A More or Less Satisfying Installment - Aside From Zoey's Mind-Numbing Boy Drama

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Hunted (House of Night #5) by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (St. Martin’s Press, 2009, 336pp.)

Having fled the House of Night after the dark angel Kalona takes over, Zoey and friends find themselves huddled in the red fledgling stronghold under Tulsa. A few days into their self-imposed exile, a skirmish with one of Kalona’s henchmen leaves Zoey severely wounded. Knowing that she will die without proper vampyric treatment, the gang has no choice but to return to campus. How will they survive Kalona’s reign of terror, especially since he holds the entire student body and faculty in thrall? The beginning chapters move at a somewhat sluggish pace, chronicling the goings-on at Zoey’s impromptu camp, as well as a few altercations between Heath (who joins forces with Zoey’s group) and Erik (now dating Zoey again). It’s only until the characters are forced to relocate to the House of Night that the action really starts. And of course, the Casts just can’t resist throwing in a good old-fashioned love quadrangle. Zoey once again finds herself juggling two other love interests in addition to her relationship with Erik. The first is with Stark, a fledgling with a Goddess-given talent for archery, and the second is with her ex-boyfriend, Heath, Zoey’s willing blood donor who butts heads with Erik constantly. As with the Erik/Heath/Loren subplot in Book 3, the Casts spare no one when it comes to teen melodrama. But aside from Zoey’s mind-numbing boy drama, Hunted is a more or less satisfying installment in the series.

Plot Develops, But Majority of Characters Don’t

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Untamed (House of Night #4) by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2008, 352pp.)

After the disastrous events that brought book three to a close, Zoey’s life is going a little better. She’s back on speaking terms with her friends, and Stevie Rae is back to her sweet old self. The gang is even starting to get along (sort of) with Aphrodite, Zoey’s surprising new ally. But as seen from the end of Chosen, danger is just beginning. Aphrodite has a vision that delivers a terrifying prophecy: a dark angel known as Kalona is predicted to rise after centuries of imprisonment and enslave woman-kind. What to do?! The mystery that builds around the legend of Kalona is what primarily drives the plot of this installment, and it’s definitely to the authors’ credit that the Cherokee-inspired mythos of the series just keeps getting better the deeper they delve into it. But Untamed, like the books before it, has its problems. With the exception of Aphrodite and Stevie Rae, Zoey’s circle of friends remain nothing more than a host of underdeveloped groupies. Rather than take the time to explore these characters, the Casts continue to treat them as props, relying on the same gags and trademark banter they’ve used as before: Damien wows the others with his extensive vocabulary, and his boyfriend, Jack, is so opaquely fey that it’s embarrassing. Not to mention joined-at-the-hip roomies Erin and Shaunee. What do we know about them? Well, we know that one girl is white, one girl is black, and they both love shopping for shoes. Oh, and they finish each other’s sentences. A lot. After such behavior for three (going on four) books, it’s surprising that they haven’t physically fused into one person. The verdict? The Casts continue to develop a series rich with intrigue and world-building details, but many of the characters leave much to be desired.

A Series That's Turning Out To Be As Addictive As Candy - And Just As Nutritious For Young, Impressionable Minds

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Chosen (House of Night #3) by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2008, 320pp.)

In Chosen, the third installment in the “House of Night” series, Zoey Redbird tries to help her best friend, Stevie Rae (who has recently become “undead,” for a lack of a better word), return to her lovely old self. Her attempts to restore her friend’s humanity at whatever cost is very sweet, engaging, and makes for a good story. Unfortunately, the quality of the novel as a whole is off-set by the other accompanying story-lines, including a somewhat questionable subplot involving Zoey and her three love interests: Erik Night, her “official” boyfriend; Heath, her human ex who’s still in love with her; and Loren, a handsome professor who takes a not-so-scholarly interest in her. Like its predecessors, Chosen is a book buoyed with a few good ideas, but is made lopsided by the weight of its flaws. It sometimes resorts to stereotypes, and very often chooses the melodramatic over the realistic. Christians, here, are portrayed as little more than narrow-minded idiots. When Zoey’s fundamentalist mother and stepfather make their first, and only, appearance in the story, they start spouting Bible verses and fire-and-brimstone rhetoric like there’s no tomorrow. Zoey, meanwhile, is allowed to stand by feeling smug, secure in the knowledge that she is light-years ahead of them with her hip New Age beliefs. The Casts also show little to no dexterity in handling the matter of Zoey’s love life. The traditional “torn between two” plot device is a little threadbare, but at least plausible. The fact that Zoey is being courted not only by two guy friends, but also one of her professors, is ridiculous. The fact that she ends up giving her virginity to one of these love interests, and then later walks in on him gloating about his conquest with her worst enemy—while they’re in bed together—leads one to suspect that the authors have never encountered the concept of subtlety before, either.

