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 teenager living the life of any normal sophomore girl. Even though her mother has spun tales of killer unicorns and lunacy of Astrid being a great warrior, she is happy laughing at her mothers tales and thinking nothing of it. Then one night everything changes when Astrid’s boyfriend Brandt is attacked by a zhi, a domesticated unicorn in the hunter’s world. Astrid is freaked out and 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 and the rest of the 'virginal' warriors train and learn of their ancestry which surrounds an ancient Goddess and Alexander the Great. Although even with the amazing background of her history, Astrid soon learns that not everything is as it seems at the convent, betrayals begin to leak out and lies are uncovered making Rampant a quick and sometimes fun read. Violence and blood soaked battles cake the pages to give the book action, 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 of unicorns fit in with modern ideas of feminism. 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. 

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 however have a huge rant with this book and its author, something that pissed me off as a reader and as a parent to a teenage daughter....... here it is:

~In chapters 5-6 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 local boys rush to their aid and befriend the girls, after a few minutes of chit-chat the boys offer to take them on a tour of the city. Of course our naive characters without thinking twice about just being attacked only see that the young men are hot. Brains are turned off and they go along into the city with these "hot" boys.

EXCUSE ME!!!!!..This is parenting 101: its not safe to get in a car with strangers......it is not safe to take candy from strangers, its not even safe if they are your age - if they are good-looking or if you feel they are normal. You should NEVER go with a stranger to an area where you would be alone with them! Even worse though is 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. This heeds the question to Diane Peterfreund: What the fuck were you thinking writing this in a YA novel??? Fiction or not have you seen the movie Taken? Does anyone remember the story of Natalie Holloway? Has anyone heard of Human Trafficking? Although the author draws the mistakes of that night into full circle, (meaning the boys already knew the girls were virgin warriors) 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 IRRESPONSIBLE AND ASININE WRITING!!!

Perhaps fans of knights and medieval adventures will enjoy this bloody, 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.

1/5 YA Fantasy

PS- Check out this A21 Campaign statistics video, a charity that I support. Your awareness is what helps stop atrocities like this.