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Mar 14, 2011

Barbara rated it:

I was at the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association)conference in November and was NOT one of the pucky people to obtain a pre-release copy of Huntress there although I heard the author speak and lusted after on. Two weeks later I went to the NCTE(National Cozuncil of Teachers of English) and snarfed up a copy the second I saw it available. I like books that are outside th normal fare. Huntress is not only different from Ash, it is different from any other paranormal or fantasy. It is o More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

May 16, 2011

Nikki rated it:

Huntress is a sort of prequel to Ash, but it is set a long time before it. If I remember rightly, this story is mentioned in Ash. Anyway, this story is about the journey of six people: Con, the son of the king; Taisin, a young woman who wants to be a celibate sage; Kaede, a classmate of Taisin's with no talent for the magic; and Shae, Pol and Tali, their guards. They have to see the Fairy Queen, during a period when nature has gone out of balance.

The story of the journey itself isn't More...

7 comments like (6 people liked it)

Aug 11, 2011

Book Chick City rated it:

Reviewed by Andrea for Book Chick City. 9/10 on the blog.

There aren’t enough young adult fantasy novels, so I was really excited when I received this book to review. For one, it looks like it could be just as at home in the adult section of a book store as it could in the young adult section, and secondly the blurb gave me enough information to be intrigued. I really was not disappointed in “Huntress”.

Taisin is a gifted student, studying to become a Sage. She has powerful More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 14, 2011

Logan rated it:

First impressions: The world here was so different from any other book I've read recently. I couldn't put it down, because I was so curious about where this story was going. The first chapter is retrospective, so we see where things might end up, but not what has happened yet, and it is achingly beautiful.

Lasting impressions: Breathtaking. Grand. This fantasy was gloriously epic while still remaining a quick read and avoiding an overly complicated plot. This one is top notch.

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0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Mar 14, 2011

Sara rated it:

Huntress is the story of two girls who are sent on a journey to the fairy kingdom. They have been sent to meet with the fairy queen to try to save their world which has become an eternal winter. The two girls face many dangers along the way and fall in love.

Huntress is set in a lush fantasy world and will be enjoyed by lovers of fantasy. The book was slow at parts as it was a long journey but the characters were well developed and interesting. The lesbian romance was swe More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 14, 2011

Karissa rated it:

I loved Malinda Lo's first book Ash and was excited to about Huntress. I got this book through Book it Forward ARC tours. It was a wonderful book. The story was more complicated and expansive than Ash. It again features a romance between two women, there is also a lot of adventuring and some magic.

Kaede and Taisin are two girls in their late teens. Kaede is the daughter of a the King's Advisor and more knowledgeable in fighting and handcrafts than the magic at that the academy she More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 25, 2012

Dorothea rated it:

Ash reminded everyone of Robin McKinley, but Huntress reminds me of Robin McKinley and Tamora Pierce! Except it has something that I don't think McKinley will ever do, and Pierce rarely -- a central lesbian romance. WHERE WAS THIS BOOK WHEN I WAS 16?

The way this book begins is wonderful. Taisin, a talented student sage, has a vision about her fellow student, Kaede. She realizes that she loves Kaede in the vision, even though they barely know each other in reality. Then she finds out More...

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Jan 03, 2012

cecily rated it:

okay so this book was good in fairy tale like way. I found myself wishing that the characters and their relationships were more explored actually I found myself wishing that a lot of things in the book had been explored more in depth. It was almost like she had a really good outline prepared but when she went to write the story it came out sometimes kind of vague and sometimes beautifully descriptive. She was usually pretty extreme one way or the other IMO. This book just seemed TOO YA to me. So More...

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Nov 20, 2011

Jessica rated it:

PLot= The plot was truly amazing it was more intense and perfect than Ash. I really love the slogan and the plot of the vision Taisin has. The ending has left me guessing and filled with hope.
Characters= Taisin was a character just everyone loves the princess which is sweet and doesn't want anyone to get hurt. But I just love how at first she doesn't even know Keade but still cares about her. Keade is a kickass character! I love her fierce I love her braveness where she can't control her More...

