Novel Novel Review

It's that time again. Here's a quick reminder of my rating system

A+--I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend this book. In most cases, I passed it on to my teen.

A--I enjoyed this book and I might pass it on to my teen.

B--I liked this book, but probably won't pass it on to my teen.

C--I thought it was okay, but I won't pass it on to my teen.

D--I didn't like this book, and won't allow my teen to read it.

F--I hope I never have to go here. =D

I will give reasons for my rating in my review, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. If you find your book here, don't panic if I rate it below an A. These are my personal preferences and I'm only one small person in a large market. =D

Okay, now here we go.

For my second review, it was my privilege to receive an ARC of

RAMPANT by Diana Peterfreund

Rating: A

Age level: 14+

Release date: May 26, 2009

Think unicorns are sweet, magical horse-like creatures? Think again! Diana Peterfreund introduces us to the darker side of unicorns in her novel RAMPANT. Peterfreund's unicorns are man eating monsters. They can kill with poison in their horns, rip someone apart with their sharp teeth, and some have breath that can kill (literally).

Astrid Llewelyn has listened to her mother's crazy stories about extinct man eating unicorns for years. Astrid never believed the stories until the night her date ended up on the sharp end of a unicorn horn. Now her mother's stories are all too real and Astrid is sent to Rome for training as a unicorn hunter. She meets a group of other virgin descendants of Alexander the Great and together they train to hunt and kill unicorns. But Astrid doesn’t want to be a hunter.

I enjoyed reading RAMPANT. There was some sexual tension and scenes of passion (but not super graphic), as well as discussion about sex, and while it wasn't enough to bother me, I think it would bother some teens. I put the age level at 14+ because of the sexual content, but there may be some younger than 14 who would be okay with it. I didn't pass it on to my teen, but only because he's a boy and isn't into unicorns (nope, not even man eating ones). =( Where did he come from?

I enjoyed the characters and learning about their lives. Astrid is strong, and yet vulnerable enough to make her real. The characters and their lives will run Rampant in my memory for a long time, but in a good way.

Write on.