Monday, June 27, 2011

The Drama Continues...

Source: Author Website
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.

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