Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

Title: Rampant	Loved it	Graded
Author: Diana Peterfreund
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Harper Teen
Elements: Killer unicorns
Series: Book 1 of a series

Forget everything you ever knew about unicorns…

The sparkly, innocent creatures of lore are a myth. Real unicorns are venomous, man-eating monsters with huge fangs and razor-sharp horns. And they can only be killed by virgin descendants of Alexander the Great.

Fortunately, unicorns have been extinct for a hundred and fifty years.

Or not.

Astrid Llewelyn has always scoffed ather eccentric mother’s stories about killer unicorns. But when one of the monsters attacks her boyfriend in the woods – thereby ruining any chance of him taking her to prom – Astrid learns that unicorns are real and dangerous, and she has a family legacy to uphold. Her mother packs her off 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 is seems. Outside, the unicorns wait to attack. And within, Astrid faces other, unexpected threats: from 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… and a relationship that could jeopardize everything.

This is one of the best books I've read so far. I had some misgivings about this book after the initial hype. Killer unicorns? Really?

Diana Peterfreund pulled off the whole shebang without a hitch. We're first introduced to Astrid, who's just a normal teenager with a loony for a mother. It's not loony, adorable loony. It's crazy loony. You have to read Rampant to find out just how crazy her mother is.

Astrid doesn't believe in unicorns. She's heard of them, of her so called heritage from her mother, but tch. Unicorns. Who in ther right mind would believe that? Then her boyfriend almost gets gored by a unicorn during a make out sesshun. Add in a cameo by a backstabbing best friend, and away goes Astrid's life as she knows it.

This is where reality takes a backseat, and fantasy gleefully takes the reins. Astrid is sent off to a convent in Rome where she learns how to fight unicorns now that she's received her calling. The action really starts there, even though at times I'm struck by the absurdity of it, like when potential hunters start coming from all over the world, and all of them seemed to be rich and/or influential in some way, and just able to stave off normal lives. Which also means that their parents are willing to sacrifice their daughters to a foreign land "fighting unicorns". It could be a kidney smuggling ring, for all they know.

However, the descriptions are breathtaking, the writing is superbly lucid and the characters are just fantastically detailed. I especially dislike Astrid's mum, in case it wasn't obvious before. It's the worst case of parents pushing their dreams onto their children that I have ever read. Astrid's roommate, Cory, was pretty horrible even though there was a backstory to explain why. Her cousin, Phil, however, is just plain awesome. It was convenient that she was quickly removed as a potential adversary for Astrid.

There's a hint of romance in Rampant. Astrid's requisite love interest is lackluster and easily forgettable. All that I remember of him is that he's through and through a normal boy. The mythology makes up for all of that, with the different types of unicorns and their origins.