Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield

Title/Author: Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield
Publisher/Date published: WestSide Books, December 15th 2011
How I got this book: received it from the publisher

Goodreads summary: "Caitlyn, a paranormal teen on the run with her mom as they hide from government trackers, must choose between saving herself or saving the world."

Ok, so usually a Goodreads summary is enough to give you an introduction to the book, but this time I'll have to add some. Cassie is a paranormal teen in a world where paranormals, or Paras are prosecuted and the government has hired lots of 'trackers' to neutralize the threat they pose. They even force captured Paras to help them track other Paras down. Cassie and her mom are on the run from them after her dad was killed by a mob and her brother was taken by a mystery woman.

For me, this hunting of the Paras seemed very much like the practices of the Nazis against the Jews. So yeah, it was REALLY brutal. And therefore pretty scary. Because who says that can't happen in our society? I mean, not with the paranormals, but the majority being turned against a certain group of people isn't all that hard to picture. This is a pretty dark novel overall.

I liked Caitlyn, though I did think she was a bit careless and all for a boy she knew about 2 days. I mean, being on the run half your life, literally running for your life and your mom's, isn't something to quit lightly. I did like that she was a mindreader and that she could only fully relax in the water, because it shut everything out. I also liked that she was a loyal friend and that she knew to stand up for what she believed in. I felt for her because her mother who also used to have the ability to read minds completely shut down after her dad died. And not being able to talk about all this with her mom. That really must be hard to face!
The thing is, I didn't really believe the romance and I never connected to Caitlyn herself.

We also meet Caitlyn's brother, who was taken and corrupted by a mystery Para woman. I didn't really get what his reasoning was. I mean, I get that he's been with this woman for years and that he was sort of brainwashed by her, but to me it was horrifying how he turned on his birth family.

There's this huge battle for power at the end and I just couldn't see how Cassie could be so powerful all of a sudden. Her power seemed to just expand with the demand made on it and that's a bit of a turnoff for me.
**SPOILER, light up to read**
I mean, really, her brother is tapping into the power of ALL the people in the city and she's battling with the power of just 4? REALLY? Plus, he's been storing up power for a while. I just didn't believe it.

The premise of this book was really interesting and I finished this pretty quickly. I just wished there would have been some more character development. And I would have liked to see a bit more of the developing of power in Cassie, cause it all just seemed a bit convenient. But all in all, this was an enjoyable read and it got me thinking about racism and the prosecution of minorities.

My rating: 3 stars