A review by claudiaswisher
Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield
5.0
Five stars because a day after I finished, I'm still thinking, still wondering...Cheryl (yes, I DO know her -- not just name-dropping) has created something new here...a book about the world when we've discovered that Paranormals live among us, able to communicate, to predict, to see what Normals can't. Paras are persecuted, hunted. They're captured and turned into slaves of the state, forced to hunt other Paras.
In this world, Caitlyn and her mother are on the run. Caitlyn's father was murdered for the crime of trying to speak reasonably, to keep the peace. She's never seen her brother Daniel since that horrible night.
Caitlyn enrolls in another new school, living in another new town...hoping for just a few months of peace before they're forced to run again.
The new school has more Para haters,but for the first time, a group of Para supporters...but things spiral out of control quickly as Daniel and his keepers enter the picture, trying to recruit Caitlyn, not to right the wrongs done to Paras, but to destroy the world of the Normals and any Paras who are not totally committed to total destruction.
Within this sci-fi setting, Cheryl makes us think about our own world...and our own intolerance of differences -- all differences. She sees the set-up as cultish behavior, mind-control...I see it even more sinisterly: This is the hatred that spews from fearful people right now -- this unwillingness to see beyond differences, to the humanity of our souls. It's so pervasive right now that this book is a cautionary tale, reminding us our own humanity is at stake.
And who among us isn't PARA-normal? Which of us isn't quirky, different, strange? Isn't that our beauty? Isn't that what makes us worthy of being cherished and respected?
Cheryl's Paras are tortured, as she herself has been. They suffer. Some of them have been warped beyond redemption, just as some of the Normals have. Can one young girl with extraordinary powers save us from ourselves?
This book does NOT fit neatly into a specific genre or category, and that's a strength...Caitlyn, her friends and her enemies will haunt you like they haunt me.
In this world, Caitlyn and her mother are on the run. Caitlyn's father was murdered for the crime of trying to speak reasonably, to keep the peace. She's never seen her brother Daniel since that horrible night.
Caitlyn enrolls in another new school, living in another new town...hoping for just a few months of peace before they're forced to run again.
The new school has more Para haters,but for the first time, a group of Para supporters...but things spiral out of control quickly as Daniel and his keepers enter the picture, trying to recruit Caitlyn, not to right the wrongs done to Paras, but to destroy the world of the Normals and any Paras who are not totally committed to total destruction.
Within this sci-fi setting, Cheryl makes us think about our own world...and our own intolerance of differences -- all differences. She sees the set-up as cultish behavior, mind-control...I see it even more sinisterly: This is the hatred that spews from fearful people right now -- this unwillingness to see beyond differences, to the humanity of our souls. It's so pervasive right now that this book is a cautionary tale, reminding us our own humanity is at stake.
And who among us isn't PARA-normal? Which of us isn't quirky, different, strange? Isn't that our beauty? Isn't that what makes us worthy of being cherished and respected?
Cheryl's Paras are tortured, as she herself has been. They suffer. Some of them have been warped beyond redemption, just as some of the Normals have. Can one young girl with extraordinary powers save us from ourselves?
This book does NOT fit neatly into a specific genre or category, and that's a strength...Caitlyn, her friends and her enemies will haunt you like they haunt me.