Wrath of the Gods

Alexandra Christo weaves a tale of perilous gods, and monsters in the dark in The Night Hunt. After the brutal death of her parents Atia is left alone, on the run, and hiding who she really is. Atia is a Nefa, a monster who feeds on fear. Thriving on chaos and illusion, hiding in darkness to avoid being noticed by the gods. Atia’s tentative friendship with Sapphir, the rouge vampire, breaks the most important rule. Don’t kill humans. Catching the attention of Silas, a Herald of the dead, who must serve the gods until his fate is decided. Silas wants his freedom, and is more than willing to use Atia to get it. Together they will kill monsters and gods to end their curse.

“You can’t forget yourself if you have a name.”

Atia keeps moving from kingdom to kingdom, hoping to avoid attention from the humans she feeds from. She keeps every part of who she is a secret, trying to protect herself from the pain of her parent’s death. Until she becomes angry, pessimistic, and sarcastic as she protects herself from her own fear. The fear that she really is a monster. Her battle with survivor’s guilt, loneliness, self-esteem, and an unfair world is relatable. Though it is her willingness to stand up and face these struggles that, in the end, make her more than the label “monster”. As well as learning to trust her friends to help her.

“We all have a bit of monster in us. But we all have a bit of something else too.”

Tristan Berrow, the human scholar, and Atia’s friend, brings a more lighthearted perspective in an otherwise sad story. Alexandra Christo shares all the fun monster lore through his curiosity, and fascination with finding the truth. Though Atia knows monsters from experience, she cannot see the wonderful things about herself or others as Tristan does. And yes, they meet a lot of wonderfully dark mythical creatures.

“Find your loophole.”

Silas unlike most Heralds, is aware how long and monotonous his service to the gods is. He wonders who he was before becoming a servant of the gods, to repay misdeeds he cannot remember. He sees Atia as a thrilling opportunity to finally change things. He also sees Atia as the wonderful and rare creature she is. As he tries to show her that her abilities are gifts, not a curse the gods believe they are.

“Where there is darkness, there are also stars.”

Alexandra Christo does a great job introducing interesting characters, with complicated pasts. Though this dark fantasy is still Young Adult, it is somewhat graphic. The enemies-to-lovers romance is not the primary focus of this story, but Atia and Silas make a compelling couple. It is an adventure quest full of monster lore, and dark secrets. As Atia and Silas ask themselves, what being a monster truly means. ( )