Review #26: Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

Rampant (Killer Unicorns, #1)
Author: Diana Peterfreund
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Release Date: August 25th, 2010
Pages: 402
Source: Bought
★★★★★

Forget everything you ever knew about unicorns...

Real unicorns are venomous, man-eating monsters with huge fangs and razor-sharp horns. Fortunately, they've been extinct for a hundred and fifty years.

Or not.

Astrid had always scoffed at her eccentric mother's stories about killer unicorns. But when one of the monsters attacks her boyfriend—thereby ruining any chance of him taking her to the prom—Astrid finds herself headed to Rome to train as a unicorn hunter at the ancient cloisters the hunters have used for centuries.

However, at the cloisters all is not what it seems. Outside, the unicorns wait to attack. And within, Astrid faces other, unexpected threats: from the crumbling, bone-covered walls that vibrate with a terrible power to the hidden agendas of her fellow hunters to—perhaps most dangerously of all—her growing attraction to a handsome art student ... an attraction that could jeopardize everything.

When I bought Rampant I don't think I was so anxious about it, so I honestly don't know exactly why I did. And now that I've read it I can say I don't regret have done this, because it was an extremely fun ride through the new fantasious unicorns world. It's not amazing only because of the unicorns, but—for sure—because of the whole story behind it, because of the characters Diana Peterfreund brought to life as unicorn hunters.

Even though I struggled a little to really get into Rampant as I read the first 100 pages and found the vocabulary kind of difficult for what I'm used to, it's considerable to highlight an important aspect of Peterfreund's writing: she first introduce us to the world she created, she tells us the unicorn mythology stories very throughly. Then on, as she keeps mentioning these stories, she brings the human women unicorn hunters, and Astrid as the main protagonist.

Astrid was a brilliant, sometimes impulsive character that grew up on me from the first to the last page, never deeping too down. And although at first she let herself be way too influenced by her mother, Lilith, and fought against being an unicorn hunter and being sent to Rome to meet others, she still was strong. Actually, initially she didn't care much about the unicorns tales her mother told her, until she saw one of those creatures for herself—when it attacked her boyfriend—and realized they were really real.

Two other different and amazing and creative aspects of Rampant that I sincerely liked and feel like I need to point out are: first, the story is nearly entirely settled in Rome, and we get to visit through the characters' eyes and steps museums and places I would love to go someday; second, in Rampant, it's not the guy who is the mysterious and dangerous, it's the girl—and it's such a sweet part of the story, something I could read again and again.

Overall, I'm really glad I had the oportunity to receive a review copy of Ascendant, it's sequel, so I again got more interested in reading Rampant, more than I was before. Diana Peterfreund is such an amazing storyteller who will take you to an original, fantastic world of unicorns and, consequentely, its hunters. I recommend it and bet you won't be disappointed!

Compre/Purchase: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Livraria Cultura*
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