Hunted: Alba’s Story by Kaylin Lee
Fantasy. 235 Pages. 5 Stars
Synopsis:
Love is a battle with high stakes. Too bad I’d never been less likely to win.
Newly-minted healer mage, Alba Mattas, has only ever had one goal—to be swept off her feet by a rich, handsome man. The richer and handsomer, the better. Alba is gorgeous, and she knows how to flirt to get her way. Finding true love should be easy, right?
But when her suitor’s wealthy, well-connected mother discovers her son’s interest in Alba, everything changes.
Alba is banished from the city and sent into the Badlands on a mission. Lost in the mountains, Alba is close to death when help appears in the most unlikely form. Will this unexpected refuge keep her safe or put her in greater danger than ever?
Her search for love has failed. Beauty has ruined her life. And now her troubled twin sister, Briar Rose, is in serious peril.
For the first time, Alba has bigger concerns than her own survival.
Hunted: Alba’s Story is a Snow White retelling set in a magical world filled with hope and sweet romance. It is Book 5 in the Destined series, a collection of overlapping fairy tales set in the same world. Each story is self-contained, with its own protagonist and satisfying happily-ever-after, but they also tell an overarching story. Read them in order:
Torn: Novelette Prequel to Cinderella
Book 1 – Fated: Cinderella’s Story
Burned: Weslan’s Story – a Destined series short from Weslan’s point of view (free on Instafreebie http://smarturl.it/burned-signup )
Book 2 – Hidden: Rapunzel’s Story
Book 3 – Twisted: Belle’s Story
Book 4 – Betrayed: Ruby’s Story
Book 5 – Hunted: Alba’s Story
Book 6 – Cursed: Briar Rose’s Story – Release date TBD
My Review:
I have enjoyed Kaylin Lee’s Destined series from the beginning, but this one tops the cake! I’m not even a huge Snow White fan. This book, I think, was the best in the series thus far.
Hehe! The characters in this were lovely. First off, I love how much more we see of the previous characters. They’re integrated in this tight-knit family and it’s nice to see that in a book for a change. Alba kind of took me by surprise. Her character growth was so natural and so beautiful to watch. She truly felt like a Snow White character to me: beautiful but humble, sweet and loving, kind. Even despite how she fretted over physical beauty in the beginning and doubted her own beauty and worth, she still came off as humble to me–she never really realized just how beautiful she was and she never really felt as beautiful as she truly was. Watching her learn to feel beautiful and to treasure who she was was a treat. I loved that she was a healer, too! So neat! It was sooo cool! Kay, maybe I’m just a sucker, but he fell right into the good guy zone for me. I liked him right off and watching him develop and grow was a lot of fun, too. The seven dwarves, guys! I don’t know that there have ever been cuter dwarves! I just wanted to hold them all! I want stories for them! I want more of them! I completely fell head over heels for them. The relationships between them were possibly my favorite part of the book. I love watching siblings care for each other, so devoted and dynamic. Definitely well done there! The Evil Queen character was unique and played well into the hands of the story, I thought. She was well done, too.
Oh, man, guys! The setting was so much fun! I loved getting a front row seat in the Badlands!! It was such a treat to finally get an inside glimpse of the Bandlander culture! I wish we could have dug even deeper into their culture and I certainly hope we see more in the final book. Something that’s been really neat about this series is how each book has given us a bit of a different part of the Destined world. We haven’t seen the Western part of the world much yet, but maybe we will in the next book. It’s clearly becoming more and more important. From the beginning, I have been sucked in by the setting. The political intrigue and the laws of nature, of the land, the cultures and the mages and their heritage has been the most fascinating part of the whole series to me. This book (and the last one, really) sort of pulled the series out of that singular fascination and brought more bits and pieces to my attention. I’m now more invested in the story itself, and even a little more invested in the characters.
The story loosely follows the Snow White tale. I liked the nods to the classic: the mirror, the beauty, the seven dwarves, the sleep, the poisoned apple (food). They were all very cleverly woven into the Destined world and Alba’s story personally. I think my favorite were the seven dwarves! I loved each and every one of them! This one continues the overarching story that Lee has been developing in the series and moves us along from where the last book left off. Honestly, I didn’t really see the overarching series connections so strongly in the beginning as I am now–and I’m enjoying them! The first three kind of got off to a rocky start, I think, though I really enjoyed the plots and the characters and the world thoroughly. These last two have really begun to pull everything together in a much more cohesive way.
This book was a page turner! It was pretty fast paced, I thought. As much as I love the others (and don’t get me wrong, I do!), none of them have been as engaging and enthralling as this one. I was hooked in! I had a hard time putting this one down. I think Mrs. Lee’s upping her game with this book, and I’m very excited to see the finale (and sad! I didn’t realize it was coming so soon!) with one of my favorite tales: Sleeping Beauty!
I only caught one or two minor typos, and no story inconsistencies. It was well-written, and perfectly paced. Intriguing. It drew me in and kept me hooked throughout while further developing the overall plot and the characters. Fantastic job!
Content: There is no foul language and all clean romance–nothing worse than a kiss. There was very little, and very mild violence. There are more curses in this one than any of the previous book, but personally, they were all very mild (a tingling feeling, immobilization, one cursed object, a few people who were basically under mind-control) and well handled. I almost feel like “curse” is misleading.
Note: I was graciously given an ARC from the author. The review reflects my own thoughts and opinions despite her generosity.
More:
Prequel Novelette: Torn (4 Stars)
Book 1 in the Destined series is Fated: Cinderella’s Story (5 Stars)
Book 2 is Hidden: Rapunzel’s Story (4 Stars)
Book 3 is Twisted: Belle’s Story (4 Stars)
Book 4 is Betrayed: Ruby’s Story (5 Stars)
Book 6 is Cursed: Briar Rose’s Story (4 Stars)
I have rated and reviewed each of the above on Goodreads. Follow the links to find more info on the books and then scroll down to see the reviews. Mine is among them.
This series should be read in order.
On Gracebought
If you missed it, check out my review of the previous books here!
Fated: Cinderella’s Story, Hidden: Rapunzel’s Story, Twisted: Belle’s Story, and Betrayed: Ruby’s Story