Book Review: The Trap by Andrew Fukuda

Book reviews

13 Dec

The Trap (Hunt #3) by Andrew FukudaPaperbackReview copy provided by publisherSimon & Schuster, November 2013 Synopsis- After barely escaping the Mission alive, Gene and Sissy face an impossible task: staying alive long enough to stop an entire world bent on their destruction. Bound on a train heading into the unknown with the surviving Mission girls, Gene, Sissy, David, and Epap must stick together and use everything they have to protect each other and their only hope: the cure that will turn the blood-thirsty creatures around them into humans again. Now that they know how to reverse the virus, Gene and Sissy have one final chance to save those they love and create a better life for themselves. But as they struggle to get there, Gene's mission sets him on a crash course with Ashley June, his first love . . . and his deadliest enemy.Review- The Trap is the conclusion to Andrew Fukuda’s The Hunt trilogy. I’ve liked this action-packed dystopian series; however I don’t feel the second and third book pulled me in as much as the first book, which I did really enjoy.The Trap dives straight into the action, which is one of the strengths of this series. There’s always something happening, even though it feels like it’s not really going anywhere sometimes. There certainly is danger lurking at every corner.Gene and Sissy are on the train heading toward the “Civilization” and fear what will await them at the last stop. As the “Origin”, Gene and Sissy know how to cure the virus and hope to change their futures. But to save their own lives and those of their friends, Gene strikes up a deal with the enemy to kill Ashley June in exchange for their lives. Sissy and Gene are released back into the world to complete their mission, but of course, there are many obstacles that await them.I feel that the ‘love story’ and the role of Sissy and Ashley June is the weakest part of the story. Ashley June is someone who Gene has had strong feelings for and for a character who was introduced as an intricate part of the story at the start of the trilogy, her character becomes pretty redundant by the end. Because Sissy’s role in the first book was quite minor, I did not develop an attachment to her and I felt her chemistry with Gene was pretty much non-existent. To me, they seemed like brother and sister. Sissy as a character was quite weak, she felt really one dimensional and so I found it difficult to actually see her as a human, as a person.Gene’s in a tricky situation, in order to save his new friend, Sissy, he needs to kill his high school crush, Ashley June. What’s a guy to do? I could understand that he was in a tough situation, but I didn’t always understand the choices he made, even though the story is written in first person.The action and the mystery kept me turning the pages as I wanted to see how this series ended, but I felt the characters let down this story and therefore I couldn’t completely enjoy the trilogy as much as I wanted to. Nevertheless, it is a unique and odd plotline with various twists and turns that will appeal to dystopian fans that are happy to overlook weak characterisation for lots of action.