Book Review: Ascendant

TITLE: Ascendant
Book 2 in the Killer Unicorns series
AUTHOR: Diana Peterfreund
PUBLISHED: 2010
CATEGORY: young adult
GENRE: fantasy, adventure
PREMISE: Astrid's world is changing. People know about unicorns now. Her friend is losing her powers, her boyfriend is off to college, and she is meanwhile struggling to find her place in the Cloisters...
MY REVIEW: So I read Rampant a few months ago and ended up loving it. It was such a cool concept and the book itself was refreshing in a YA world full of vampires and werewolf love triangles. The second book is equally as refreshing and also expands on the previous book. It went in a completely different direction then I expected and I must say, I loved that. I love when authors genuinely manage to surprise me.
I will say, sometimes the book drags and those who like romance may be disappointed because it doesn't focus on romance much. There is some (I guess one could call it romance...) but not a whole lot because that's not what the series is about. The series is about Astrid and her struggle with being a unicorn hunter. I love how the author deals with it. She doesn't mince either. Being a unicorn hunter is a dangerous job and she doesn't make it seem glamorous. People die from it, get serious injuries, and there are emotional consequences as well. I also love that the author keeps in mind that unicorns are essentially animals. So she brings up ethical questions in it such as, is what these girls doing right? Because really the unicorns are only following their natural instincts. Then there was the revelations at the last few hundred pages that sort of turned everything I thought upside down. I won't give it away but damn...
If you loved the first unicorn hunter book, I suspect you'll be pleased by this. It's a great continuation and I really hope there's another one because while it did sort of leave at a good spot, there were still quite a few questions left unanswered so I'm definitely looking forward to whatever comes next. I still rec this series to all fantasy fans.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those that read the first book, unicorn fans, Tamora Pierce fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five unicorn horns

FOR THE FOLLOWING CHALLENGES:
12 by 12 in October
One Hundred Plus Books
YA Challenge
Support Your Local Library