I've finished the third of the House of Night books — Chosen — by P.C. and Kristin Cast. This is going to be kind of a different review, mostly because I'm not completely sure how I feel about it.
From Amazon.com
"Dark forces are at work at the House of Night and fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird’s adventures at the school take a mysterious turn. Those who appear to be friends are turning out to be enemies. And oddly enough, sworn enemies are also turning into friends. So begins the gripping third installment of this “highly addictive series” (Romantic Times), in which Zoey’s mettle will be tested like never before. Her best friend, Stevie Rae, is undead and struggling to maintain a grip on her humanity. Zoey doesn’t have a clue how to help her, but she does know that anything she and Stevie Rae discover must be kept secret from everyone else at the House of Night, where trust has become a rare commodity. Speaking of rare: Zoey finds herself in the very unexpected and rare position of having three boyfriends. Mix a little bloodlust into the equation and the situation has the potential to spell social disaster. Just when it seems things couldn’t get any tougher, vampyres start turning up dead. Really dead. It looks like the People of Faith, and Zoey’s horrid step-father in particular, are tired of living side-by-side with vampyres. But, as Zoey and her friends so often find out, how things appear rarely reflects the truth…"
First of all, I was absolutely mortified and bored for the first 2/3rds of the book. Every page, it seemed, recounted what had happened in the first two books, Betrayed and Marked. While I understand why it's necessary, I think it was over done. The repetitive information, not only the vital information but the tidbits as well, was insufferable. My biggest problem with Zoey is that I cannot relate to her. She's gotten to be 'too' big of a person. People might argue that Harry is 'too' big a person, but because he's got such a humble attitude and great friends — it works. Zoey, however, in my opinion is a failure of a character. Her endless boyfriends and whore-ish actions (I mean, my God!) drive me to hate the character. How can one person have it all — one, two, three boyfriends (all of whom are amazingly attractive), affinities for one, two, three, four, five (all) the elements, visions blessed by Nyx, I mean the list just goes on. I think that characters need to be believable — and Zoey has hit the jack pots of all things unbelievable. How can one, seemingly normal, character get so lucky! I honestly feel bad for all her boy toys. Ridiculous! Another thing — she needs to stop kidding herself about being all innocent and what not — really! Read the book and you'll understand. Her inability to be decisive is maddening! At the end of the book — she gets what she deserves.
It may be a bit too quick in ordinary standards (the ending I mean), but because of her whorish actions she kind of deserves it to end quick. I know I sound like a heartless reviewer, I'm just extremely disappointed.
What did I like about the book?
Well — the ending was different, which is a nice change up from the previous two. I felt like the ending was justified — a bit harsh, but justified. The part about Blake and Neferet (don't worry I won't give anything away) is extremely gripping and exciting. I had to put the book down I was so excited — isn't that weird. When I get really excited about a book I have to put it down for a minute before I continue reading — anyone else?
Aphrodite is my new favorite character — I mean, wow. Her character is so developed, funny, and there's just a slight sense of... let's call it edginess... that keeps readers riveted.
And besides all my aparent problems with the book — I was still clutching the pages for the last third of the book. Gasping out loud, turning the page feverishly, even skimming the bulk of paragraphs because I just had to find out what was going to happen (I know that this is an awful habit, I usually have to go back to read because I've missed something — go figure).
So really, I have no idea what I think about this book or this series, for that matter. When reading them — they drive me crazy! Maddeningly crazy! But as soon as I've finished, I can't wait to pick up the next book — so they can't be all that bad can they? Or maybe it's just because they get good towards the end? I don't know. But I do know that I'm going to skip The Man Who Loved Jane Austen for Untamed. I should have known that I wasn't going to get anything read until after I finished the series.
So tell me, what do you think about the series? Are you running into the same frustrations that I am?
Here are my reviews for Marked and Betrayed.
*Alright, so I understand that this is a pretty 'rough' review. But you wanted honesty, right? And you have to know that the book is somewhat good if it's moved me to such an irritation!