Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Hallow Hunt is a heart-pounding, emotional story that proves Margie Fuston has mastered the art of sequels. The Revenant Games ended on a cliffhanger that's been haunting me for the past year. The Hallow Hunt did absolutely everything I ever could've wanted after that wait.

Leaving off where we did in the first book, there was bound to be immense tension between Bly and Kerrigan. Every moment of betrayal had deep-rooted effects that left my heart hurting in this book. Despite all the magic in this world, their relationship was painfully realistic. Having characters that feel so true and believable take you into the story in a way not many things can. Watching their relationship change and develop throughout this story was one of the most incredible parts. I could feel each moment between them like it was real. If you love a good slow burn, Bly and Kerrigan are perfect for you.

After the wild game in book one, I was expecting a lot of fast-paced action in the sequel. If you were as well, expect to be pleased. Despite no longer being in a deadly competition, the characters are still facing plenty of dangerous situations they have to fight their way out of. Fuston knows exactly how to take readers on an incredible adventure in any situation.

The politics of this world were incredible in The Revenant Games, but I somehow love them even more in this book. The way Fuston has created this world shared by witches, vampires, and humans is addictive. You can't help but want to stay in it. We get to know the world and it's rules and expectations so well that it feels like we're there too. Everything about this story is deeply complex and fascinating.

I just have to dedicate part of this review to Donovan. I love when a book has great side characters, and I think Donovan may be one of my all time favorites. His impact on this book is undeniable. He has such a beautiful complicated personality and life. Every line he has is one I want to read over and over again. I'm not sure what makes his character so addictive, but he has something to make him stand out. I don't think anyone made me giggle more than he did!

There really are so many great things to say about this book. Relationships between characters, emotional storylines, action, and satisfying endings have all been portrayed perfectly in this story. I can't imagine a more fitting sequel to a wonderful first book. This duology will always be one of my favorite YA fantasy stories to recommend!

And like just about everyone else, I am desperate for that Donovan and Demelza spinoff! I could stay in this world forever.

Review on Goodreads (sophreadingbooks https://www.goodreads.com/sophreadingbooks) as of 3/19/2025
Review on Instagram (sophiesreading https://www.instagram.com/sophiesreading/) expected 4/1/2025

Thank you @simonteen #partner for the gifted eARC!

This was such a splendid treat for the second book in the Revenant Games books! This book felt a little more atmospheric and dangerous than the first which kept me flipping pages as quickly as I could. I am obsessed with magical forests and in this story we follow hunters in the forest and they cross paths with their own personal demons! I loved the way Fuston wrote about hidden secrets and treacherous challenges. She created such a suspenseful story I found myself sweating a bit as I read 😆 If you love battles, adventure, magic, danger and like themes of trust and sacrifice this book is for you!

If you love high-stakes quests, and vampires with a side of betrayal, The Hallow Hunt is right up your alley. The story picks up after Bly’s devastating win in the Revenant Games—she got what she wanted, but at a steep cost. Now, she’s on a desperate mission to find her sister, Elise, only to realize she might have been fighting for the wrong thing all along.

Bly and Kerrigan’s relationship is full of tension, and for good reason—she betrayed him, and he’s not exactly in a forgiving mood. But when they’re accused of treason and forced to team up to find a legendary root, their past feelings threaten to resurface. There’s plenty of action, magic, and romantic angst as they navigate a deadly forest, all while other dangerous forces close in.

The pacing keeps things moving, and the worldbuilding—especially the lore behind vampires and witches—adds depth to the story. The push-and-pull between Bly and Kerrigan makes their dynamic compelling, and the mix of adventure, betrayal, and reluctant teamwork keeps you hooked.

If you enjoy dark fantasy with morally gray characters and a romance built on tension and redemption, The Hallow Hunt won’t disappoint. It’s a thrilling ride with plenty of twists, and I can’t wait to see what’s next for Bly and Kerrigan!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing | Margaret K. McElderry Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Hallow Hunt was an incredible conclusion to this duology! I loved the unique and fascinating origin story of vampires and witches—it really added depth to the world-building. Bly’s character in this book was just amazing. She’s so broken and alone, constantly trying to fix things, only to make them worse—and that struggle felt so real. I’m always drawn to broken and healing characters, and Bly’s emotional journey had me crying for and with her countless times.

