Samara Abigail Hunt
Author of Burn the Dark
About the Author
Image credit: http://www.sahuntbooks.com/
Series
Works by Samara Abigail Hunt
The Fear Suit 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Hunt, Samara Abigail
- Legal name
- Hunt, Samuel Adam
- Birthdate
- 1981-08-26
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- author
illustrator
soldier
plumber
carpenter
retail sales manager - Organizations
- United States Army, Military Police
National Creative Society
United States Army, Transportation - Awards and honors
- Mentor Status in National Creative Society, 1998
Stabby Award Reddit.com's /r/Fantasy "Independent Novel of the Year", 2014 - Short biography
- Samara Abigail Hunt is the Georgia-born author of the Amazon Top 10 Horror Malus Domestica series, and the Outlaw King fantasy series, winner of Reddit.com's /r/Fantasy "Independent Novel of the Year" 2014 Stabby Award. She is also a "Mentor of Poetry, Prose, & Performance" with the National Creative Society.
In 2005 she joined the Army and after an ill-advised stint in the military police (ACAB), she went back to school to be a transportation coordinator in order to deploy to Afghanistan.
Stationed in Camp Arena, Herat, Samara was promoted to Specialist and placed in a Lieutenant position in a joint Italian-Spanish command room, where she coordinated and recorded hundreds of convoys and outreach missions into far-flung parts of RC West, the western quadrant of the Afghanistan theater. She was awarded a Joint Services Achievement Medal for her efforts.
She currently lives in Petoskey, Michigan. - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Rome, Georgia, USA
- Places of residence
- Georgia, USA
Florida, USA
Alaska, USA
Kentucky, USA
Herat, Afghanistan
Kabul, Afghanistan - Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
I have two issues with Burn the Dark that prevented me from wholeheartedly loving it. The first is that it feels like S. A. Hunt took the story and arbitrarily cut it in half so that there would be a sequel. An abrupt ending is one thing, but the lack of answers to any questions irks me. Even the first book in a series deserves some answers. As for the ending, it does not even qualify as a cliffhanger. To me, it feels as if the author and editors decided that this paragraph would be a good show more spot to end the book, and so they did. There is no natural denouement, nor is there a climax. From a structural perspective, the entire novel is one big introduction.
The other issue I have with Burn the Dark is the fact that I don’t know if I buy into witches as baddies. Hunt never fully explains why they are evil, other than some weird shit about them draining the positive life force of the area in which they live. Readers do not get an explanation of what powers and their limitations witches have. We don’t even get an explanation for what happened to Robin’s mother. We receive many inferences but no hard facts. Given that we find out one of Robin’s assumptions is incorrect, it stands to reason that we are missing key facts about her mother’s death. This worries me as this is the impetus for the entire story.
In spite of those issues, the story is interesting. Described as a Sabrina and Stranger Things mash-up, it has a buddy story feel to it with all the darkness of both series. There is a small group of young kids and a small group of adults who are the only ones who know who understands the threat the witches bring. The characters are fun even if superficial. The story moves quickly and is engaging enough to keep you reading. I don’t know if I enjoyed it enough to read the sequel, but this first book served the purpose of distraction and entertainment. show less
The other issue I have with Burn the Dark is the fact that I don’t know if I buy into witches as baddies. Hunt never fully explains why they are evil, other than some weird shit about them draining the positive life force of the area in which they live. Readers do not get an explanation of what powers and their limitations witches have. We don’t even get an explanation for what happened to Robin’s mother. We receive many inferences but no hard facts. Given that we find out one of Robin’s assumptions is incorrect, it stands to reason that we are missing key facts about her mother’s death. This worries me as this is the impetus for the entire story.
In spite of those issues, the story is interesting. Described as a Sabrina and Stranger Things mash-up, it has a buddy story feel to it with all the darkness of both series. There is a small group of young kids and a small group of adults who are the only ones who know who understands the threat the witches bring. The characters are fun even if superficial. The story moves quickly and is engaging enough to keep you reading. I don’t know if I enjoyed it enough to read the sequel, but this first book served the purpose of distraction and entertainment. show less
Originally seen on
Emily Reads Everything
This novel is the most unique book I have read in years.
