Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill was a Trope Heavy Disappointment

Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill

Rating: 1/5 stars

Published: December 27, 2016 by HMH Books for Young Reders

Pages: 400 (hardcover)

Series: First in a series

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Summary from Goodreads: Seventeen year-old Britta Flannery is at ease only in the woods with her dagger and bow. She spends her days tracking criminals alongside her father, the legendary bounty hunter for the King of Malam—that is, until her father is murdered. Now outcast and alone and having no rights to her father’s land or inheritance, she seeks refuge where she feels most safe: the Ever Woods. When Britta is caught poaching by the royal guard, instead of facing the noose she is offered a deal: her freedom in exchange for her father’s killer.

However, it’s not so simple.

The alleged killer is none other than Cohen McKay, her father’s former apprentice. The only friend she’s ever known. The boy she once loved who broke her heart. She must go on a dangerous quest in a world of warring kingdoms, mad kings, and dark magic to find the real killer. But Britta wields more power than she knows. And soon she will learn what has always made her different will make her a daunting and dangerous force.

Ever the Hunted was a huge disappointment for me. It was predictable, boring, and cliche. On top of all that, the characters were terribly stubborn and really got on my nerves. There was nothing new or special about this book. And I so thought it was going to be good. Just look at that cover! Sadly, this book was the complete opposite of its amazing cover and was just flat out bad. I rarely give books only one star, so when I do, it’s because I really disliked it.

Britta Flannery’s father, the King’s bounty hunter, has recently been assassinated. With her father’s land and money taken from her, she is left alone. When she’s caught poaching illegally, the guards make her a  deal. They’ll allow her to live only if she is able to hunt down the boy who killed her father. So Britta and a few of the guards leave the city to track down Cohen McKay.

Our main character, Bitta Flannery, was so annoying. She made me want to rip my head off. Britta was very stubborn to the point of annoying. Now I normally don’t mind stubborn characters, but in Britta’s case, it was just bad. Take Adam Parrish from The Raven Boys for example. He’s incredibly prideful and stubborn which can be annoying at times, but I stilled loved him. Britta can also tell when people are lying or telling the truth, which just made me think of Susan Dennard’s Truthwitch.

The romance made me cringe. Both Britta and Cohen were extremely stubborn and couldn’t get over themselves. I get that they had been dating before then broken up, but the romance just felt fake and really forced. Both of their personalities were terrible. When you put them together, it’s even worse. They had a very cliché relationship. I felt like I had already read the exact same love story, just much better than this one.

There wasn’t enough worldbuilding. I didn’t get a clear sense of the world. It just felt so thrown together at once On top of that, the writing wasn’t anything special either. It was kind of boring and the story was really slow with essentially nothing happening.

Honestly, the worst part for me was how predictable it was. I will be discussing minor spoilers that I had thought the main character knew the entire time, so skip to the end of this paragraph if you don’t want to be spoiled. — The entire time, I had thought Britta had powers. It was that obvious. But then on 306 Britta found out about it? Like what?? It was SO obvious. I legit thought that she knew, but it turned out I was wrong.

This book was very cliché/trope heavy. Everything about Ever the Hunted felt familiar, like I had already read it before. Nothing about this book felt new or special, it was just so boring and slow and cliché.

Overall, I would not recommend Ever the Hunted. But then again, I know a lot of people liked it, so if it intrigues you, then give it a try. But for me, it was really predictable and cliché. Everything just kind of fell flat. Though I gave it one star, I might give the second book a try, but who knows.