The evolution of Bly and Kerrigan’s relationship was beautiful to see, and the twists in this book definitely caught me by surprise. The whole story was packed with action and kept me hooked from start to finish. This was such a satisfying and thrilling conclusion. Highly recommend for fans of emotional character arcs and action-packed supernatural tales!

THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST SEQUALS I HAVE READ. this series will for SURE have a place in my heart forever! this book comes out april 1st and definitely did this series justice!!! i felt soo many feelings and didn't expect this at all! the ending!!!! i'm actually so obsessed with all of these characters!!! bly is sooo katniss everdeen coded! i ride at dawn for bly and elise! also donovan is sooo underrated, this book does all the characters so good! make sure to read this on april 1st!! such a good book!!!!

I loved the recap at the beginning of the book to set the stage of what happened before and where we are now. Does a good job the first chapters of linking the first book to the plot of this one - summarizing characters in short descriptions so you remember enough of who they are.

The storyline was just as action packed as the first with a continued group of characters. While I did feel there were some lulls, the characters quickly changed scenes or new complications arose to bring my attention back. I felt the ending wrapped things up nicely and leaves it open, if the story does continue.

I LOVED this book - i really loved the first one, so I can't say this beat that (mainly because i loved reading about the games), but I still enjoy Bly as a character and will always read a Vampire/Witch story.

Wow! What a treat of a book! I did not know so what I was getting into not having read Revenant Games but I like doing that to ascertain whether a book could be read by itself. To me it’s the mark of a good writer to bridge the gap so a new reader isn’t lost without sounding overly repetitive for the sequel readers. Marie Fuston definitely exemplifies the “good writer” title for several reasons, the least of which is properly penning a sequel.

Fuston’s writing is engaging while providing a fast paced, page turning story that you can easily get lost in. After I finished reading this book I went back and read Revenant Games and book books are equally outstanding. What I especially loved was it was a great representation of solid writing, especially for the young adults to which it is for. But on the other hand while it’s a “Young Adult” book, it is easily embraced by folks of all ages, it’s that good.

I am am thankful to have gotten the ARC for free from Simon Children’s through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

This title comes out on April 1 2025. RUN to preorder it so you can crack the spine (not literally please we aren’t savages here) the moment it comes out!

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Overall, I really liked this duology.

What worked:
Bly's relationship with Donovan and the ongoing joke about needing to save each other's lives three times before reaching friend status. I really liked the role Donovan played in facilitating the Bly-Kerrigan reunion and generally liked their antagonistic-turned-friends vibe

Kerrigan -- we love a vampire who is down bad

Demelza and Donovan -- give me this spin off ASAP.

The search for the Hallow Pool (a quest makes everything better) -- I predicted a lot of the reveals in this book and while it's pretty clear something is amiss I didn't clock the twist and thought it made a lot of sense in the broader class struggles in the world.

What didn't work:
It took a while for The Hallow Hunt to find its feet, as the first third of the book mostly revolves around Bly and Kerrigan searching for their siblings and being sad. The will they-won't they doesn't have a lot of oomph to it because it simply never seemed like Kerrigan wouldn't eventually forgive Bly.

A lot of the book centers on Bly struggling with her internalized guilt over all her choices -- esp after it's revealed that Elise was never dead OR held captive against her will, but rather willingly walked away to follow her heart. The problem is that it gets really repetitive when she's still endlessly beating herself up over her choices rather than trying to process her trauma.

Overall, I had a good time (and think I'd have liked it even more if it had 20% less sad Bly)

The Hallow Hunt follows the Revenant Games in such a cleverly written story about a young woman that has to navigate a world run by witches and vampires. I couldn't put it down. I've been literally dying for a year waiting for this release and jumped on the opportunity to read it. I re-read the first one and then immediately jumped into this one. Even on a second read I stormed through the books.

It's got such an imaginative story with a great cast of characters, and the banter does banter. The twists do turn. It's so well written, and the pacing moves beautifully throughout both books in the series.

It's young adult but has some steamy moments.

