Awakened | by: P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

*Since this is the eighth book in the House of Night series, I cannot garuntee that there will be absolutely no spoilers. The more of the previous books you've read, the less spoilers you will encounter.

Just two years ago I fell in love with this mother/daughter duo's House of Night book series, and it's amazing to see how this story grows and evolves so much.

Zoey and Stark remain within the Isle of Skye, recovering from their life-altering journey which we read all about in the previous novel, Burned. But will they ever really get a break? Chaos still rages at Tulsa's House of Night, especially since Neferet has returned. She seeks to destroy Zoey, and Zoey's friends at the House of Night are not the least bit fooled otherwise.

Told through multiple narrations, different stories and different sides are seen clearly, helping us to truly understand what's going on. Espeically with Rephaim and Stevie Rae. Can Stevie Rae convince Rephaim to leave the side of Darkness for the Light? And besides, Stevie Rae doesn't want to lie to her friends as she hides her secret anymore.

I. Love. This. Series! (Thank you, Grandma, for buying me the first four books for Christmas!) I have nothing bad to say about Awakened because it was so awesome!

Throughout my Burned review I mentioned that I'm so amazed by how this series has evolved so much. Honestly, I think it has a lot to do with the multiple narrations. Now, we get to hear the antagonists' point of view and what they go through (like what Kalona truly thinks of Neferet), as well as other protagonists like Stevie Rae. Speaking of Stevie Rae, I remain utterly captivated by her story and how it is completely intertwined with Rephaim. The situation may be kind of messy, but still, sort of beautiful. I loved every aspect of Awakened, but their story made me the most nervous.

Also, Zoey has grown a lot since the first book. Zoey tries so hard to be a great High Priestess and has emerged as a strong leader. It drives me absolutely crazy that Neferet is such an idiot and tries to make her look bad.

Out of all the House of Night novels, Awakened is the most moving. I teared up about five times while reading this, and almost cried. Everyone goes through a lot or has been through a lot, and their Goddess of Night, Nyx, is always enforcing the most important law of life, that love is always the best choice. "Always love." I seem to like Nyx more and more nowadays. Keeps me close to my own religion.

Of course, there's plenty going on for the duration of the entire novel. I can promise that you won't get bored and find yourself unable to put the book down. The twists at the end actually left me gasping, and the cliffhanger really isn't helping my House of Night Anxiety right now. Well, I guess it's some degree of a satisfying cliffhanger, if there's ever such a thing. I guess it could be worse. Anyway, I'm so excited for Destined. I look at P.C. Cast's blog often, and I can assure you she's working very hard on it.

Awakened is a wonderful installment, and I didn't expect it to be this good since the previous novel was so wonderful. It's an action packed novel that'll touch your heart.

"Always love."

5/5 Stars


Cast, P.C. and Cast, Kristin. Awakened
New York: St. Martin's Press
2011