Runningrabbit

99c on Amazon so a new author & series discovery which has left me grinning from ear to ear. I absolutely loved this one and I'm going 4.5 stars.
The character is a great laugh and sarcasm hits some good high notes. Completely amusing. This is a YA novel, so keep that in mind. Having said that, no out of order immaturity to hit you upside the head. This book starts out in Cairns, QLD, Australia, so that's a refreshing change and I note the next book moves on to Europe.
Plenty of arse-kicking action, great and varied characters and droll humour. There's nothing else I want in a book so far. It would be nice if she loses that virginity somewhere in the series, just to add a bit of extra bite in here at some stage. Well, aside from plenty of gratuitous violence. :)
I've moved on to the next book already. Smile. 

Mimi Valentine

When it comes down to another vampire book, you'd think we've seen it all — but not until you've read The Hunted!
In this world, the vampires are in a tense alliance with the Protectors (warriors who can wield magic) to fight against the vânătors — also known as rabid, viscous, and bloodthirsty werewolves. Just like an awesome vampire story should be, it's different and bloody and intense and gruesome, but it also has moments of snark that relieve some of the tension.
As a stubborn, mouthy, and bad-ass born vampire, Elena is the kind of girl you admire in all situations! Even though she may be reckless sometimes, she still stays smart, focused, and completely realistic in a way that makes it easy to sympathize with her, even when she's kicking butt and leaving you in awe.
But Elena isn't the only character you'll. There's her "adoptive" brother Lucas, who's so hilarious and brotherly that you just have to adore him. Each of the Protectors have their own personalities too, and so do the vampires. Especially William: tall, dark, and mysterious vamp extraordinaire. He may not suck your blood but he'll definitely take your heart! ♥
One of my favourite things about this book — besides its non-stop action and hilarious one-liners — has to be the way Elena interacts with her family. Even though they're not technically related, her banter with her Protector parents and brother is so fun and natural. They fight, argue, and pick on each other like real family, but in the end you can tell that they'd do anything to protect each other.
This book is a little bit lengthy and has a few editing errors, but it's nothing that takes away from the awesomeness of this book. All in all, The Hunted is an original, action-packed, and engaging Aussie-based vampire story that you shouldn't miss! :)
BUY or BORROW?: Love vampires? Love awesome heroines? Then this is the book for you! ;)

Holjo

All vampires are either born or made. A born vampire is completely human until the age of 18 when their dormant vampire DNA becomes prevalent and an irreversible change occurs. Elena is a 16-year-old born-vampire-to-be, but not quite completely human as she should be at her age. She has the ability to heal herself from any injury, a heightened sense of smell, and a recently developing attraction to blood.
Elena doesn’t know why she is different – in fact, she doesn’t exactly know that she IS different. She has never met a real vampire before and only knows what her secretive parents have shared with her, which is not much. Her adoptive parents and brother are not vampires, but they are supernatural in their own right. Her family are Protectors, a group of magical humans who hunt and destroy immortal beings who prey on other humans.
Although the Protectors and the vampire communities are natural enemies, they are currently operating under a truce while they attempt to destroy the most dangerous of supernatural creatures – the vânătors. Vânătors are shapeshifting werewolves who feed off of both human and vampire blood. Elena and her family have been training their entire lives to fight the vânătors, but she has never had to face them until now.
Suddenly, after living a relatively normal teenage life, Elena is thrown in the middle of a vânător hunting expedition near her home town. The presence of the vânătors also attracts vampire hunters, so Elena finally sees her wish fulfilled to meet one of her own kind. Although she never really knew what to expect, she was definitely caught off guard by her sudden and intense attraction to the 400+ year old William. His arrival results in Elena finally learning her real history from her parents, as well as some of the history of her race from William. The more she learns about herself, the more she realizes that she doesn’t really fit in anywhere. Acceptance is something she craves.
I did reach a point of total immersion in this story, but it wasn’t until after Elena finds out the truth about her origins (about 1/3 of the way into the book.) Before that, I was still on the fence between whether I would “like” the story or “love” the story. The one thing that had me vacillating early in the book was the teenage drama that Elena was experiencing at the time (sneaking out to go to parties, getting caught by her parents, getting grounded, boy-crazy best friend). I tend to disengage somewhat when it comes to teenage story lines like this, only because I strongly prefer a more adult tone to a book.
Because this teen drama was occurring at the same time that the story was being set-up and the characters introduced, the section between Elena’s first fight at the beginning of the book (which was a great fight btw), and her discovery of her personal history, was a little slow for me. This is the only complaint I had, and obviously it isn’t a big complaint or I wouldn’t be giving the book such a high rating. The final 2/3 of the book was intense, suspenseful, and exciting, with a wonderful cliffhanger.
There was so much growth in Elena between those early frivolous chapters and the end of the book, that I came to appreciate the illustration of how much she had changed and matured over a relatively short period of time. For as young as she is, I didn’t feel like I had read a teenage book by the end. Her youth is an incredible contrast to the vast adult responsibilities she takes on, and this eventually showed me how strong she really is.
I thought the dialog between the characters was really well done – witty, smart, fun, and totally believable (especially between Elena and her brother Lucas.) The action sequences and fighting scenes were great. I really appreciated that Berridge kept the action gritty and didn’t soften up the gruesome and physically painful details of the story.
The characters were very entertaining, and I definitely felt a strong connection with Elena, Lucas, and William in particular. I can’t wait to read more about them! I have to admit, I even sympathized with the deadliest villain in the book, which was totally unexpected.
Speaking of unexpected, don’t let yourself fall into the trap of thinking that the vamps in this book resemble vamps in other popular series. The second you start to think that something seems familiar, Berridge throws a twist into the story that will completely throw you for a loop. Just when I thought I had something figured out, I would be thrown completely in another direction and find myself chuckling at how wrong my assumptions had been.
I highly recommend this book to Paranormal readers. I think the best fit for this book would be adult and mature teen audiences. Although the violence in the book lends itself more to an adult reader, the romance and language in the book are closer to PG-13.

