a civil war. And with everyone having military training of some degree, this would have been a personal battle for Adiya since she would have had to fight off and possibly kill her own subjects.
Overall, this book was alright, and it does provide some context to the other humans that were involved in the Hunt. Many remain, some were captured but found, and two that were widely believed to have died in the very beginning are actually still alive
Spoiler
and working as servants on another planet from what I remember, an insult to the high-class privileged life they had on Earthmx_manda's review
4.0
Another enjoyable installment of The Hunt series, this time we finish off Esme's group with Ben's story...and we finally get to meet those Sket we keep hearing so much about. (And find out what happened to some of the others near the end.)
Possible mild spoilers ahead:
Though not as strong as some of the other stories in this series, HBTAG still has many of the elements that make these work. Griffin has a talent for revisiting events multiple times over without feeling like that annoying recap at the beginning of shows—remember those? Ugh, worst. There's just enough overlap and touching points to remind the reader what was happening at the time, then moves along with a unique storyline from then on.
And Ben, the US Marine who seemed like he should be a shoe-in to go far in the games, has a very interesting journey. Which leads to another strength in Griffin's writing: she subverts expectations and keeps things fresh and out of cliché land.
This story is fairly short, but a slower burn. The relationship build in this was pretty satisfying. I liked that before Ben knows who he's really talking to, he's already developing an attachment based on personality and enjoyed company.
The Main Conflict...eh, that's where I felt some of the weaknesses came in, since so many Big Things had to be conveniently omitted to make it happen.
OOPSIDOODLE.
With that topic having been an issue for more than half Adiya's life, and something she and Ben talked about regularly, it really didn't make sense in the context of the story that neither he nor his assistant would have had it mentioned to them. Both Adiya and Nasir conveniently forgot about it?
With soldier stories, there's often a lack of softness and depth to them, which wasn't the case here. I appreciated seeing a service member who wasn't a two dimensional caricature, constantly waving a flag and screaming that Freedom Isn't Free while his lady swoons at home for his bravery and waxes poetic about his service.
Even being part of a military family, I really hate Military Fap material and usually avoid it in my reads.
Ben struggles to figure out what to do with himself since he's not working anymore, a large part of his identity was his job—which happens often with men—but he has hobbies and interests to fall back on. He's kind and thoughtful and figures out how to pivot, even if he's not totally thrilled with the initial description and experiences in his new life.
And.
Probably my biggest niggle with this story.
So.
How human sperm was somehow different from Sket sperm and rendered their birth control ineffective? That's like arguing if I went back several thousand years in time, I could get knocked up by any of our human ancestors despite having effective and ideally used birth control in place, because their guys somehow swim differently.
SFR loves this trope, because they conveniently forget—or perhaps more worrying, genuinely do not know—that hormonal birth control effects ovulation, not sperm. No egg, no baby. End of story. Sorry, y'all. Strong swimming doesn't help hit a non-existent target.
Unless the Sket have some different form of birth control they use for uterus people? Based on how high tech they are, I assumed it was a hormonally based one to prevent ovulation like we use now and is most effective. Probably with a much more reliable and more effective hormonal regulation method.
I've hit the point where I've thought about this way too long.
Despite getting hung up on these things, I still really enjoyed the story and there's a lot to like in it. I can not wait to see who we follow next, as we have a second group of people with yet-unknown fates. And. I'd even like to see a short about the two vapid socialites who were immediately caught. It was great to hear they're happy, but I will not deny being curious about their fame now. And. The opportunity to write lots of interesting alien smut.
P.S. Penis is the absolutely least sexy word for a dick, even worse than prick—unless it's orcs, then I'll go with it. 5 times on a single page and never using any other name for a phallus—not even length, really??—the entire time was too much penis.
Possible mild spoilers ahead:
Though not as strong as some of the other stories in this series, HBTAG still has many of the elements that make these work. Griffin has a talent for revisiting events multiple times over without feeling like that annoying recap at the beginning of shows—remember those? Ugh, worst. There's just enough overlap and touching points to remind the reader what was happening at the time, then moves along with a unique storyline from then on.
And Ben, the US Marine who seemed like he should be a shoe-in to go far in the games, has a very interesting journey. Which leads to another strength in Griffin's writing: she subverts expectations and keeps things fresh and out of cliché land.
Spoiler
And can I get a rAmen for trauma finally being dealt with via mental health care and other treatments instead of sex or love curing all?This story is fairly short, but a slower burn. The relationship build in this was pretty satisfying. I liked that before Ben knows who he's really talking to, he's already developing an attachment based on personality and enjoyed company.
The Main Conflict...eh, that's where I felt some of the weaknesses came in, since so many Big Things had to be conveniently omitted to make it happen.
OOPSIDOODLE.
With that topic having been an issue for more than half Adiya's life, and something she and Ben talked about regularly, it really didn't make sense in the context of the story that neither he nor his assistant would have had it mentioned to them. Both Adiya and Nasir conveniently forgot about it?
