Hunter's Truce (The Hunter, #1) by Elle Beaumont

Hunter's Truce (The Hunter, #1) Reviews

• 
  Candace Robinson

  I've been really liking novellas and short stories lately! I can read through them quickly and feel satisfied! Also, a Three Little Pigs retelling? Heck yeah!
  
  This is the second story I've read by Elle Beaumont and both have been equally amazing! Even though this is a novella, it was just as developed as a full length book! The writing and world building were on complete point! 
  
  Now, I love pretty much anything werewolf, and Niklaus, oh Niklaus, I did thoroughly enjoy being inside your head! There was some action, some romance, some struggles, and a whole lot of fun!
• 
  Mandie

  This was a wonderful retelling of the Three Little Pigs fable! It was exciting, and full of adventure! The authors writing style is unique. She brought this book to life!
• 
  Miranda

  Do I enjoy short books?
  Well yes, yes I do.
  Do I enjoy them when they lack any detail or sense of a plot line?
  No, no I do not.
  This was a hot mess from start to brutal ending. I wanted to enjoy it , one cause it’s loose fairytale based and I’m a sucker for them. But this one throws you into a storyline , and never even back tracked to explain a damn thing. It’s like putting on a movie, pressing x4 fast forward... making it to the end and blinking a lot.
  I wish it was fleshed out more, give the characters a depth to actually want to know more about them and definitely more in the storyline and plot.
  
• 
  Donna (BookDragonGirl)

  I’ve been wanting to read read this series, and I’m very happy I finally got to!!! I’m CRAZY about Niklaus, “The Big, Bad Wolf”!”
  
  This has Three Little Pigs vibes, Robin Hood vibes and, in a way, a little bit of Little Red Riding Hood vibes. It’s really very creative!!! In the first of four short books, we really get to know Niklaus and understand his background and motives. We also get a glimpse of a coming romance for Niklaus and I’m excited to read Royal’s Vow next to see what happens!!
• 
  Louise A

  ** Advanced copy received from Booksirens for an honest review**
  
  2*
  
  Let me start by saying I love short stories. They're fun, fast reads and are easy to get into when you don't have a lot of time to crack open a book.
  
  I'm not a huge Three Little Pigs know-it-all but then again, I love anything that has werewolves in them. They go with my love of everything supernatural, you know. So, when I grabbed this book to read, did I have my expectations too high? Maybe. Not sure why considering...
  
  The synopsis definitely caught my attention and the way the book starts is pretty fun and it's starting with a bang. I was pretty enthusiatic about that but then I started to get confused. There's a lot of characters and the way the plot advances is confusing. I mean, what is the plot, actually? I'm not sure I've followed the story well ehnough. I feel I'm missing important details and a bit more than halfway through, I feel like nothing was happening and so, I was losing interest.
  
  I feel this needs a rework and it could be better. I also feel like, maybe, I should go back on the Three Little Pigs story and immerse myself more into it before getting into retellings of it.
  
  I love the book cover though.
• 
  Donamarie Fournier

  Fell in love with this "Big Bad Wolf". Elle Beaumont has created a wonderful recreation of the Three Little Pigs. Love the characters, the setting, and the storyline. Another book that wouldn't let me go to sleep without finishing it. promises to be a wonderful series.
• 
  House Wolf Book Reviews

  I would like to begin by thanking Book Sirens and Crescent Sea Publishing. I was provided an eBook copy in exchange for an honest review. The Hunter's Truce, on the surface, was my jam. I have a weakness for reimagined fairytales, and a weakness for werewolves that's borderline embarrassing. The synopsis was what caught my interest; offering a high fantasy retelling of The Three Little Pigs, replete with morally gray antiheroes turned assassin, and werewolves. Swoon. If the synopsis had offered even 1/3rd of what it promised, I would have given The Hunter's Truce 5 stars without hesitation. Unfortunately, the novel was disappointingly toothless.
  
  Writing quality/readability - 2/5 From a purely technical standpoint, the writing is passable. There was a disconcerting amount of grammatical errors for a final published draft; most noticeably, the novel suffers a great deal from run-on sentences. It would seem that while Ms. Beaumont has a deep love for the Oxford comma, she isn't clear on how to use it. The novel's propensity for run-on sentences (and nearly all of them are,) made for a jarring read. I found myself having to return to the previous sentence and re-read it, in order to grasp what the author was attempting to convey. The novel is marketed as YA; however, it feels as though it's targeted for a much younger audience. I would have guessed that I was reading a middle grade novel (ages 7-9,) versus a novel intended for anyone aged 12 and up. Combined with the complete lack of description, the writing quality wasn't quite my cup of tea. It felt rushed and incomplete, and the novel suffered for it.
  
