Ascendant by Diana Peterfreund

Rating:
Characters: 18/20
Plot: 20/20
Originality: 20/20
Writing: 19/20
Recommendation: 18/20
Overall: 95/100 or A
Source: Publisher
Now a fully trained unicorn hunter, Astrid Llewelyn is learning that she can’t solve all her problems with a bow and arrow. Her boyfriend has left Rome, the Cloisters is in dire financial straits, her best friend’s powers are mysteriously disintegrating, and her hope of becoming a scientist seems to be nothing but an impossible dream.
So when she’s given the opportunity to leave the Cloisters and use her skills as part of a scientific quest to discover the Remedy, Astrid leaps at the chance. Finally, she can have exactly what she wants—or can she? At Gordian headquarters deep in France, Astrid begins to question everything she had believed: her love for Giovanni, her loyalty to the Cloisters, and—most of all—her duty as a hunter. Should Astrid be saving the world from killer unicorns or saving unicorns from the world?
I adore Unicorns, and Peterfreund's kick ass hybrid of killer unicorns are even more epic. After reading Rampant, I was so pumped for Ascendant. Astrid came back just as awesome. She was just as brave and strong as the first book, but now she has a fraction of doubt about what she is doing. She doesn't have time to see her mother or go to school, which made me sad. She is one of the few YA characters that though past the next month and had a plan for what she wanted to do in life. That is until, she get the offer of a lifetime... a job working at Gordian Pharmaceuticals. I loved that it allowed her to make her own decisions in this book and not just what the Cloisters wanted. Also that, you got to see some issues that the world was dealing with, because of the return of the unicorns.

The opinion that I had about Gordian, changed at the beginning, because Isabeau seemed to be a such a sweet and caring person that wanted to no longer be tied to what happened in the previous book, but she turned out to be not the person that she seemed. I hated the abuse on the einhorns and it kept on making me cry like a baby. The plot left me with so many questions about Peterfreund's magical world and the last few chapters were so hard to read. I really hope that there will be a third book. Peterfreund's writing was stunning and ingenious. I could picture every move on the battle scene. I loved Ascendant, more then Rampant. It was unpredictable and ingenious. I think that you should start this series soon, I am sure that you will not regret it.