Rating: Additional
HarperTeen, 2010, $17.99
ISBN: 9780061490026
Age/Grade Level: Ages 14 and up
Astrid is a unicorn hunter, as were most of her female relatives. She joined before she finished high school, but now she is feeling trapped at the Cloisters in Rome. her boyfriend is going to college in New York and her friend Cory seems to be losing her sensitivity for unicorn hunting. Her mother has become a unicorn consultant. The Order of the Lioness at the Cloisters hunts unicorns who have killed people and Astrid is beginning to doubt her commitment. An offer for Astrid comes from Gordian headquarters in France, where staff are trying to find the mixture for the "Remedy" which can cure unicorn poison.
Unicorns, good or bad, can be approached only by virgins. Teens will like Astrid, who struggles between wanting to help the hunters and wanting to lead a normal life. The background details of the Order of the Lioness are a mix of mythology and fairy tale. The conclusion of the story is surprising. This book may do for unicorns what vampires did for the teen reading craze. This is a sequel to Rampant but can be read alone.
Reviewer: Anne Williams, OCPL/Fountain Valley Library
