Review: Ever the Hunted (Clash of Kingdoms #1) by Erin Summerill

Title: Ever the Hunted
Author: Erin Summerill
Series: Clash of Kingdoms
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication date: December 27th 2016
Pages: 392 (hardcover)
Source: Netgalley

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. 

Goodreads

When Ever the Hunted was first released I was really excited to read it. It sounded so promising. A young girl that gets a choice die for a crime she committed or hunt down her father’s killer. The choice seems easy but it might not be so easy when his killer was his former apprentice and your best friend.

The first couple of chapters of this book I really enjoyed. We got to know the main character Britta, and her back ground story. There was enough action to keep me intrigued to see what was going to happen. And at first Britta came across as a strong character, her life was never easy and it only got harder after her father passed away. But she tried to make the best of it anyway. So that is what I liked so much about her. It seemed like she changed after a while though. Once she set out on her quest she turned into a completely different girl. Suddenly she was weepy, easily persuaded and she could not stand up for herself. She did redeem herself a bit near the end so I hope that she will turn into a strong, independent, young woman again. It is probably one of the main reasons why this book fell short for me.

Like I mentioned earlier at the beginning there was a lot of action. Something that I expect in a fantasy book; especially when the main character is hunting down a killer. But here as well, after a couple of chapters the action seemed to have stopped. Still there were still some good scenes here and there but not as much as I would have liked. This all changes again near the ending, for which I am glad.

The world building itself was alright, the concept of two countries that are at war is often used in fantasy books but that did not bother me. And I found in interesting to see how different those countries were culturally. What intrigued me the most was the magical part. It wished that it was explained more in this book. But I also get why the author did not go into too much detail about it in this book.

Overall I enjoyed this book but it was lacking in some points. It started of good but then the middle just really slowed down. The ending redeemed this book so I am curious to see how the series will continue. 

Elien