Rampant
Author: Diana Peterfreund
Series: ---
Publisher: HarperCollins
How Received: school library
And then it got worse, because I spotted movement below. The unicorn was rising, shaking itself off and staring up at us. There was blood smeared along its white coat, but when it moved, it didn't look injured at all.
Since Astrid was little, her mother has always told her stories about unicorns. Man-eating beasts with razor sharp teeth who won't hesitate to kill you. Needless to say, the older she got, the more she scoffed.
That is, until her (ex)boyfriend gets run through by one.
Luckily, her mother has enough of the Remedy left to cure him, but by then it's too late. Her mother is ready to ship her off to Rome to learn how to train as a hunter. Oh, joy of joys...
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It didn't live up to the reviews I read.
I mean, the concept of the novel was great! I loved the unicorns and adored the plotline.
The way it was written, however...
The scenes seemed squashed together: I need this this this that and that to happen, so let's make it happen. Rampant could easily have been stretched out into a trilogy, each part dissected more thoroughly and made into a much better read.
I didn't really get into the I-want-to-know-what-happens next mode until about page 240, where Astrid really begins to connect with her power. Even then, though, Astrid as a character isn't consistent throughout the entire novel. Her personality constantly shifts and her thought process changes - normal, yes, but not to the extent that it happens with Astrid. Her mother, too, is a huge problem. There seem to be three different versions of the character that Peterfreund toyed with, and she seems to have decided to use all of them at different points: the crazy-but-normal, the crazy-psychotic, and the crazy-depressed. They're all equally frustrating.
Parts of the plot were rather frustrating, too.
[SPOILER ALERT]
The Remedy was never revealed, even though it was, apparently, a HUGE part of the plot. Um. Hello?
Talking to the unicorns... through the mind. That would have been acceptable had it not been so sudden.
Where did the Simon (I think that was his name), the man that raped Astrid's cousin, go? Apparently, that's important, but never revealed either.
And learning how to hunt by sitting on a chair is rather anti-climatic.
[/SPOILER ALERT]
I do hope that there's a sequel; if there's not, I'll be rather disappointed.
Final Comments: Read it for the idea, because that was fantastic, but as a novel it was only so-so.
Cover Comments: Take a look at all the details on the sword. Love it!