Kylie Walker

Throughout the pages of The Hunted, Kristy Berridge delivers a modern, distinctly Aussie Vamp tale with a bevy of calculated twists. You want gore, you've got it. You want suspense and a dash of amour, it's there. Kristy's clever wit and dry sense of humour shines through with her protagonist Elena, and her ability to pen relatable, tightly woven descriptive is a definite strength many young authors in her genre fail to possess.
All in all, I truly enjoyed this book, and I'm hanging out for the next instalment.

Seiara

I enjoyed reading this story. As I grew up in Cairns I could picture the areas that are written about in the book. I would read this late into the night upsetting my fiance as he would try to talk to me at one of these moments and as I was too caught up in the story to put the book down I would ignore him. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

Kim Rawls

This is the best book!! I didn't want to put it down!! The story had my full attention!! I wish there was more...

Michelle

This book grew on me as I read it. When I first picked it up, it took me a while to get into it. This book is long. I think it is around 580 pages or so. And At points it really feels like it. But once I really got into the story, I ended up connecting with the characters and enjoying myself. Then I liked how long the book was, because I wanted to know what was going to happen. I didn't want it to end. The ending made me want to stick around and read the second book too! Ok let's break it down some more.
Elena is pretty cool. She seems virtually indestructible. But it did take awhile to like her. I'm not really sure why. I think at the beginning I just saw her as a bit of a trouble maker. And don't get me wrong- she is a HUGE trouble maker, but as the book went on I just got to understanding her a little bit better. And then once the mystery surrounding her unusual circumstances came up, I was fully on team Elena. For some reason, I always pictured Elena from the Vampire Diaries when I was thinking about her. I also really, really liked William! I can't wait to see how that whole thing will pan out.
This brings me to some of the things that I didn't love about The Hunted. First, the book is a really complex concept, which I really did like- but that takes a lot of foundation laying so you can actually understand how the world works and who the main players are. I get that, but it kind of felt like this book was a bit too much foundation laying at points. I also thought that there were a lot of really dense big paragraphs and they dragged on a bit for me. I would have liked to seen them broken up a bit more with dialogue and other breaks. I think that would have made the book flow a bit better. But I will say that at about the half way point, the story really picks up and I didn't notice any more slow parts/or find myself thinking there was too much on the page.
I also didn't like all the references to "tempting fate" with William and Elena. Let me explain, it's not the situation that I didn't like. I think that is going to be one of my favorite parts of the next book; I can't WAIT to see a certain new character and find out what he is going to bring to the table. But, I didn't like that Elena heard all of these comments and never once asked what they meant. I would think that she would be curious or at least as William when they were alone, but it never came up at all!
Overall, this book dragged for me a bit in some places and it had a lot of set up. But once I got into the story and I knew everything that was going on, I enjoyed the book. The second half was much better than the first half of the book in my opinion. If you started this book and put it down for whatever reason, pick it back up and read the whole thing. I think you will like it! It just keeps getting better as the story goes on, and book 2 looks like it is going to be even better than this one!

