Rampant by Diana PeterFreund

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund
August 25th 2009 by HarperTeen
Hardcover, 402 pages
Purchased

Forget everything you know about Unicorns.
They are not magical, sparkly creatures of fairy tale, but violent, venomous beasts that can only be killed by virgin girls descended from Alexander the Great. Hunted to extinction more than a century ago—their race died out-or have they?

Review

Astrid is a 16-year-old teen living the life of any normal sophomore girl. Even though her mother has spun tales of killer unicorns and the lunacy of Astrid being a great warrior, she is happy laughing at the tales and thinking nothing of it. Everything changes one night when Astrid’s boyfriend Brandt is attacked by a zhi, a domesticated unicorn in the hunter’s world. Astrid is dismayed to learn that all her mothers’ stories were true. Like her ancestors, Astrid fits the criteria for a unicorn hunter, and her mother sends her off to Italy to train for battle.

Astrid is reluctant to enter this mysticism-laced world, but half-way into the story instead of fighting who she is; she learns to embrace her destiny. Astrid is a believably strong character and very well developed.We as the reader see her struggles and see her rise above them. Violent and blood soaked battles cake the pages but I thought the story was best when the characters discuss the moral and social aspects of their lives. How does a female virgin warrior, dedicated to exterminating a species fit in with modern ideas of feminism and environmentalism? Some of the girls are torn about killing the Unicorns and argue about exterminating the race. In the sexual aspects of the book, Astrid and the others discuss the fact that they often feel pressured by their peers to have sex. The girls also discuss the world of teenage dating and what it means to be a virgin in a sexed up society. The comments made about dating to my surprise were right on when looking at it from a youth stand point.

The girls train and learn of their ancestry which surrounds an ancient Goddess and Alexander the Great. Astrid soon learns that not everything is as it seems at the convent, betrayals begin to leak out and lies are uncovered. From chapter 20, its a non-stop ride to the end. I've studied intensely about Alexander the Great and the Mede-Persian empires, so it was hard to get into the fantasy aspect that Rampant delivers, but the writing was alright and Peterfreund can tell a somewhat intriguing story.

I do have one bone to pick and this would be my biggest rant to this book and its author. I was and still am very ticked off about the writing in the end of chapter five and all of chapter six which begins like this:

~Astrid and her 19 year old cousin decide to sneak away from the convent and have a night on the town in Italy. After being mugged by a gang of kids, two boys rush to their aid and offer them a tour of the city, the girls without thinking twice about just being attacked only see that the young men are hot, of course brains are turned off and they agree to go on a tour of the city, with these "hot" boys. Excuse me girls even low IQ individuals should know its not safe to get in a car with strangers......how STUPID! Not only do the boys take them clubbing but at one point the girls get separated from each other. I found this strike a raw nerve with me and it’s not like these chapters were written to discourage this behavior but promotes it. Fiction or not have you seen the movie Taken? Does anyone remember the story of Natalie Holloway? Has anyone heard of Human Trafficking? Although Peterfreund draws the mistakes of that night into full circle, I think the message of a sixteen year old wondering off with a boy she met five minutes ago in a foreign country is outrageously NUTS!!!

Human trafficking scare aside fans of knights and medieval adventures will enjoy this bloody, a little far-fetched look at the legends that surround the Great Alexander. However for this reader, with my primary focus being to find responsible YA for teens to enjoy, I cannot recommend.

Rating

For readers 17&up and contains: Violence, folklore, language  sexuality- semi-graphic, rape and topics on virginity, female bodies and sex acts.

2.5/5 YA Fantasy Unicorns, Sex

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