First off thank you so much to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and NetGalley for letting me receive an ARC copy of this book! This is the sequel to The Revenant Games, a vampire witch duology by Margie Fuston. This was a good conclusion to this duology, although I feel like it could have used one more book. There were no revenant games taking place in this one, which I wished there was but besides that it was so interesting to find out how vampires and witches were created from the Hallow pool. This was mostly Bly’s story, and I really love her as a character. She is basically alone and betrayed at the end of the first book, so this story is basically about her learning who to trust again. I feel like there was a lack of her and Kerrigan’s romance in this one, even though they were enemies at the end of the first book, but I felt once they did become lovers again I felt like we didn’t get enough of it and felt a little rushed. But besides that I’m never once bored because I really enjoy Margie’s writing. 4.25 stars so good!! Can’t wait to pick it up when it comes out 😁

✨BOOK REVIEW✨
📖 The Hallow Hunt (The Revenant Hunt #2) by Margie Fuston

I absolutely loved this book! It picks up right after the Revenant Games, with Bly still dealing with the consequences of her choices. She’s hurt the people she cares about, and the factions are divided. But now, witches, vampires, and humans must work together to find an item that could bring them freedom.

There’s betrayal, adventure, and romance—plus some epic twists! Can Bly and Kerrigan move past her betrayal? Will she finally make choices for the great good?

Witches + Vampires + Romance + Adventure is a recipe for such a fun book. It was such a wild ride.

THE HALLOW HUNT takes place after the events in THE REVENANT GAMES. Bly works endlessly to find her sister while also hoping Kerrigan looks at her again with something besides distrust.

Bly and Kerrigan. I just adore them so much. The side characters were fantastic. The banter was so fun. If you’re a fan of YA romantasy, than this duet is one you’ll gobble up!

What You’ll Find:
🩸 Vampires + Witches
🫶Found Family
🔥Romance
🗺️Adventure
💙Fighting corruption

I loved this one even more than the first!! The action, the plot was so fast moving and fun. It has some hunger games vibes but also totally its own thing. Bly and Kerrigan‘s dynamic was so interesting this book I couldn’t tear myself away from the pages highly recommend!

I've been waiting for this sequel since I ended my ARC of the first book so....it's been a long time coming LOL. As I said in another review, I'm in my vampire era! I loved the mix of Hunger Games-like trials with the supernatural and the dead coming back to life. I enjoyed getting to know Bly a bit better this time and exploring the romance more.

I thought I read book one... I read a book with a similar title on accident and thought they were the same series. Overall, I don't think it affected my time reading The Hallow Hunt that much. I still enjoyed it and had a great time! I'm definitely going to be going back to read the actual first book to see what I missed and then will be rereading this for the full effect!

Bly’s journey is messy, complicated, and real. It’s not just about saving her sister anymore; it’s about redemption, forgiveness, and finding a way to heal. And as much as I loved the action and twists, I couldn’t get enough of the emotional pull. If you’re into stories that mix high drama with heart-wrenching relationships and a supernatural edge, this one is definitely worth diving into.

OH MY GODDDDDDD YES. I managed to love this even MORE than the fantastically fun first book, whew what a rollercoaster of a sequel! Character arcs SERVED in this one, folks. I was flyinggg through these pages like my life depended on it, giggling and screaming and crying and just having the time of my life. This is honestly such an underrated duology, I’ll be shoving it down people’s throats from now on tho.

OK we gotta start with the MVP of this book which was *CUE SHOCK* DONOVAN???? My GOD Donovan came to PLAY; I knew I would enjoy whatever dynamic he and Bly would have in this book but it was even better than I could’ve hoped. He quickly became my favorite side character and I LOVE him. Seriously DONOVAN AND DEMELZA SPINOFF WHEN

Loved Bly and Kerrigan of course, the angst was angsting and it got a bit frustrating at times but it was worth it. I really enjoyed Bly’s arc throughout these books! It was interesting to see Bly’s new relationship with Elise evolve, too. The group dynamic in this one was really serving, guys. BENEDICT coming out here and becoming a character I really liked??? I was flabbergasted but it happened. The whole gang just had really great interactions and I love that for them and for me.

The ending was action-packed and emotional, loved where most people ended up (except one, sad face), and I like that the door was left a little open for a return to this world. Because like I said, IM GONNA NEED THAT DONOVAN DEMELZA SPINOFF ASAP IM NOT JOKING AROUND

This sequel dives deep into the complicated bond between Bly and Kerrigan, where their shared history, filled with pain and betrayal, intensifies the tension. Their raw, unresolved feelings fuel a gripping emotional journey as they fight through treacherous quests and rekindle their connection. The world-building remains stellar, with the Hallow Pool’s eerie significance adding layers to the mythology. The quest for the mystical root becomes a personal journey for Bly and Kerrigan, not just about survival, but about rediscovering who they are in the wake of everything that’s torn them apart. Plus, that ending had me gasping out loud. 10/10, I couldn’t put it down.