Hunted (Dhampyr Series 1) by VM Nelson-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 25, 2022

Tasi, an eighteen-year-old, head-strong, blood-drinking, dhampyr, has been hidden away in a small town in Maine since the death of her parents. Though she had trained to fight and kill vampires, she never believed those skills would be useful in her mundane life. That’s where she’s wrong.

In one moment, her life changes forever, and her aunt’s final words ring in her head.

They want your blood.

Now orphaned and charged with protecting her sister, Emily—a sister who doesn’t know what they are or that she’s about to endure a life-threatening change—Tasi has no other choice but to follow directions left for her. She is to find an ally who lives in New York City. This is the only way Tasi will figure out why she and Emily are being hunted before they end up drained of their blood.

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REVIEW: HUNTED is the first instalment in VM Nelson’s contemporary, young adult DHAMPYR paranormal series focusing on eighteen year Dhampyr Anastasia ‘Tasi’ Vasile.

Told from first person perspective (Tasi) HUNTED follows eighteen year old Tasi and her thirteen year old sister Emily Vasile, as they navigate a world in which vampires are hunting the duo for their blood. Tasi and Emily are hybrid-part human, part vampire- known as Dhampyrs. Dhampyrs are stronger, faster and more powerful than most vampires something that threatens the vampire population. On the run in the wake of their parents’ murder, Tasi and Emily go to New York in search of a woman called Sonya, a woman whose secrets run dangerous and deep but Tasi and Emily will find themselves in the company of vampires, vampires who will become both friend and foe, leaving the sisters with no one to trust. As Tasi trains with the resident vampires to fight the enemy coming for their blood, she finds herself falling in love with a young man she is unable to trust. Emily will undergo the change, a change very few Dhampyrs ever survive; the sisters are about to face an uncertain future when betrayal comes at the cost of friendships and trust.

We are introduced to several vampires: Ethan, Austin, Cas, Lizzie, and their mentor/master Sonya, as well as the resident librarian/researcher Jelena.

HUNTED is a slow building story of betrayal and vengeance, power and control, family and friendships, secrets and lies. Like all young adult story lines, there is the requisite love triangle, the mean girl and jealousy, the secrets, and the questionable adult care…but HUNTED is also a very familiar story line akin to The Shadowhunters Series, with a little side serving of Vampire Academy, and The House of Night series. The similar overtones are many and recognizable. The premise is entertaining and interesting; the characters are familiar but energetic and young (even though many are decades old 😉 ). HUNTED ends on a bit of a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy