Erin Summerill

The writing in this is good—evocative, more show than tell, no info-dumping—but the characterization is all over the place. I've spent nearly 400 pages with Britta and her people, and while I could list a personality trait or preference here and there, I still don't feel as if I know them at all. (Well. I feel I know Siron, Cohen's horse, quite well, but I'm not sure he counts.)

And because I don't feel I know Britta, everything that connects to her character—her quest to avenge her father's murder, her attempt to avert war, her romance with Cohen—leaves me cold. None of it compels my interest or engages my emotions, and frankly, I can't understand how it manages to do so for Britta.

In addition, the worldbuilding baffled me most of the time. There's a Church...but beyond mention of services and "the devil," it doesn't seem to impact the way people live. There's a border that people are forbidden to cross...but everyone seems to cross it without effort. There are two countries whose ideological differences are apparently so profound they can't even understand why their respective people wear the clothing they do...and yet, they're neighbors with a clearly permeable border, so why aren't there any people who are more open-minded?

I think Erin Summerill has potential as a writer, but Ever the Hunted indicates she still has a lot of room to grow.… (mehr)