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Jul 18, 2011

Asenath rated it:

I cannot comprehend why this book has so many high ratings. The writing was awful. There were so many point of view changes that I got dizzy. Seriously, there were POV changes mid-sentence. That is just bad writing. Also, I'm not sure why, but I felt like this book was written like it was published in the 1990's (I can't think of a better way to describe it.) It's slow, there are pages and pages of description/telling, and something about the wording just seemed off to me. And all the POV chang More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 03, 2011

Shomeret rated it:

When I first encountered the description of this novel, I thought it might have some similarities to The Secrets of Jin-sheiby Alma Alexander which takes place in an alternate version of China, and is one of my favorite books. Huntress doesn't really have much Chinese cultural content. The fae in this book are called the Xi, but they are more like the Celtic Sidhe than the figures called fairies in Chinese mythology. There is one major difference between the Xi and the Sidhe that I found both More...

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Jun 17, 2011

Katya rated it:

Whoo boy!

I gotta admit, I just finished reading this and... well, my brain's pretty much scrambled, folks. No getting around that. This novel took me for a ride in a world so full of fantastical imagery and imagination that it would take a while for me to enjoy another YA fantasy without comparing.

I loved this story. And I really, really wanted to love the book.

But the inevitable but comes to mind, so I'll just stop apologetically beating around the bush and More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jun 06, 2011

Nick rated it:

I didn't like it as much as I liked Ash. I was enjoying the first 3/4 of the book, although I thought it was a bit much that so much of the book was about getting TO the quest, and so little about the heart of the matter itself. I think that much of my disappointment had to do with the climactic scene with the Big Bad Evil Person, whose defeat depended on too many villain cliches. Then, not only was the climax rushed, but there was a painfully awkward anticlimax that just didn't feel right. It w More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 06, 2011

Caroline rated it:

Huntress is set in the same world as Ash but takes place some eons of time before. Huntress's setting though has some clear Chinese influences in terms of cultural and religious aspects.

I really felt that the setting was very important in this book and that it grounded the plot and the characters. Malinda Lo is a very strong advocate of Diversity in YA and not only does the book touch LGBT themes but it has also some feminist and POC aspects.

The characters in this story all More...

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May 11, 2011

Jenny rated it:

Review originally posted at: http://supernaturalsnark.blogspot.com/20...

Actual Rating: 3.5/5

Dark and beautifully told, Huntress takes us on a journey of magic and fantasy, but woven through those elements is a cool grimness that makes us question if the end destination and outcome is truly worth the pain and loss lining the weaving road to get there. While we are certainly involved with our small band of travelers as they embark on a mission to save their world from its sl More...

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Apr 10, 2011

Alli rated it:

I had no idea that Malinda Lo had written another book until yesterday, when it randomly appeared on amazon while I was looking for something else. I damn near fell out of my chair, and ordered it, and then came home today and downloaded the ebook because I couldn't wait until the book arrived in the mail. I loved Ash, and devoured this one in about two hours.

I got lost in this world more than I have in any other besides Tamora Pierce's worlds, which was completely unexpected, and More...

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Apr 06, 2011

Doret rated it:

This is a prequel to Lo's debut Ash. I enjoyed Ash, loved Huntress. Kaede and Taisin are students at the same Academy. Though both 17 yr old and started at the same time, they don't share any classes. Taisin is a very advanced sage in training, skilled at seeing into the future. Kaede is the daughter of the King's Advisor, a talented fighter but not a great student.

The two are suddenly brought together after Taisin has a vision. In it Kaede's life is at risk and the Taisin in the fu More...

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Mar 26, 2011

Alex M. rated it:

This book made me feel a lot of feelings. And for the most part, I enjoyed it. It was pretty delightful (except the ending which broke my heart into a million pieces and I was just like, "NOOOOO MY SOUL HURTS"). The BIGGEST thing that bothered me though was the narrator voice. I couldn't understand what was going on. Third-person limited??? Third-person omniscient? Sometimes I thought the chapter was third-person limited and ALL OF A SUDDEN, someone else's viewpoint would just be throw More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 14, 2011

Angela rated it:

In Malinda Lo’s HUNTRESS, the human world has entered a period of never-ending clouds and rain. With crops dying and people starving, the Kingdom selects two girls to undertake an unprecedented and hazardous journey to find the Fairy Queen in hopes of putting an end to the natural devastation. As the search party travels north and encounters dangerous threats, feelings between the two girls, Kaede and Taisin, begin to grow. With attacks against their party increasing and stakes raised, Kaede and More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 02, 2011

Alan rated it:

To name something (in Fantasy at least) is to take/have a certain amount of power/control over it. But to name something also gives that thing a certain function and form. Fantasy writers like to use their power to tweak that function and form (is daylight deadly to vampires or does it make them sparkle and shine). Here the author names Fairy and the Fairy Queen but, instead of building upon our preconceived notions of what that means, she almost ignores it completely. There are some minor attri More...