Books are filled with familiar stories. There are some stories that come around so often, we have a name for them; tropes. When we read, we look for these tropes. We expect them. We have our favorites and the ones that we dislike. Bloggers write up long diatribes about their favorites or their most hated tropes. Tropes aren't necessarily bad or good, they just are. Malus Domestica completely show more blows every known trope out of the water. Trust me, you have never read a book like this before.
This book defies genre. I really want to say that it's Urban Fantasy. It's a girl fighting witches. That seems like a slam dunk. However, there is so much more to it. This book is DARK. If you love Leigh Bardugo or V.E. Schwab, then you have a slight idea of what you are in for with this book. I absolutely love a book with high stakes, where I'm not sure the main character will survive. This book could also be termed as horror. It's scary. Witches are scary. Reading this book there were several moments I had to put the book down and remind myself that I was safe in my bed, that everything was fine and I was safe. That way I could plunge back into reading and worry about Robin, Joel or Kenway.
It's hard for me to decide who is my favorite character. Robin is so kickass. She's a mohawk sporting, panel van driving, witch hunting, youtube star. Her draw is in her personality and her abilities rather than her physical beauty. She's prickly and distrustful and I wish I could be her best friend. Kenway is an artist. He's sweet and loving and the heart of the story. He's all the emotion that Robin never shows. He's also fiercely protective with the training to back it up. If a book that some categorize as a horror novel can also be a love story, this one manages it gracefully.
Malus Domestica is a terrifying paranormal romance. It's a beautiful horror story. It's totally different and you will love it.
I will never look at cats the same way again. show less
Emily Reads Everything
This novel is the most unique book I have read in years.
Books are filled with familiar stories. There are some stories that come around so often, we have a name for them; tropes. When we read, we look for these tropes. We expect them. We have our favorites and the ones that we dislike. Bloggers write up long diatribes about their favorites or their most hated tropes. Tropes aren't necessarily bad or good, they just are. Malus Domestica completely show more blows every known trope out of the water. Trust me, you have never read a book like this before.
This book defies genre. I really want to say that it's Urban Fantasy. It's a girl fighting witches. That seems like a slam dunk. However, there is so much more to it. This book is DARK. If you love Leigh Bardugo or V.E. Schwab, then you have a slight idea of what you are in for with this book. I absolutely love a book with high stakes, where I'm not sure the main character will survive. This book could also be termed as horror. It's scary. Witches are scary. Reading this book there were several moments I had to put the book down and remind myself that I was safe in my bed, that everything was fine and I was safe. That way I could plunge back into reading and worry about Robin, Joel or Kenway.
It's hard for me to decide who is my favorite character. Robin is so kickass. She's a mohawk sporting, panel van driving, witch hunting, youtube star. Her draw is in her personality and her abilities rather than her physical beauty. She's prickly and distrustful and I wish I could be her best friend. Kenway is an artist. He's sweet and loving and the heart of the story. He's all the emotion that Robin never shows. He's also fiercely protective with the training to back it up. If a book that some categorize as a horror novel can also be a love story, this one manages it gracefully.
Malus Domestica is a terrifying paranormal romance. It's a beautiful horror story. It's totally different and you will love it.
I will never look at cats the same way again. show less
This book has been described as a Love Letter to Stephen King's Dark Tower series and it deserves every bit of that high praise. Its engaging, descriptive, and powerful. The story is complicated, moving and beautiful with twists and surprises that I never saw coming. I don't often give 5 star reviews because those are books that stay with me; books that leave me wanting more; books that I reread for years to come. This is a 5 star book in every way imaginable.
High creep factor, very diverse characters, really nasty baddies with hints of Twin Peaks and American Gods. Left me hanging big time, so I hope the next book comes quickly.
Lists
LGBTQIA Horror (1)
You May Also Like
Statistics
- Works
- 13
- Members
- 358
- Popularity
- #66,977
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 22
- ISBNs
- 19
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 1
