Found Not Lost

At the end of book 3 in the House of Night Series, Zoey Redbird has totally messed up and pissed off all her friends and all her boyfriends. Yes, you heard right, all her boyfriends. She had three. Except that one died so really, only two boyfriends are mad at her. That’s still way too many boyfriends mad at you if you ask me. But, that’s how Zoey’s life is. Like it’s not complicated enough being a fledgling vampire who happens to be extraordinarily gifted and trying to fit in to a new school.

Untamed is the fourth book in the House of Night series by the mother/daughter team of authors, P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast about the House of Night which is a school for young vampires. The main character is Zoey Redbird who first becomes Marked as a vampire in the first book and so had to leave her human family and friends to go to the House of Night. Since she’s moved to the school, Zoey has had one paranormal adventure after another all the while still dealing with teenage issues that plague all teens, vampire or not.

This is the book I took with me to California last week. It was an easy read and interesting enough to keep me going. If you’d like to learn more about the House of Night series, check out our previous posts on the earlier books:
The Chosen
Betrayed
Marked

You may also be interested in learning more about the series straight from the authors:

Watch a video of the authors talking about the series and Untamed.

My daughter and I couldn’t wait for this third installment of the House of Night series by P.C. Cast and daughter Kristin Cast. We both enjoyed reading the book, but it left us hanging and sort of unsatisfied. It wasn’t long enough, too many plots left unfinished… So we’re hanging until the next book, Untamed.

“..darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good”

This has been cautionary words of wisdom, since the beginning. The book, it’s story line and the sub plots have all pointed to this truth that things are not always as they seem or what you think they should be.

In this third book, Zoey is still dealing with her best friend Stevie Ray being undead as she tries to find ways to get her friend back the way she was. She also has to deal with another death at the school, this time around one of the professors die. She is still juggling three romantic interests; and while my daughter thinks she was being totally stupid in her choices, I think she is just being a typical teenager. She also has to make a mature choice in working with her former enemy, who may turn out to not have been an enemy after all.

There are certainly enough subplots in this book to keep you engrossed. I read this in one sitting, practically, and was left wanting for more.

This weekend, I finished the second book in the House of Night series, Betrayed by the mother/daughter team P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.

In the first book, Marked, we are introduced to a world where vampires always existed in the human world. Vampires don’t get ‘turned’ but rather they are ‘changed’. They start out as humans who are chosen by a tracker (it hasn’t been explained yet how people get chosen) and marked by a symbol on their forehead, signifying their new status as fledgeing vampires. From the time they are ‘marked’ they then have a day to get to the vampire school, the House of Night, to start learning how to be a vampire and where their physical transformation can be monitored by adult vampires.

Zoey Redbird is a sort of a prodigy fledgling, having been chosen by the vampire goddess Nyx to be her eyes and ears, gifted with multiple affinities, previously unheard of among fledgling vampires, which gives her an advantage over all the other vampires. These affinities and the obvious favor of the goddess makes her a candidate for high priestess.

In this second book, Zoey has finally settled into school and has made great friends. She is torn between three guys vying for her favors; yes, Heath is still in the picture. Worse, he and Zoey have imprinted on each other thanks to a super hot make out session. In the meantime, she is still with her vampire boyfriend Eric but also enamored with a young part-time teacher, Loren. All of this happen amidst the turmoil of humans, most of them previously connected to Zoey, started disappearing and being found dead later. The first suspects are vampires.

Zoey, in this book finally finds her footing, so to speak, and is slowly growing into the blessings she has received. Her journey is not smooth though, not only does she have to deal with the usual teenage growing pains, she also an suffers incredible loss, and as the title implies, betrayal. With her loyal friends beside her and supporting her, she slowly comes in to herself as she learns to harness the power she was gifted with.

This was a good book, overall. Engrossing. But now I have to wait a few weeks before the next book comes out. The next book, Chosen, will be out on March 4th.

Marked is another book borrowed from my daughter and her friends who are right now into vampyre books, so I guess I am too. I must admit though, that so far, I have been enjoying all the books they’ve let me borrow. This is another easy read, partly because it is short, just a little over 300 pages and mostly because you get hooked from the beginning and can’t put it down. Again, this book was devoured in one sitting.

This book is written by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, a mother-daughter team of authors. How great is that?

The formula for the story reminds me a little of the Harry Potter series. In Marked, vampires exist among humans and it is generally known and accepted. Once in a while, a human becomes ‘marked’, they are located by the tracker who then marks their forehead with a crest or a half moon. This means they have been marked to become a vampire and they must go to vampire school in order to be trained. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? No matter though, it is still an interesting premise and it is still full of all the teenage issues like cliques and insecurities only a bit of magic and vampyrism is thrown in the mix.

I won’t summarize the story for you here (I never do), there is plenty of them out there including at Amazon if you’d like a synopsis. Amazon! They are a vampire tribe too. hehe!! You’ll have to read the book to see what I’m talking about.

Marked is first in the House of Night series, so be prepared to read on. It was also interesting to note that P.C. Cast has a blog on Blogger.