Hunter (Hunter #1) by Mercedes Lackey

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):
Centuries ago, the barriers between our world and the Otherworld were slashed open allowing hideous fantastical monsters to wreak havoc; destroying entire cities in their wake. Now, people must live in enclosed communities, behind walls that keep them safe from the evil creatures constantly trying to break in. Only the corps of teen Hunters with lightning reflexes and magical abilities can protect the populace from the daily attacks.

Joyeaux Charmand is a mountain girl from a close knit village who comes to the big city to join the Hunters. Joy thinks she is only there to perform her civic duty and protect the capitol Cits, or civilians, but as cameras follow her every move, she soon learns that the more successful she is in her hunts, the more famous she becomes.

With millions of fans watching her on reality TV, Joy begins to realize that Apex is not all it seems. She is forced to question everything she grew up believing about the legendary Hunters and the very world she lives in. Soon she finds that her fame may be part of a deep conspiracy that threatens to upend the protective structure built to keep dark magic out. The monsters are getting in and it is up to Joy to find out why.

My Review

***I received the eBook free as a review copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

I'm sorry to say that this book fell flat for me most of the time.
This book is about a Hunter named Joy, who is summoned to Apex to protect the citizens from the dangerous Othersiders. There Joy quickly gains fame but soon she realizes that being famous can be quite dangerous with the political games happening in Apex.
I don't like giving negative reviews, but I realize that I can't avoid it for this book. I was really bored while reading this book because it just wasn't captivating at all. I didn't feel any connection to the story or the characters in any way for some reason. Then there is also the fact that most of the book was just a information dump. There was key information and a lot of bits of information that we won't need for the rest of the book.
The characters were absolutely bland. They were all so stereotypical with no original personality. Ace, the most famous Hunter, is drunk on his fame and mean. Josh is the perfect gentleman, good-looking, mannered and everything. And don't even get me started on Joy. She was always the super "special" one throughout the entire book. She could do everything other Hunters couldn't and was literally perfect at everything. That just got really irritating after a while. My favourite characters were probably Joy's Hounds, like Bya. I really like dogs, so I imagined having a Hound like Bya and thought that that would be awesome.
Overall, I didn't find the book captivating at all. However, near the end the plot started to thicken slightly more and therefore it became more interesting to read. That's why I think that the book managed to save itself a bit before the end.
I felt that this book had potential, which it showed near the end, but for me this is going to still be 2 stars.