With soldier stories, there's often a lack of softness and depth to them, which wasn't the case here. I appreciated seeing a service member who wasn't a two dimensional caricature, constantly waving a flag and screaming that Freedom Isn't Free while his lady swoons at home for his bravery and waxes poetic about his service.
Even being part of a military family, I really hate Military Fap material and usually avoid it in my reads.
Ben struggles to figure out what to do with himself since he's not working anymore, a large part of his identity was his job—which happens often with men—but he has hobbies and interests to fall back on. He's kind and thoughtful and figures out how to pivot, even if he's not totally thrilled with the initial description and experiences in his new life.
And.
Probably my biggest niggle with this story.
Spoiler
Even though the Sket have been off Earth for 5,000+ years, they seemed to be at best, a slightly differently evolved version of humanity—meaning minor cosmetic differences. Drastic evolutionary changes take way longer than the Sket had been gone from Earth, even considering they were likely from the Old Kingdom time period, because...pyramids. It was mentioned several times that yeah, technically they were still human, but had undergone a name change and had a separate identity from humanity.So.
How human sperm was somehow different from Sket sperm and rendered their birth control ineffective? That's like arguing if I went back several thousand years in time, I could get knocked up by any of our human ancestors despite having effective and ideally used birth control in place, because their guys somehow swim differently.
SFR loves this trope, because they conveniently forget—or perhaps more worrying, genuinely do not know—that hormonal birth control effects ovulation, not sperm. No egg, no baby. End of story. Sorry, y'all. Strong swimming doesn't help hit a non-existent target.
Unless the Sket have some different form of birth control they use for uterus people? Based on how high tech they are, I assumed it was a hormonally based one to prevent ovulation like we use now and is most effective. Probably with a much more reliable and more effective hormonal regulation method.
I've hit the point where I've thought about this way too long.
Despite getting hung up on these things, I still really enjoyed the story and there's a lot to like in it. I can not wait to see who we follow next, as we have a second group of people with yet-unknown fates. And. I'd even like to see a short about the two vapid socialites who were immediately caught. It was great to hear they're happy, but I will not deny being curious about their fame now. And. The opportunity to write lots of interesting alien smut.
P.S. Penis is the absolutely least sexy word for a dick, even worse than prick—unless it's orcs, then I'll go with it. 5 times on a single page and never using any other name for a phallus—not even length, really??—the entire time was too much penis.
audiobookmel's review
4.0
Review originally posted at BooksOfMyHeart.net.
I was so excited to finally see one of the men get hunted in this series. I really liked Ben in the previous books. These books take place all about the same timeline, just following different characters. Several humans have been abducted from earth and brought to a planet where they will be hunted. They will become the property of whoever can catch them. So far, we’ve only seen the women get taken (and I loved each story, which all have a HEA). This time, we get to see where Ben ends up.
Adiya Yamma is a General on her planet. She’s a ruler of a territory and was chosen as heir over her older sister, which was a surprise to many, especially the sister. Now her rule is being challenged and other generals are trying to force into a marriage with one of their family members to control her. She wants to find someone who won’t try to undermine her rule. This is why she enters The Hunt.
I really like watching these two come together. It takes a bit of time. And Ben gives her a run for her money as she tries to catch him. I even love how hard he works to care for the others with him. After Ben gets injured, he convinces Adiyanot to not to claim him until after all his friends have moved on to level two.
I’ve really loved all the books in this series. You could read these out of order or as standalones, if you so choose, though I personally prefer to read in order. It is a fun science fiction romance with great characters that I just love. And even though these couples come together in dire circumstances, they do fall in love with each other and have an happy ever after.
I was so excited to finally see one of the men get hunted in this series. I really liked Ben in the previous books. These books take place all about the same timeline, just following different characters. Several humans have been abducted from earth and brought to a planet where they will be hunted. They will become the property of whoever can catch them. So far, we’ve only seen the women get taken (and I loved each story, which all have a HEA). This time, we get to see where Ben ends up.
Adiya Yamma is a General on her planet. She’s a ruler of a territory and was chosen as heir over her older sister, which was a surprise to many, especially the sister. Now her rule is being challenged and other generals are trying to force into a marriage with one of their family members to control her. She wants to find someone who won’t try to undermine her rule. This is why she enters The Hunt.
I really like watching these two come together. It takes a bit of time. And Ben gives her a run for her money as she tries to catch him. I even love how hard he works to care for the others with him. After Ben gets injured, he convinces Adiyanot to not to claim him until after all his friends have moved on to level two.
I’ve really loved all the books in this series. You could read these out of order or as standalones, if you so choose, though I personally prefer to read in order. It is a fun science fiction romance with great characters that I just love. And even though these couples come together in dire circumstances, they do fall in love with each other and have an happy ever after.
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