K.J. Simmill

I will be completely honest, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I am not a big fan of books written in the first person, mainly because although this narrative is meant to make me feel more connected to a story, I find it rarely does. However this book was one of the exceptions, so much so that I will be purchasing the second instalment in this series.
This book was recommended to me by a Twitter friend based on a few of the books I have already reviewed and enjoyed, and I will certainly be taking to heart his future recommendations.
The book follows the story of Elena, a teenager with a very complex future ahead of her due to the events surrounding her birth. Elena is a born vampire; thus she is unable to attend regular high school so studies in the Institute of Magical Intervention who hunt down the Vânătors. When she reaches 18 she will turn, yet there are secrets hidden within her blood that mean she is not the only person on the hunt, she in turn is hunted.
The characters each have their own distinctive and believable personalities, from Elena, the somewhat mouthy, independent teenager, to her magic wielding brother, Lucas, who despite his occasional ability to disappoint her, is generally loyal to a fault. Each character has their own unique traits and individualities, not to mention flaws and humour. There are characters you root for, characters you despise, and those who intrigue you. The collection works well, and the growth they experience through the story is evident.
The book itself is a young adult, paranormal romance, to me it has the familiar feel of a more adult style L.J. Smith, if you have ever read Vampire Diaries, or Night World, think of how well the characters interact and the flow of the story, as well as the romance between characters she often includes. The concept of the story is well portrayed and once you get about a third of the way through there is no putting it down.
I would highly recommend this book to fans of the genre, even those who are not so keen on the whole vampire scene, because although it plays a part in the story, it is not all consuming, I didn’t feel as though I was reading a vampire based story, it was a fantastic balance of paranormal, magic, and everyday life. The author really found a perfect balance to the story.

Nicole – The Reader’s Antidote

The hunted was a pleasant surprise, filled with vampires, werewolves, magic-wielding humans and a romance that I couldn't get enough of. The hunted is definitely worth a read.
From the first chapter I knew I would enjoy this book. It takes place in Cairns, Australia (pronounced like cans), and I had just visited there last summer. It is absolutely breath-taking. The food could have been better but that's not the point; while this book took place in Australia, I could still relate. I also enjoyed the random Australian phrases compared to American ones that were like them. That's what made this book really unique for me.
I loved the main character, Elena. She is snarky beyond belief and does not like authority. She also doesn't fall head-over-heels in love with William, our sexy vampire love interest. He's a four-hundred-year-old vampire, and it bothered me a little that he fell in love so quickly with Elena. Is it because of her special blood (btw there were some Twilight references, but they weren't close enough to bother me)? There's definitely something supernatural at work there, I think. Her blood means a lot to some people, though no one has any idea of what she'll be capable of when she's at the age where she is supposed to turn into a full vampire (she's mostly human now). Still, I enjoyed the beginnings of their romance, though she is obviously not as invested as he is.
I know, as a general rule I stay away from vampire novels, but this one really piqued my interest and I'm so glad I decided to be part of this tour. Because it's not just about vampires and werewolves. There's a whole operation that takes care of these supernatural things and I love when that happens in books. It shows that there are bigger things than just the characters minor relationship problems. My only other complaint with this one is that there were a couple really slow parts in the IMI that could have been shortened. I found myself skipping some paragraphs in that section.
All in all, this was a very enjoyable read. I will definitely be continuing the series and I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Courtney

To start off this review I am going to have to say that the cover is gorgeous! There's just some attracting force that I adore about it, the glance given by the girl, the blurriness of the male, the intensity and the mystery. Next thing that I'm going to say, and I've said it for the past few vampire books that I've read, is that the vampire genre has been bustling over the past few years and there just all over the shelves. The height of the paranormal monsters just sickened me and I always turned my nose to the newest popular trend that spiked within YA literature. It just became so cliched all the time. But I'm glad that I had the chance to participate in this blog tour because The Hunted was anything but cliched within the vampire genre. It was exciting, I kept craving, and the emotions swelled. The pace was set nicely, the characters were executed wonderfully, and the writing was captivating.
One thing that I always happen to enjoy is wonderfully written dialogue. Realistic, witty banter between characters that make me giggle or just throw my head back and cackle to myself while reading. Another thing that I happen to enjoy is no watered down fighting scenes. The one thing that interrupts the flow of emotions in battle is watered down, flaccid fighting that could only be taken towards the pansies. No, Ms. Berridge does not fail to vividly bring the battles to life, even better the characters to life, and the connections that could be made with the characters were strong throughout as they grew within the novel. The strength and hardships that are thrown to Elena throughout the novel and watching her grow into a strong, wonderfully built character definitely made the reading more than a journey through pages but a tale that stuck like a bee to honey.
I definitely recommend to those who wish to challenge their upturned nose to the vampire genre because The Hunted definitely made me happy to find another reason to like vampires again. And to all paranormal readers out there, pick the book up because it's worth the read.

