Review of The Last Huntress by Lenore Borja

What would you do if you could make the world a better place and save the soul of someone you’re attracted to, but you would have to die in his place? A hero would jump at this chance, of course. The Last Huntress is a story about willingness to sacrifice and standing against powers far beyond our comprehension. Lenore Borja’s world is creative and intriguing, though I can’t say the same for the story she chooses to tell in it. I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Alice finds herself initiated rather abruptly into the current generation of huntresses: women throughout history who can access the Mirror Realm and track and exorcise demons. They are trained and overseen by Cithaeron, a once-mortal man now reincarnated through the lifetimes. But things are different now. Alice might be the last huntress ever called, and she seems to have more power—that comes at more of a price—than the others. She and Cithaeron are bound up, twin flames, yet Alice’s destiny is one of self-sacrifice in exchange for Cithaeron’s soul. For lurking behind the Mirror Realm, behind our world, behind it all, is the spectre of Hades and the other Olympians.

The Last Huntress starts off like so many young adult stories. Alice is the new girl in town, and she meets a cast of peers, some of whom are boorish and awful (David) and others who become her new sisters (Olivia, Hadley, Soxie). The dialogue is trite, the action a series of set pieces, the development fairly standard. Alice’s initiation into the huntresses is as confusing for the reader as it is for her, but once she is finally in the know, the book picks up.

Borja’s creative use of Greek mythology is the best thing about this book. The parts she uses are a bit more obscure to me, but I like how she characterizes Hades and the other Greek gods. I like the lore gradually revealed, especially near the climax, of why the gods have been absent and what Hades’ master plan entails. Alas, the nature of the demons and their connection to the Mirror Realm is somewhat underdeveloped (which will be a recurring complaint from me).

We never really get a chance to settle into this world or the story. We don’t get much of an understanding of what business-as-usual is for the huntresses before Alice’s arrival throws everything off its axis. Even as Alice’s destiny unspools, Borja keeps throwing twist after twist at us as the story careens further away from its initial conditions. There’s no breathing room. There’s one memorable chapter where Alice is bonding with her fellow huntresses and having fun, but that’s about it—everything else is urgency, danger, go go go.

The romance subplot is also, as far as this aromantic chick can tell, just all right? Maybe even a bit boring? It’s supposed to be hot and heavy. But we get so little time with the two characters, and most of it is spent in crisis mode. Again, I just don’t feel invested in or connected with these characters as people.

The Last Huntress is a book with a lot of potential; it just falls flat for me. It never quite comes together into something truly memorable.