this was an intresting read, i enjoyed the story line and the twists, the characters were loveable and you get attached to them, the only thing i will say is i felt something was missing but i honestly dont know what i felt once finished that i needed more from this book.

A fantastic tale. Ara had a rough life after her sister died. Topper and Khendric, beast hunters, changed all that. I enjoyed the growth that Ara went through in this story. I hope that there will be more tales with her involved in the future.

Action-packed. Easy-to-read. Entertaining. Great world building. Haunting. Scary. Tragic. Twisted. Unpredictable. Wonderful characters.

Thank you Netgalley for the free copy and Literally PR for reaching back out to me after the archive date.*

Rating: 3.5 Stars♡

Coming from a reader who enjoys all things to do with mystical beings/creatures this was such an interesting read. I loved how we received page-long descriptions of certain creatures and the book even ended on more creature commentary. I can tell that the author really took his time to think about these beings and this really helps set the tone for the book.

In this book were following Ara, who ends up in a life-threatening situation until two beast hunters rescue her. She then finds herself traveling with these two hunters, Khendric and Topper. On her own personal journey of self-discovery, she embarks on taking down a mystery with the two hunters and battling her past.

The beginning of the book was definitely a shock as to how cruel her father was to her. The family dynamic as a whole was very toxic and Ara found herself taking the blame for everything. Her father diminished her being down to somewhat of a means to an end for labor. Ara drowning in sorrow and guilt loses her ability to effectively think for herself and loses a bit of herself as well. During her traveling, she would hesitate to ask for things with the fear of being reprimanded, she didn't want to be too much of a burden. Throughout the book, Ara would move about and shoulder things she didn't have to. I liked seeing her character development throughout the book, good for her♡

The world-building was lovely and with all the unique creatures it made going through the book so pleasant. Although, I do wish the book was more spaced out if that makes sense. I think this book could have really benefited more from maybe 100 or 150 more pages. We could have taken more time to develop relationships between the characters or even have them go through more challenging events together. At times, the book felt rushed and that knocked my rating down, I'm all for a good journey/quest trope. But I will hand it to Christer Lende for packing so much into a book that is a little over 200 pages, it just felt a bit rushed. But when CL continues to further the series, this book is a solid first installment and I would love to read about the characters and be back in the world again.

Side notes:

I would love for the author to maybe publish an actual “red book” to be a companion to the other potential books in the series. I think that would be really cool 🙂 referencing this book while reading the other installments.

I really loved Topper’s plot twist, I think that could have been something that was expanded on a bit. Honestly, maybe even a novella or a chapter with his POV about his backstory if there is one, would be nice. I don't know but I just find his plot twist so fascinating. Topper is able to die but wakes up a few hours later in a new body with a small reminiscence of the previous life but with the “new persons” personality, like what?? That's so creative and adds a fresh dynamic to the group.

Favorite beast mentioned: The Vengeful Remnant <3

this was a great action-packed read. Set in a world where monsters roam and cause havoc on a daily basis this book follows two 'Beast Hunters' and their newly acquired apprentice as they solve monster-like mysteries.
This was a good fast-paced read.

Thank you to netgalley for allowing me to read books ad give critical feedback to authors and publishers. Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me to read the eARC of this book.

Apologies for the late review of this book.

I downloaded this book to not get any of the content just a snippet about the author and the book none of the actual book content

I first want to thank Kay Kett from Literallypr, otherwise I might have missed out on reading this. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more beast hunter action. I liked that I got to read Ara’s introduction to Khendric andTopper from her perspective, even tho I had read about it in The Dollmaker of Kalastra. The characters are great, world building is good and storyline stays interesting, and Lende was not afraid to step out of the norm with completely unique “beasts “. I do feel that this could have been longer so Ara’s …to avoid spoilers I will just say growth might not have been so abrupt, considering her background and not only the time but intensity of her situation. Still I definitely look forward to more

I absolutely loved this book. I found it charming and captivating from the very beginning. I thought that it was going to be about Ara escaping her abusive family, and it kind of was, but not in the way I thought it would happen. Khendric and Topper had such a good chemistry, I could tell that they had been friends for a very long time. This was a super easy read, meaning that I got through it and enjoyed every second. Ara showed so much character development throughout the book, I loved how she found her confidence and independence through travel and being with other people that actually encouraged her. The different types of creatures were so cool. It was so nice to see monsters that are not normally in novels and other forms of entertainment. I am so excited for the next two books, I just want to see how Ara keeps growing and what antics the three get up to. I also really want Ara to become an official Beast Hunter, I think she totally deserves it for her bravery and willingness to learn.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
---
This was a delightful read! I went into this expecting a dizzying variety of majestic creatures and was not disappointed!