  Plot - 1/5 The Hunter's Truce follows Niklaus, an apprentice butcher, who also harbors an ill-kept secret; both he, his younger sister, and his mother are werewolves. When his mother is killed by a poacher's stray arrow, an embittered Niklaus becomes obsessed with holding the king accountable. When his prowess with a blade is noticed by the local assassin's guild, he is quickly welcomed into the fold. The skillset offers leverage; enough to ransom a kingdom on (or at least, enough to ransom the king's most closely guarded secret.) Unfortunately, the plot never fully lives up to its potential. The plot is introduced 95% of the way through the novel, making the majority of the scenes pointless filler, at best. To make matters worse, the novel ends abruptly. The cliffhanger that's introduced within the last few pages is anticlimactic. Instead of a sense of anticipation and tension, the most the ending accomplishes is frustration with the lack of any real conflict resolution (or conflict at all,) and confusion.
  
  Characterization - 1/5 Weak characterization was one of the larger flaws of The Hunter's Truce. Characters were introduced rapidly, briefly described by a certain defining physical characteristic, and then immediately discarded. None of them were memorable; even Niklaus felt very flat and one dimensional. While a large cast of characters can be touted as impressive, Ms. Beaumont may want to consider limiting the number of characters introduced in future works, if she isn't intending to touch on any in depth/flesh them out beyond a sentence.
  
  World building - 1/5 The Hunter's Truce has glimmers of potential. The concept of a world where werewolves are not only commonplace, but vastly outnumber their human counterparts, is fascinating and unique. That they are indigenous to the land, and facing indiscriminate slaughter is also a plot point with potential. That it is reduced to a throwaway sentence and never fully realized, expanded upon, or explained was disappointing. I was unclear on the lore; while werewolf lore is richly diverse from culture to culture, I have yet to come across any lore that indicates that non-silver weapons are capable of killing or even significantly injuring werewolves. That silver isn't needed in The Hunter's Truce was also another interesting detail that fell by the wayside. Ultimately, however, the world was as bland as the people that populate it.
  
  In conclusion, while the premise was bold, fantastical, and unique, it ultimately missed the mark.
• 
  Cathy Eades

  Thank you to Book Sirens for a copy in return for an honest review.
  
  I should start by saying that I'm not normally a reader of short stories, and so their charm is a little lost on me. Reading this I felt like this could be a really good read if it was to be developed into a full length story, but as a short story it felt rushed and parts were brushed over. I also felt that to call this a retelling of the fairytale is incorrect. The only reference to the little pigs was in the name of the protagonist and his reference to pigs. For me this was a disappointment. Having recently delved into the realm of the reimagined fairy story genre, I was looking forward to a gritty and violent remake where I felt at one with the Wolf. Unfortunately this wasn't the case and being a short story too many things were rushed and brushed over. I felt there could have been more development even within the confines of a short story. The author took the time to mention the full moon and the hunt yet brushed over the transformation. I was left wondering whether our protagonist was fighting naked in the woods or had some how transformed fully clothed? This was even more confusing given that he met a woman wondering through the woods who didn't bat an eyelid and seemingly walked home as he arrived home still covered in blood. Whilst I admit these are not the most important details of the story it did mean I was thinking about these things instead of paying attention to the story. I also found the characterisation lacking. Again whilst I appreciate there are limitations, it still felt like too many characters were introduced and thrown at me as of I should have known who they were. This made it hard to like anyone. Raif was probably the character I liked the most and he didn't even speak. Overall, I thought this had the makings of an excellent story, but as a short story, it just didn't work too well for me.
• 
  Amanda

  Rushed
  
  I liked the idea behind this book and it being a take on the three little pigs fairytale. Even if it seemed beyond the main character calling himself the big bad wolf there wasnt much similarity. This story has potential and I hope to see the world and characters more fleshed out in coming books. It was hard to understand this land they are in and distances between these places the character travels. It seems like he is going to other towns for his missions but it's not really described and somehow he can be home by dinner and no one will ever suspect he is involved? Then when it comes to his hatred of the royals, I got it, but it felt like it could have been explained more fully before diving right in to him confronting the princess. Also, this kingdom must have the absolute worst guards ever. They cant protect squat, cant keep anyone out of the castle and can't stand up to one guy and let him get to the princesses and the King with no fight. I'm keeping my mind open on this series but I suspect it's a little too young for me unless theres some growth in the next book.
  
