Monster Hunter Guardian

I love the MHI universe and am happy to have another opportunity to enjoy it, but the tone of this book is very different from the others in the series. It could be because its the first book written from a female characters POV, the addition of Sarah Hoyt, or the narration of Bailey Carr, but I find the MC to be whiny and annoying. Maybe it says something about my own subconscious bias or an inability to relate to a female MC, although I’ve never had a problem with any of the female characters. Bottom line, while I liked the majority of the plot well enough, if this were the first book in the series I would never have picked up book 2.

Julie was a whole lot more likeable until you gave her an inner monologue. I have never had to push through one of your books. This one I couldn’t skim through fast enough. Get the gang back together, or something. That last book sucked. No offence. Is that what happened? You had a female writer come in and screw it all up for your fans? I am a chick and couldn’t handle the self diatribe. I don’t even like Julie anymore and she was one of favorits.

Fair to middling. More like Blade/Underworld meets Home Alone II, but from the mother’s perspective.

Quite obvious where Correia left off and Hoyt took it up:

Main character, Julie, started off as the hyper-competent Monster Hunter / CEO-in-all-but-name, a character with many facets and shades, that we all know.

40% into the book, her internal monologue shifted into nothing but
#omgmybaby #mustgetbabyback #whateverittakes. This was disappointing given the richness and depth in the characters that I’ve come to expect from this series, and cripples the book given its first-person narrative.

Side characters were also unfortunately stereotypical; anal-retentive Germans, insanely touchy yet incompetent Portuguese, obese Americans in Hawaiian shirts, behind-the-scenes sugar daddy dragon providing everything from jets to suave lawyers to sports glasses.

Verbiage could use tightening up; i.e. “the bullet came ‘out of nowhere’ and obliterated his skull…”

The story was ok. Larry Correia clearly did not have much to do with it. Probably just gave a outline to keep continuity. I have read everything the he has written. I’m a huge fan. The MHI books with John Ringo were great. This is nothing like those. Hoyt doesn’t really fit for this series. Her and Larry’s style are not compatible. Julie Shackleford is a resourceful, intelligent badass. Hoyt’s version of Julie came across weak and emotional. More like a sixteen year old girl dealing with her first real adversity in life. Very annoying and did a disservice to all the books before hers that established Julie’s character. I bought the audible version as I always do and the narrator was horrible as well. If Hoyt or the narrator Carr are on any of the future iterations then my time in the MHI world is done. Love Larry and his books but this wasn’t fair to his die hard fans who spend a lot of time and money listening and reading his work.

I really enjoy the MHI series but Guardian fell a little short of the mark. (Spoiler Alert) Julie Shackleford ‘s son Ray is stolen and of course Julie must go after him. The story is told from Julie’s point of view, and even though most people would be distressed about losing their child, Julie reminds us ad nausium how much she misses her chubby little son. I just don’t remember Julie being this whiney.
Guardian is not a train wreck. There is the usual action and plot twists we’ve all come to love, just not at the level we’re used to.

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