The Hunt by Chloe Neill
Series: Devil’s Isle, #3
Urban Fantasy
September 26, 2017
Berkley
Reviewed by Tori
Favorite Quote: “We’re family, Claire. Granted, a kind of weird, dysfunctional family, but family all the same.”
The Hunt picks up a couple of months after book two, The Sight, ended. Claire is lying low to avoid being sent to Devil’s Isle after openingly using her magic to help defeat the Reveillon. Firmly outed as a Sensitive, she has given her store to her best friend and now uses her skills to help those in need. Liam is still missing, having disappeared after being hit with magic during the battle. Claire has not heard a word from him since he left her and is saddened that he could so easily abandon her and their relationship. When word filters down that a Containment agent has been murdered and Liam is the main suspect, Claire, Gavin, and Malachi all head out to find Liam and bring him home so they can prove his innocence. But there are darker forces at work and soon Claire and her friends find themselves once again caught in the middle.
Minor Recap of Series- As this series is evolutionary, starting here is inadvisable. Devil’s Isle is a post-apocalyptic fantasy set in New Orleans. Torn apart by civil war when the veil between our world and the fae was opened, humanity now lives in an uneasy existence with the Paranormals who were caught on our side of the veil when it closed. Magic is forbidden and anyone caught using it is instantly picked up and taken to Devil’s Isle, an internment camp. Our heroine, Clare Connelly, is a Sensitive (human with magic) though we learn her gifts were inherited. Caught doing magic, she is saved by a bounty hunter, Liam, who shows her how to unload her magic and helps to keep her out of Devil’s Isle. A small romance develops though it falls by the wayside when an alt-right group attempts to cleanse the world of all magic and Liam finds himself now the hunted instead of the hunter.
I was under the impression this was going to be a trilogy but it looks to have become a full-fledged series. Chloe Neill continues to expand the arc with a compelling narrative, unique characters, and nuanced storylines, engaging readers as this heavily character-driven novel digs even deeper into Claire’s family dynamics and the parts they played in the first civil war. The David and Goliath theme remain the main underlying base with family gaining a strong foothold as Claire and her fellow rebels continue to fight for justice and freedom.
Per usual, Neill takes her time setting up the main conflict. Some may find it disconcerting the romance falls to the wayside against the main storyline and takes more than half the book to re-establish itself but it makes sense after the events in book two. Liam’s family has been negatively affected by magic and now he is one of those magical beings. I liked that Claire doesn’t fall apart after Liam left. He has been her rock through all that has happened yet she is able to grieve and move forward with her own agenda in his absence. She continues to evolve as she completely sheds her cloak of self isolation and learns that in this new world nothing is set in stone and the notion of good and evil is relative. Claire is creating her own friends and connections without Liam’s help and this further helps to develop her as a strong and multi-faceted lead. We don’t see much of Liam until the second half and when we do, it’s more in a supporting role. Claire has definitely become the main lead.
Fan will enjoy the new characters added as the arc takes a major but predictable turn. Claire’s mother is an interesting addition and I’m looking forward to interacting with her more in the future. Moses continues to entertain while Neill hints at a romance for Malachi but it is drenched in antagonism so we shall see. I really wish the ending hadn’t gone the route it did because it feels redundant. Hopefully book four will shake that up.
This series remains a comfortable addition to my bookshelf though I have come to accept it is not going to hold all the elements I find enjoyable in urban fantasy. Neill continues to play it safe with Claire both emotionally and physically and the energy of the story is remains low key. Regardless, book four is already on my TBR for 2018.
Grade: C+
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