  For the amount of violence it's not a very YA book, yet the writing seems very geared towards a younger YA audience.
• 
  Emma Katherine

  Read my full review at:
  https://lifesanovelty.blogspot.com/20...
  
  
  
  Opinions: Initially, I was tempted to give Hunter's Truce three stars. The introduction didn't hook me and I found that there wasn't much for the reader to imagine. Fortunately, because I stayed open-minded, I was able to award this short story another star! The plot won me over! I usually don't like short stories because they don't allow for much character development or complex plots, but Hunter's Truce was intriguing and a fun, easy read. I always read wolf and pig books as a child, so this was a fresh and nostalgic idea. I enjoyed reading Hunter's Truce, and I am excited to see what Beaumont has for us in book two!
  
  Is This Book For Me? Sometimes, it's difficult to make up our minds on whether to read a book or not. Here are a few notes regarding whether you should or shouldn't read Hunter's Truce!
  Should: If you are Team Jacob from Twilight!
  Shouldn't: If you are looking for a complex, long, thematic novel.
  Should: If you are looking for a fun, quick, one-sitting read!
  Shouldn't: If you don't like action or violence.
  Should: If you are interested in reading an exciting twist on a classic children's story!
• 
  Geff Ratcheson

  I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
  
  Very well written. I couldn't go to sleep until I'd finished it! This is book 1 of (I believe) 3, & I can't wait for the others!
  
  Great character development, some surprises in the plot, good ending of book 1 with a cliffhanger, not for children.
  
  Usually when there's this much "adult material" in a "fairy tale", it feels out of place, but it didn't bother me here.
  
  Basically, without just writing a plot summary, Ms Beaumont is a superb author, who gets better with almost every book.
  
  If you're into the "Paranormal shifter; young adult romance genre", you likely will enjoy this one.
  
  Highly recommended.
• 
  Brianna Belbin

  Retellings have been a new favorite for me and this one was great! This is one of the few Three Little Pigs retellings that I’ve read and Elle did an amazing job with the world building and characters. I loved that even though Niklaus was “the big bad wolf”, he had very good reason to be and that the “three little pigs” weren’t as innocent as they were in the original tale. I can’t wait to read the sequel!
  *I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review
• 
  Eszter Szika

  The Hunter’s Truce is a retelling of the Three Little Pigs. It was an absolutely amazing read, with unique writing style and world. I love reading werewolf fantasy novels and this one was an absolute win in my reading experience, especially with this choice of topic. Niklaus’ character was absorbing and I could finish this book pretty fast as there was always something going on.
  
  Looking forward to read more from Elle.
  
  Thank you for BooksSirens for the free copy
• 
  Cozy

  Elle has definitely sealed the deal as being a auto buy author for me. The way she writes characters is effortless. It's like she does it in her sleep.
  
  This is the first book in a 4 part series. If you enjoy fantasy, engaging addictive reads this book is for you.
  
  Pro tip: be ready with the second book Royal's Vow. You will probably want to start it right away
• 
  Melissa

  This was a great quick read! Like, really quick.
  
  But for all of its abbreviation, it was thoroughly entertaining. Great characters and a strong story line.
  I would recommend just buying the whole set at once. I was honestly shocked when I went to turn the page and there was nothing left.
  
  I received a copy for free in exchange for my honest review.
• 
  Kathleen

  I could not stop reading this book, had it done in one sitting! It was such a great retelling. I was slightly thrown off in the beginning as there wasn’t much background of the characters or world building but otherwise great reading
• 
  Kadie

  Just no.
• 
  Sophie Bowns

  It was a quick read and the writing style was fluent.
• 
  Virginia

  I really enjoyed reading Hunter's Truce, and I'd highly recommend checking it out!
• 
  Monica

  I loved this story. It was the perfect length, left me wanting more, and I absolutely loved the characters.
  
  When I read this, it was free on Apple iBooks and I saw that the sequel will be out next week.
  
  Do yourself a favor, read this novella.
• 
  Danielle Frances

  Hunter’s Truce was very well written and I can’t wait for more! Elle introduces us to some amazing characters and does an excellent job describing them and their surroundings. It was very easy to create a picture in my head of what I as reading on the page.