#hunter trials

[queeranarchist]

I can't believe we went from the teeniest cross poles to completing our first 80cm Hunter Trials in less than three months. We've got a lot of stuff we still need to practice but I'm blown away by how quick he's picked up on things

[akingdomofhorses]

24/ ♛ Stunning Cleveland Bays

Pembridge Justice, 2010 Stallion

[horsep0rn]

Class 4 - Open. by Dave

not sure why but i really like the look of this horse -- such a fun face.

[horsep0rn]

Class 3 - Novice. by Dave

oops! 

[horsep0rn]

Class 3 - Novice. by Dave

[lucky13-452]

When Mercy Helsing is convicted and sent to an Immortal prison deep in the Arctic Circle, she doesn't expect to survive longer than a day. Thrown into the depths of the icy fortress, she's forced to fight for her life again and again in terrifying trials. But Dødstårn is nothing like she expected, and she soon finds unlikely friends amongst the fierce convicts. And the man she entered the prison with has her back in every test she faces. But when girls start being murdered in the prison, Mercy has to work fast to figure out who her enemies are. Before the killer turns their attention to her...

Goodreads

Note: I received this book from the author and I voluntarily give this review, it is my honest opinion.

Hunter Trials is the seventh book in the V Games series and the first in a trilogy that has the story told from Mercy Helsings' pov. The last we seen Mercy, she was taken by the Watchers, who are a sort of supernatural police, to be sentenced for her crimes against her (horrible) family. Mercy and Colt are sentenced to Dødstårn, which is a prison for supernaturals.

This book was really good, I loved every minute of it. The book totally kept my attention because this book was not what I thought it would be, it was amazingly unexpected. For some reason it has a totally different feel from the other books, I don't know if it's because it's set in a supernatural prison or if it's the shit-ton of new people that we get to know or the fact that we get the pov of Mercy but Colt, Rockley Jones son as well as a few others. Either way the feel does remind me of V Games but like a brand new spin on it and I loved it.

Mercy is a really interesting character when I first met her in V Games, Mercy seemed spoiled and a little entitled. Then as the series go on I got to see what her life was really like and how abusive her family was to her and how she grew up. All those things started to change my feelings of "ugh can't stand her" to "I feel so sorry for her". Also during those book Mercy started to see herself and her world differently, she started to realize how truly horrifying things were, she was in the beginning stages of change. Now in Hunter Trials Mercy has become a new person, she consciously evaluate her actions and she truly starts to become a better person and I actually like her now. She has a lot of struggles in this book that she is over coming, she becoming stronger and she is a smartass and all of that in a character appeals to me.

Then there is Colt, Rockley Jones son. I can't stand Rockley and therefore I had little hopes for Colt. Even in the previous books when Colt seem to be riding the line between right and wrong it wasn't until almost the very end of Severed Fates that I started to feel maybe her wasn't like his father Rockley, who would scare the Devil. Now in Hunter Trials I see things from Colt's pov and I learn of his past which explains somethings but this man is still a mystery and I will have to wait to see how I really feel about him. One thing for sure I like is for some unknown reason he helps Mercy so he is at least starting with one point on the good side.

Hawke is the leader of the Nox clan in Dødstårn and he has quite a role in the story. I will admit that I like Hawke from the very beginning, he seem like a good guy, well as good as you can be in a prison. Hawke is strong, fair, nice and seemed to care about his people. He and Mercy have a complicated relationship and I did like them together but after some events that happened towards the end I am on the fence about him. I did enjoy his character and I am hoping I get to read from his pov in the next book.

The trials were interesting they reminded me of the games played in the previous books but what really held my attention was the mystery. I mean people are being murdered and I know what your thinking that it's a prison people die but this is different. Dødstårn has order and people die during contest not just being flat-out murdered. I loved that new aspect of the book, taking in the clues and figuring out what would happen next. Caroline did a really good job with the storyline, making Mercy's book feel like a new series but also still making it apart of the V Games series as a whole.

The Hunter Trials was really good and had everything you would expect from a V Games novel, there was trials, danger, a little romance, mystery and really good plot twists. With multiple povs, the books connecting at certain points, seeing new faces and hearing from old ones, Hunter Trials was a fun read. The ending landed on a sort of cliffhanger and I really excited to see how this all turns out, I do have a theory about something and I can't wait to see if I am right. I am ready for Into the Dark, are you?

Overall 4 stars

[griffinequestrian]

SPS Belinda in the Fox Pen Cup Hunter Hack at the Southcreek Foxhunters Hunter Trials.

[griffinequestrian]

SPS Belinda coming in a field hunter under saddle class at the Southcreek Foxhunt Hunter Trials.