Diana Peterfreund has managed to scare me to death. I no longer think of unicorns as stuffed sparkly fluffy toys with satiny soft horns. Cuddly and cute…sherbert colors…those were the unicorns I was familiar with. The unicorns of Rampant are different kinds and breeds with one important key thing in common. They are killers. They have fangs sharper and scarier than any dragon or dinosaur. The horns are poisonous and deadly. They can be huge and they can be as small as a miniature horse. They kill everyone and everything in their sight…they are definitely not vegetarians or even flexitarians.
The story revolves around Astrid and her mother Lilith. Astrid’s mom is obsessed with unicorns and has been for most of Astrid’s life. She researches them and tells Astrid that she is a great unicorn hunter by gift of her birth.
But…when Astrid’s boyfriend, Brandt, is stabbed by a unicorn in the backyard of one of Astrid’s babysitting families…Astrid is sent to Rome to live in a convent and actually learn how to become a real unicorn hunter…that means bows, arrows, little sharp knives and more.
This story is an amazing adventure. It is one of those quest adventure tales. Astrid will discover many things about herself as she grows into the role of the best unicorn hunter ever.
It is hard to summarize this story because it sort of sounds vastly unbelievable and slightly fantastic. It is my first foray into this kind of YA Fantasy and it was a true adventure for me. There is just so much action in this book all within a great story. There are actually lessons to be learned as this book is read. We learn much about the lives of the young girls who come to the convent to learn how to be unicorn hunters. They must be and remain virginal or they can not be hunters. It was really fascinating to discover the personality of each hunter and what they would attempt to do to save people and destroy unicorns…
There is a second book in this series and in spite of my dreams
( nightmares )…I can’t wait to read it.
I'm not much for fantasy, but I think my sister might like this book.
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