Redeemed | by: P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

*This review likely contains spoilers for those who have not read the first eleven House of Night books. You've been warned.

Despite the fact that everyone seems to hate the House of Night series (I will never understand why people who hate a series continue to read and bash the books, but whatever), I LOVED these books. Go on, judge me; I don't care. The first three weren't the best, but from the fourth book on, I was really impressed. Very few series have been this fun to read. Redeemed is the twelfth and final book, and I must say I'm sad that Zoey Redbird's story has reached its end.  However, I found that Redeemed was quite satisfying. I flew right through it.

The end of the previous novel, Revealed, was a bit crazy, so right away it's apparent that Zoey really has to get her shit together before Neferet and Darkness take over the world. In order to restore balance, she must also be balanced, and she and her friends are running out of time. Once again the Cast women write through multiple narrations to tell the story, so Zoey's resolution isn't the only one to look forward to: Kalona and Aurox/Heath notably take the spotlight at times, and I must admit that the twists revolving around these two characters truly surprised me and had me gasping/OMG-ing. (Anyone catch the 'true love' thing at the end? Anybody?) We also get an interesting new relationship.

Even aside from all this, my favorite aspects of this series are found full force. The characters are humorous and continue their growth quite smoothly, and of course, the magick. I have always loved the spellcasting of the House of Night and how it relies on the elements and circle-casting; it's so interesting and fun! Granted Nyx's vampyres tend to get in on most of the action in this department, but it always made me happy to see the humans get involved in their own way, be it through Aphrodite's visions, Grandma Redbird's smudging, or the nuns' prayers. The House of Night series has always seemed to encourage spiritual unity, and it's quite prevalent in Redeemed.

The afterward/epilogue brings a sense of finality to a series full of chaos, and I thought it was lovely to check in on the Nerd Herd as adults in action and see how they made a difference among vampyre and human communities. I realize that a lot of people hated on this series so hard because the characters are so silly... but what does it matter? It's amusing, and furthermore, there are a lot of silly people in the world. As the Cast women enforce, it's about the purity of one's intentions and whether or not they intend to do good in the world. The House of Night series preaches love and forgiveness, hence the title of the last book being Redeemed, and I'll always hold it in high regard. This long series finished up well.

"Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again."

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

Burned by: P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

Burned opens darkly written, and well written at that. A thick, haunting, epic mood is among the first chapter - a beautiful introduction. This entire novel is dark, but since this is the first impression, it is given more recognition.


As we House of Night readers know, Zoey's soul has shattered. Since she is practically the most powerful High Priestess, this is a problem. She needs to be alive within her body to fight evil and Darkness in the name of Nyx. Together, her friends do all that they can to try to bring her back before it is too late.


The Cast women followed the trend they started in the previous House of Night novel, entitled Tempted, which they write about many of the charecters in third person in addition to Zoey's first person narration. Since Zoey's first person takes minimum space, the main focuses are around Stark on his quest to bring her back from the Otherworld, and Stevie Rae.


Stevie Rae is hiding a secret, and she must lie to all in order to protect that secret. As a matter of fact, she will do all that she can. She is the kindest being of all of them, trying to convert someone that knew only Darkness to Light. But that isn't easy, especially being so stressed out about Zoey and boy issues.


Love can be found in the strangest of places.


If I could tell P.C. and Kristin one thing, it would be "Wow." Because Burned is the best House of Night novel yet! Everything about it was superb, magical (well, in this case, magickal), and even a little bit meaningful. It amazes me to see how this series has evolved from something so simple, to something so majorly complex. I must include, on a more personal note, that I love how Stevie Rae is put more toward the spotlight, since she is my favorite charecter. She and Rephaim (my second favorite charecter) literately stressed me out! I was so nervous that I went crazy! I was talking to the book, telling Stevie what to do, how to act, etc. as I rocked back in forth on my bed and snapped at anyone who interrupted me. No book has made me feel that way since Twilight.


Well done, P.C. and Kristin, and thank you for entertaining me. Burned is now my favorite out of all seven of the current House of Night novels. I cannot wait for Awakened!

This is the very first book from this series that I've given this rating:

5/5 stars

The House of Night, Books 1-6 by: P.C Cast + Kristin Cast (Brief Reviews)

*Note from Critica: For whatever odd reason, this is the most popular post by far on this blog, and it is a terrible representation of my review style. So, check out my full-length reviews for the newest House of Night novels:

Burned by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast
Awakened by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

I started reading this book series around the time the fifth House of Night novel, Hunted, was first released. (I know, I got a late start.) I'm not very good at reviewing at critiquing after its been awhile since I've read the book, or saw the movie, etc. So, since the seventh installment in this series, Burned, is coming out soom I've decided to breifly post what I thought of the first six. Chances are, I'll put out a normal extended review of them individually after I reread them.

So, here goes.

Marked - I think the first thing that caught my attention was all of the humor from the leading charecter, Zoey. It was a rather pleasent reading expirience, but nothing too over the top, let alone too near the top. It wasn't bad, it wasn't good. But, it was good enough, or I liked it enough, to give this one a 3.5/5 star rating.

Betrayed - Better than the first, but not by a remarkable amount of betterness (is that a word?). What happens in the plot with Stevie Rae is what really made intrigued. But, though it's a bit better than its big sister book, Marked, I still give it the same rating. (3.5/5 stars)

Chosen - The worst book in the House of Night series, to my belief. I could not take Zoey seriously. Three boyfriends at once, Zoeybird, is indeed a problem. This whole story is a bit of an orginized mess. Everything works out somewhat okay in the end, but the middle just broods on and on about Zoey's boyfriend problem. Since it still managed to entertain me, which is what a book should do, but isn't exactly that wonderful, I gave it 3/5 stars.

Untamed - Great save! Brilliant save! Now, that's what I'm talking about! After Chosen, I was wondering if this one was going to bomb, but it ended up being my favorite of the series. The action starts right away and it ends in a great way, and I found what was going on to be much more interesting and more my thing. I enthusiastically grant Untamed 4.5/5 stars!

Hunted - The Cast women are really keeping it going. This one might have been as good as Untamed if they didn't keep remind us readers of everything that's happened 24/7. Excellent follow-up to Untamed, 4/5 stars.

Tempted - Three House of Night novels in a row that haven't recieved a rating lower than a four! The writers change things up a little with narration changes. Sometimes, like in the rest of this series, Zoey is narrating (first person). In Tempted, there is also third person narration, following multiple other charecters. 4/5 stars.