Tianna Scott

I completely devoured this book. With excellent set up and original characters, this book completely blew past my greatest expectations. The dialog between the characters was extremely well done and while the book contained the usual teen drama you also got this amazing back story intertwined with stark twists and turns that you would never expect. Her characters were very relatable and I even found myself sympathizing with the big baddie at the end. The original take on the vampire/werewolf war was amazing well thought out and her vicious brutality of the werewolves (known as Vânătors) was something I had never read before which is without a doubt my favourite part of the book!.
Her story structure was well written so the story moved along well but there were times when it dragged slightly. I loved Elena, the main character who was a natural born vampire with a witty, sarcastic personality. You see her grow and by the end of the book you really get the sense that she’s matured before your eyes. I do not, however, like the main love interest, William. I couldn’t really connect with him or the other vampires (we only see 3 throughout the book). But the book is so full of amazing characters that I didn’t dwell on the vampires much.
I give this book 4 out of 5 blue monarchs (the rating system for our book page). With amazing dialog, character development, and a storyline to keep you on the edge of your see, you wont be disappointed when picking up this book. Kristy Berridge officially has a fan for life!!

PianogirlO5

I really enjoyed the plot of this story and what the author did with the characters most of the time. I loved William and I hope we see more of him and Elena as a couple. Too me, Elena was a too wishy washy with her feelings toward William. I know she is only sixteen, but she could trust William's feelings for her a little more. I don't think I care too much for her adoptive parents. Something is not right about them. I guess I'll find out in the future books of this series. My reason for only 4 stars is that I felt the author was a little too descriptive. Describing all of the furniture, drapery, and rugs in a room really takes away from the story when it doesn't really have any effect on the storyline. At one point, she visits William's temporary residence that belongs to someone else and we are given an extremely detailed tour. I'm not sure why, but it just took up a lot of space and I got bored. Also, Elena tended to ramble and while I found some of it funny most of the time I found myself skimming at parts because it was just endless. I got more into the book about half way when there was more dialogue and less of what was happening in Elena's brain. Perhaps I'm impatient and just want to get to the good stuff. I also like a lot of character interaction. Despite the overly descriptiveness of the book, the story has a great plot and I love the creativeness. This book will be finding a place on my Good read’s favourite shelf and I will be looking forward to reading more from this author.

Theresa Davis

I really enjoyed Elena!! Elena is just like every other smart mouth teenager except she is not totally human, well not for much longer anyway. I love the banter between Elena and Lucas, her half-brother. They are too funny and yet loving, they really have each other backs. William totally captured my heart, I am so rooting for him!
There is a lot that happens in this book and it starts right in the first page. Just when your thought it couldn't get any more interest or add another twist you find out there is still more to learn about Elena. The good thing is that you learn about her at the same time she is learning too, the shock value is hilarious. The story builds nicely so it was easy to follow and very entertaining at the same time. Kristy Berridge has done an excellent job putting an interesting twist on the Vampire, Werewolf world with the added Protector (sorry you have to read the book to find out what a Protector is)!
I recommend this book to all my paranormal lovers who are looking for a something a little different but still has action. I am not so patiently waiting for book two!!

Harley-Rose

Brilliant story simply put. I was able to finish the whole book in a day not being able to put the book down unless I had to. Always making me guess what’s going to happen next and if Elena's "attitude" would finally be the end of her.
I really do hope that another book will continue telling us readers more of Elena's adventures and her oh so interesting love life.
Another reason why I love this book is that it was based in Australia, though that could make me slightly biased in my opinions on this book as I was born in Queensland. Though it still doesn't take away the fact that I enjoyed this book a lot and recommend most to read it. Letting them take the enjoyable ride the book will undoubtably take them on.

DiAnn

I just finished The Hunted by Kristy Berridge, the first book in The Hunted Series, and it is awesome! The storyline is very interesting and as a fan of all things vampire, it is exactly my kind of story. The development of the main characters, Elena and William, is very thorough and well-defined - really liked both of them and that is important for a reader. I don't do spoilers, but am so happy that book two, The Damned, is on my Kindle waiting for me to read it. Great job, Kristy - looking forward to reading more of your stories!

Marie

I had a bit of a hard time getting started on this book as it is slightly more YA than I an used to lately (erotica phase lately)
I was not sure how I was liking this new vamp, magical world. But I ended up sucked in! Yes.... i am totally locked into this series.
The main character is funny and I love her language and self talk. The bond with her and her brother is sweet. i cannot wait to find out more about William.(sounds like a hottie)
The bad guys are bad and smelly....
I always say no more series.... and her I go again.

Roseanna

From the Preface to the end I was on the edge of my seat reading then wondering what happened next. It says this is a series, I must say, Please hurry with book 2.....
The cliff-hanger was torture!
I don't like to read reviews that tell the entire book or the end, so if you want to know.... pick up the book... you won't be disappointed.

Tiana

This was a great book to read. I could not put it down. Several of my friends and work mates have also read it, and cannot wait for the next one. That it is set in Cairns is a bonus. Well written novel. Thanks for a good read.