Hunter

Mercedes Lackey's books are always about the most super special person among special people. Joyeaux is certainly no exception. She's also a bit bland. She's your average highly trained fighter with little interest in fashion and empathy for the common man. She says “Wait what?” a lot because I guess that's how teenagers talk now.

The other thing Mercedes Lackey is big on is world building and Hunter has that in spades. The first 15-20% of the book is especially dense with annoying details. It gets a lot better after that but you may want to skim or even skip ahead. The only thing of import that happens during that section will be referred back to enough that you're not really missing out.

The hunters fight mythological monsters for the protection and entertainment of civilians. You've got that Hunger Games PR idea but Joy is able to watch the coverage and respond as needed. If you're into mythology, it's fun to identify what they're hunting, sometimes before the hunters do. But Joy having to describe some to the seasoned hunters (because she's so special) gets really old.

I hated the love interest. But at least there's no love triangle. The best friends are okay. The rival is cookie cutter. Nobody else gets much development.

Warning: Modern religions are mentioned and Christianity does not fare well in this dystopia.