Wow, two reviews in two days. Wow — I'm on a roll. So after my pretty negative review of Chosen (book three in the House of Night series), I am happy to say that Untamed is my favorite book in the series (so far)! I just loved it and ate it up in three sittings.
From Amazon.com...
"Life sucks when your friends are pissed at you. Just ask Zoey Redbird – she’s become an expert on suckiness. In one week she has gone from having three boyfriends to having none, and from having a close group of friends who trusted and supported her, to being an outcast. Speaking of friends, the only two Zoey has left are undead and unMarked. And Neferet has declared war on humans, which Zoey knows in her heart is wrong. But will anyone listen to her? Zoey's adventures at vampyre finishing school take a wild and dangerous turn as loyalties are tested, shocking true intentions come to light, and an ancient evil is awakened in PC and Kristin Cast's spellbinding fourth House of Night novel."
Wow, this book really was amazing. It grabbed my attention right away (and obviously kept it) — I really could not put it down. I think what made this book so much better than the first three books (Chosen, Betrayed, and Marked) was that I could finally begin to relate to Zoey. Her friends were mad at her, she had betrayed her 'boyfriends', she felt alone and afraid — these are all things that I, as a reader, can relate too. Another reason I think that Untamed was so much more captivating than the first three books is that, as a reader, I wasn't completely sure that Zoey could defeat evil this time. I obviously knew that she had to since there were two other books out there, but I didn't know how she was going to; the evil just felt a little too big for her to defeat it. So it was extremely captivating to read how she was going to go about doing it.
Again, the ending was different — which is good. The ending was — really, just wow. I mean, it ended perfectly, just enough to make me want to pick up the fifth book right away. Thank goodness the fifth book, Hunted, is already out as of March 2009. I am worried that I am going to finish Hunted and it's going to be an intense wait for October for the sixth book to be released. But I mean, wow! This book was really just — wow!
Also, I think I liked this book a lot better because it wasn't all about the boys and relationships — although they were present, it wasn't such a central focus like in Chosen. Zoey was also making better choices, more mature and less egotistical choices.
Like the last couple reviews in regards to this series — Aphrodite has quickly become my favorite character in the book. She's just a hoot to listen to and I love to learn about her. I mean — wow!
What did I not like about this book (every review has to have this bit, right?) — I suppose, if I had to pick something, I'd have to say the 'relationship' between Stark and Zoey. It just bothers me that they knew each other for all of five seconds and were already in love — or whatever. Also, in regards to Stark's ability — it could have been explained better. I know it was done to add mystery or suspense or whatever — but it was really vague (too vague) and that annoys me. But really, that's it.
Wow, again, wow! I know my reviews have been, let's say less than mediocre, for the first three novels, but if for no other reason than to get to Untamed, I'd recommend you read them. I mean, wow! I'm very excited to start Hunted, and again — The Man Who Loved Jane Austen will have to wait another day.
Here are my reviews for Marked, Betrayed, and Chosen.