I have surely voiced enough complaints to turn some readers away from the series. However—despite its numerous flaws, predictable Mary Sue elements, and teen melodrama, the “House of Night” series has a tendency to grow on you. This is due mostly in part to two characters who truly stand out from the rest: Stevie Rae and Aphrodite. Stevie Rae, a sensitive, cowboy boot-wearing teen with a tender heart (she cries during Lifetime movies), she’s really the ideal best friend any adolescent girl could ask for. Aphrodite, on the other hand, Zoey’s Queen Bee adversary, is evolving from the flat villainess seen in Book 1 into an interesting, out-spoken young woman with more beneath the surface than previously suspected. So, thanks to a combination of limited POV narration (to maintain mystery and suspense), a well-developed (if not exactly mind-blowing) fantasy world, and some surprisingly memorable characters, the cliff-hanger ending of Chosen will have interested readers springing for the next volume. So, to those interested in pursuing the series further, more power to you. It’s not an outstanding series, but it certainly is turning out to be almost as addictive as candy - and just as nutritious for young, impressionable minds. Recommended for Ages 16-18 for language and brief sexual content.

The Drama Continues...

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Betrayed (House of Night #2) by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2009, 320pp.)

In this second volume of the “House of Night” series, Zoey Redbird’s life has finally taken a turn for the better. She’s doing well in school, has lots of new friends, and can rest easy with the comfort that Neferet, the school’s headmistress, is there to be a second mother to her whenever she needs it. But good times never last, do they? The death knell of her happiness comes when human teenagers from her old high school start turning up dead. In addition to this, one of her friends dies when her body rejects the Change. Then another shows a surprising change of allegiance, and Zoey’s love life gets really, really complicated. The “betrayal” that gives this installment its name is an surprising twist that guarantees the reader’s continuing interest in the series, but it happens a little too quickly. There is not enough subtlety in the pacing of events to allow one to feel satisfied (in other words, there’s no ah ha! moment). As for the love triangle (or is it quadrangle?), only one of the three possible romances holds any dimension. Zoey already has an “official” boyfriend at school (classmate Erik), but now she has to contend with mixed feelings for her dopey yet faithful human ex, Heath, and the undeniable physical chemistry she feels with Loren, House of Night’s deeply romantic poet laureate. Of the three, her relationship with Heath is the one that rings truest. Not only do these two have a long history together (they were childhood sweethearts), Heath is also one of the few people from her human life that continues to show her love and support, despite the uncomfortable fact that she’s now a vampyre. Her romance with Erik, meanwhile, feels a little flat, and the sexual tension that springs up whenever the poet laureate enters the room is hard to take seriously. Recommended for Ages 16-18.

Nothing New Here

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Marked (House of Night #1) by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007, 320pp.)

“Zoey Montgomery! Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee; hearken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night!”

Imagine a world where monsters are an accepted reality. Imagine, too, that in this world, children undergo an alarming change. No longer are they the sweet-tempered cherubs you have come to treasure, but dark, brooding creatures that wreak havoc in the lives of others and have the habit of sleeping during the day. What are they? No, not teenagers (though you’re not far from the mark if that was your guess): vampires. Welcome to the world of Zoey Redbird, a place not so different from our own: bullies pick on nerds, parents and children fail to understand each other, and the high school “in” crowd takes particular joy in excluding outsiders from social activities. The only notable difference is that the word “vampires” is spelled with a “y,” and teenagers have the nasty habit of turning into these bloodsucking creatures without warning. This “Change,” occurring only during adolescence, is caused by a confusing mix of mutant DNA and hormones. When Zoey comes down with a particularly bad case of it, her horrified family and friends turn on her. She takes refuge at the House of Night, an exclusive boarding school for vampyres, where she makes a friends, enemies, and a name for herself.

Unfortunately, her story isn’t a very remarkable one. It borrows elements from a number of successful fantasy sagas, and more or less reads like an American Harry Potter: lonely, friendless protagonist discovers that s/he has magical powers and gets to attend a school for magic where students wear elaborately designed school uniforms. To the protagonist’s surprise, s/he turns out to have an outstanding talent for magic, despite the fact that s/he has had no formal training. In addition, the protagonist acquires, upon immediate arrival, an arrogant, blond-haired nemesis with inappropriate levels of hostility towards non-magic users. To top this all off, Zoey has a “mark” on her forehead, a crescent moon-shaped tattoo indicative of the Change. So: is this just another exercise in teenage wish-fulfillment? You bet. But like the countless other offerings in the YA vampire romance genre, it serves as a sufficient mode of escapism. Why else should we read, if not to escape reality?

However, a word of warning: although this novel will doubtless appeal to the legions of readers suffering from post-bestselling-fantasy-saga syndrome, this series is more appropriate for the Ages 16-18 bracket. Aside from its frequent use of strong language and sexual references (we first meet Zoey’s chief rival, Aphrodite, in a public hallway trying to force her ex-boyfriend to accept a sexual favor), the novel’s themes will be better appreciated by those about to graduate from high school. The change of scene from the human world to the House of Night mirrors the what an average teen experiences during the transition from high school, where loneliness and uncertainties abound, to college, where most outcasts finally find their “niche.” Marked, the first book in the House of Night series, will appeal to any teen who has ever found themselves bored, friendless, or lonely, and transports them from this mundane world of ours into a land of night where good friends abound, rivals are two-dimensional and unworthy of your presence, and hot vampyre guys have eyes only for you.