Review of Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

Forget everything you ever knew about unicorns . . . Real unicorns are venomous, man-eating monsters with huge fangs and razor-sharp horns. Fortunately, they've been extinct for a hundred and fifty years. Or not.Astrid had always scoffed at her eccentric mother's stories about killer unicorns. But when one of the monsters attacks her boyfriend—thereby ruining any chance of him taking her to the prom—Astrid finds herself headed to Rome to train as a unicorn hunter at the ancient cloisters the hunters have used for centuries.However, at the cloisters all is not what it seems. Outside, the unicorns wait to attack. And within, Astrid faces other, unexpected threats: from the crumbling, bone-covered walls that vibrate with a terrible power to the hidden agendas of her fellow hunters to—perhaps most dangerously of all—her growing attraction to a handsome art student . . . an attraction that could jeopardize everything.

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund is made of awesome-sauce. What you need to know is that Rampant is about killer unicorns. If you are a member of Team Unicorn it is absolutely fundamental that you read Rampant by Diana Peterfreund, as it is THE primer for Team Unicorn. Rampant follows the character Astrid Llewelyn whose crazy mother believes she is part of a line of unicorn hunters. Color Astrid skeptical. However, after making out with a boy in the woods, Astrid finds out that Unicorns absolutely do exist, and her crazy mother is not so nutty after all. We then journey to the unicorn hunter HQ in Rome, where Astrid trains to be a fierce warrior. This is also where my fist goes pump.

Count me among the fans of Astrid. She is fun, full of spunk, occasionally funny, and loyal. I could totally relate to her for a lot of the book, even though I have never hunted a unicorn and well, am not qualified to hunt unicorns. For example, she’s consistently embarrassed by her mother. Granted, my mother is not nuts or anything, but my family is very redneck, so if you have ever listened to Jeff Foxworthy, you are basically listening to a description of my parents. Well, I could feel for Astrid, and I am sure many of you could as well. Yes, our families embarrass us, but we still love them. Astrid is also faced with tough decisions such as whether or not to do the deed. I will say, yeah, that is a huge, huge, huge decision. I mean, I suppose some people don’t struggle with that, but for the most part, it is something which does take a lot of consideration. This being stated, don’t take Rampant by Diana Peterfreund as a v-card manifesto, because it is totally not.

As for the unicorns, they are baller. Yes, baller. Got a problem with my gangsta verbiage? That’s what I thought! Oh em gee, I think my favorite thing about Rampant was the unicorn-lore. It was AWESOME learning about the different types of unicorns. Of course, we have the most ultimate unicorn, Bucephalus, who is the size of a dinosaur, I guess? He’s also linked to Alexander the Great, so excuse me while I go history geek out over Hellenistic cultures. Also, there is a little unicorn, a zhi, which I definitely want to pet, except it would eat me. I do enjoy pint sized terrors, what can I say? It’s an adorable little bloodthirsty creature.

Furthermore, Rampant by Diana Peterfreund is full of girl power. That’s what’s up. See, the thing is, only ladies can be unicorn hunters. And I just have to say, the women assembled by Peterfreund into the hunter group are fabulous. They are quite diverse, they have distinctive non-cardboard personalities, and they can really weld some weapons. I guess I just have a thing for determination and grit.

Now, along the lines of girl power was the relationship between Astrid and her cousin Phillipa, aka Phil. Let’s just say, I loved it! I like that family can be friends. I like that the girls aren’t rivals, but that they ultimately lift each other up. Please more friendship in fiction. Not the frenemies type of friendship, but true, awesome, still on your side friends.

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund definitely has me excited and pumped for Ascendant, the sequel. And yes, it has permanently put me on Team Unicorn.

Disclosure: I purchased this book on it’s release day with my cashmoney for full price at Borders. That’s dedication to Unicorns, friends, DEDICATION.

Other Reviews of Rampant by Diana Peterfreund:

My Tea Time Is Book Time
Bookalicio.us
A Sea of Pages
Sarah’s Random Musings

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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