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Mar 19, 2011

Kelly rated it:

This book is supposed to come out on April 5 but Amazon is selling it now. And I would suggest you buy it from them, because you really, REALLY do not want to wait to read this book.

A small band of people are heading to meet the Fairy Queen. There are weird things going on (seasons don’t change anymore, for example) and it’s believed that the queen’s invitation to meet with her is not a coincidence. The story specifically centers around two teenage girls, Taisin and Kaede, neither More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 11, 2012

Taylor rated it:

Despite my mediocre rating, there wasn't much I didn't like about Huntress.

It was set in the same world as Malinda Lo's first novel, Ash, but took place centuries before Ash and Kaisa are even born. When the story begins, all of the crops in the land are failing because summer won't come - a layer of gray clouds cover the sky, and nobody has seen the sun in months. No one knows why, or how to fix it, so when the king is issued an invitation from the Fairy Queen to visit at Midsummer More...

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May 26, 2011

Erin rated it:

This book was okay, but I won't ever read it again. I thought that the love story was sweet and it was kind of nice to read about a world where people were free to love whomever they wanted without controversy or judgment. The world Lo creates feels like medieval europe with some magic thrown in,along with magical creatures and other realms of magical people called Xi. The book was very slow in parts, but then suddenly things would pick up and I would be interested in what was happening. The More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 07, 2011

Miz Lizzie rated it:

The Huntress is a rich, dreamy, deeply interior hero's quest, or in this case heroine's quest. There are certainly terrors and adventures and deaths along the way but there is a welcome leisurely pace as that pulls the reader into the very marrow of this world as it experiences its death throes. Nature is out of balance, both fay and human worlds are suffering, and the task of setting things right falls to two young women, Taisin, a gifted sage-in-training, and Kaede, the chancellor's daughter More...

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May 01, 2011

Katie rated it:

I enjoyed Huntress. Though it was shelved in the Teen Paranormal Romance section (wtf?) at Barnes & Noble, for most of the book it is more of a quest/travel story. There certainly is romance and its important to the story, but its no the heart of the story.

Lo is a good writer. Huntress is easy to read and here and there it has sentences that shine. For the first three sections especially, during which time our characters travel to Taninli, were engaging. I really liked both of our main More...

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Oct 05, 2011

Carissa Anne rated it:

This book had the potential to be great. The storyline was wonderful and quite unique, the structure of the magic system was sound, and the adventure was intriguing. So why was I not impressed with it?

The two main characters did not have personalities.

I actually had trouble throughout the book differentiating from the different points of view of Kaede and Taisin because they were both the same bland creature without any interesting characteristics. Sometimes I would go for a More...

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Oct 07, 2011

Jessica rated it:

WHAT THE HECK. I take back any complaints I made about the ending to Ash, author Malinda Lo's first novel, because Lo takes the cake with this one. Huntress is a fabulous novel with a disappointing and purposeless final 30-page quest tacked on after the main 300-plus page story line had been completed.

In both Ash and Huntress, Lo has written beautiful, engaging stories about strong young girls who learn about and eventually interact with another race (the fey) that lives in the woods More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 14, 2011

Caitie rated it:

Malinda Lo’s first novel Ash was a beautiful retelling of Cinderella set in a distinct fantasy world. While that book was good, her sophomore novel Huntress was great.

It is set in the same fantasy world, but is centuries earlier, when the fay and human are still separated and the world has a much different culture. I could see what the world was like and really understand motivations due to the culture and circumstances in this novel, which made it very fun and exciting to read.
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Feb 20, 2012

Sineala rated it:

Set in the same world as Ash, Huntress is a prequel featuring -- surprise! -- more YA lesbian fantasy with fairies. I liked it mostly because I am thrilled that YA lesbian fantasy exists, although I did not think it was quite as charming as the first book. Lo's characterization is still a little bit clunky, and I think the novel suffers from having an original plot rather than a retold fairy tale, if that makes any sense -- in Ash, the fact that the story is known could carry it through most of More...

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Nov 03, 2011

Lina rated it:

After reading Ash I was hella excited to read Huntress and while it is marketed as a prequel to Ash, it tells a story all it's own in a satisfactory and engaging way.

The Xi [fae] and the human world have been separated for a long time, becoming something of myth to those who have forgotten the tradition ways. That is until a message for the King is sent from the Fairy Queen in the middle of a horrible crop failure. At the same time, a young pupil named Taisin has a vision of the fut More...

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