I also liked how there were numerous hints alluding to Ara's childhood in the slum but it would have been better if similar attention was given to her development from a mistrustful person to the typical YA fantasy heroine. It felt a bit too sudden and could have been handled more gradually.

The Beast Hunters also lacks the typical YA tropes and is quite a gory read, both of which make it enjoyable for an older audience too.

Lastly, I would absolutely love to see illustrations of the beasts in this story and the ones mentioned in the Red Book of Creatures.

Overall rating: 4/5 stars

I greatly enjoyed this book, it was fantastical and full of creatures.
I'm a big fan of creatures, and I greatly enjoyed how there were over a dozen introduced in this tiny 200 or so page book and only one of them had even a familiar name. Which made the book feel quite unique.

This book tells the story of Ara, 17, who is rescued by two Beast Hunters when a monster attacks her family. And the two hunters, Topper and Khendric take her under their wing and try to teach her their ways. I'm not sure I can call this Young Adult, but then I don't have a lot of experience with YA. Despite the age of Ara, there is quite a deal of gore in the book. There were also none of the pesky YA tropes you generally see, despite one of her rescueer seeming to be in his young 20s there wasn't even a hint of romance, which I greatly enjoyed.

My biggest complain is that I wish the book was larger and slower. (which is usually a sign of a good book) Ara at the beginning showed many personality traits of someone who not only came from an abusive family, but from a bad place. Mistrustful and secretive, I loved how grey she was. It wasn't black and white, she still loved her family. Which is often the truth in those cases. I loved the scenes where Topper and Khendric were trying to get to the soft gooey center of her personality. Alas, the change from mistrustful slum child to the typical heroine of a fantasy novel happened a little too quickly. Like blink and you missed it. I wish the change was more gradual, more realistic instead of a flip of a switch.

I'm also not the biggest fan of the cover, I was expecting big ass dragons. But the closest thing we got was the large dog sized thing (small horse?) in the prequel. Everything else was human or smaller sized. But, I enjoyed the story nonetheless and I cannot wait to see the next book. Maybe we'll see something bigger in the end!

I also loved the bestiary at the end, I loved how we got to see pages from the Red Book of creatures that weren't even mentioned in the first book. I wish there were illustrations available and would love to see an edition in the future that held them.

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.
It was really nice read. I really enjoyed the journey of our main trio - Topper, Khendric and Ara, who, as the story begining, is a frightened and abused girl that the two guys save from a monster, but gradually becomes friends with them, the two guys unnoticingly accepting her as their little sister, their friend and part of their team. In the end she's strong and confident and the main reason for uncovering the creature plaguing the village of Cornstead. It was really enjoyable story.

Unfortunately my e-arc only held some information about the author, so I wasn't able to read the book.
Still want to say that I love the cover and that this book is certainly on my tbr!

The Beast Hunters – Christer Lende
@NetGalley @ChristerLende @hashtage_press

This has been archived on NetGalley so I can’t leave feedback but this was so good I’m posting my review.

Ara is saved from a beast by two Beast Hunters when her loathsome parents are murdered by a monster. She becomes their unofficial apprentice in order to find the monster which is causing major issues in a village.

Together with Topper and Khendric, Ara uncovers the truth in the village of Cornstead, but not all beasts are what they appear to be and not all humans either.

This was a great easy read, the story is amusing at times but there is plenty of action and adventure packed in there too!
4 stars

#beasthunters #hashtagpress #supernatural #fantasybooks #fantasyread #fantastyfiction

A nice entertaining read that doesn’t take itself too seriously and shows you that monsters come in all shapes and sizes.

I got this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I am very excited to read this book and rate it! The story seems so captivating and intriguing, definitely on my top list of reads for November