Synopsis
Winner – Indies Today Award for Best Fantasy (2022)
Winner – Page Turner Awards 2023 Best Book Genre
Winner – Page Turner Awards 2023 Best Book Series
Shortlisted – The Chimera Awards
When a beast slaughters her parents, young Ara is saved at the last moment by two veteran beast hunters. Becoming their apprentice, she learns of secret serums, forbidden bestiary knowledge, and remarkable abilities—all to stop others from meeting the same fate as her parents. But to survive, she must master the art of beast hunting quickly, for an elusive horror is terrorizing the village of Cornstead.
Haunted by distrust, Ara struggles to open up to her mentors, always waiting for betrayal. Yet, they slowly gain her trust as they teach her about varghauls, wretchers, and narworms—creatures that stalk the land, sky, and shadow. She sees that even the most terrifying monsters can be slain.
Their case in Cornstead takes a deadly turn. The villages are transforming into mindless killers, and even Ara’s seasoned mentors have no answers. As fear and chaos spread, the local authorities turn against them, branding the beast hunters as the true reason for the recent murders. Now, with execution looming and time running out, Ara must uncover the truth behind the plague—before it consumes them all.
The Beast Hunters is the gripping first book in The Beast Hunter of Ashbourn trilogy, chronicling Ara’s harrowing first case as a beast hunter apprentice.
At the back of the book, you’ll find a bestiary with excerpts from the very book Ara uses to sharpen her craft, detailing creatures from the story—along with some you’ve yet to meet.
Review
I usually try not to take on too many ebooks for review as I have never been the most organized person. But I also find it hard to say no, so I usually never agree to attach a date to when I will read it by. Even with those excuses in place, I would still consider this late as hell, so I am truly sorry! With that being said, I have bought all the ebooks for the trilogy, and I also bought this one on audio when it came to my attention I still hadn’t gotten to it yet. I do try to make my small amends.
The narration by Jonathan Johns was solid, I enjoyed the voices he did and his pronouncements of all the monsters. The cover, which I believe is actually a re-cover, is obviously just so so good too.
When a beast surprises Ara parents, they fall victim to the deadly attack. Ara is left with nothing and no one, and although her parents weren’t shining beacons of parenthood, that’s still a daunting reality to find yourself in for someone that’s not quite an adult yet. In enter the beast hunters to save the day. They were working another case, and therefore they were too late to save her parents. They take her under their wings, and while she’s traveling with them, they gain her trust and begin to teach her of the world and monsters around her. When they reach their destination of Cornstead, they are plunged into mystery, deception, and a bit of short-legged mayhem!
This read like a coming of age, young adult blend of The Witcher and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Like if Geralt was a little less gruff (a lot less) and the world wasn’t so dark. If Ciri wasn’t always gone and was instead more the focus. This world is described as being filled with dangerous monsters and beasts, many with cool and original names like Fantastic Beasts. However, with most of the story taking place within the walls of Cornstead, the reader doesn’t actually get to experience many. Instead, we receive an almost inspector’s apprentice mystery, where we learn only as clues trickle in. With that being said, it’s certainly in no way slow, it just took me by surprise.
Though the ending was a little rushed for me, as I did not feel fully connected to the trio of characters yet, I really do enjoy them. I liked how the author weaved a story that started with abusive parents and then gave us the rest of the story with understanding and accepting male protectors. Ara has to battle within to trust them, to let them in, and that continues on to the very last page. The town’s guard is displayed to perfectly play off of them with male toxicity and anger.
It fittingly felt almost like finishing The Sword of Destiny, where the Witcher shorts only leave you wanting more—as a book one, this is poised to do just that in the sequels.
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