 | Title: Awakened Author: P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast Series: House of Night #8 Cover Art: N/A Genre:Young Adult Source: Publisher Excerpt: Yes Reviewed by: Julia
 Non-graphic sex scenes involving teenagers (No birth control in sight, my YA pet-peeve)  Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying. |
Description
“My love, speak to me. Tell me everything.” Neferet went to Kalona, kneeling before him, stroking the soft, dark wings that unfurled loosely around the immortal.“What would you have me say?” He didn’t meet her eyes.
“Zoey lives.” Neferet’s voice was flat, cold, lifeless.
“She does.”
“Then you owe me the subservience of your immortal soul.” She started to walk away from him.
“Where are you going? What will happen next?”
“It is quite simple. I will ensure Zoey is drawn back to Oklahoma. There, on my own terms, I will complete the task you failed.”
Exonerated by the Vampyre High Council and returned to her position of High Priestess at Tulsa’s House of Night, Neferet has sworn vengeance on Zoey. Dominion over Kalona is only one of the weapons she plans to use against Z. But Zoey has found sanctuary on the Isle of Skye and is being groomed by Queen Sgiach to take over for her there. Being Queen would be cool, wouldn’t it? Why should she return to Tulsa? After losing her human consort, Heath, she will never be the same – and her relationship with her super-hot-warrior, Stark, may never be the same either…
And what about Stevie Rae and Rephaim? The Raven Mocker refuses to be used against Stevie Rae, but what choice does he have when no one in the entire world, including Zoey, would be okay with their relationship? Does he betray his father or his heart?
In the pulse-pounding 8th book in the bestselling House of Night series, how far will the bonds of friendship stretch and how strong are the ties that bind one girl’s heart?
Review
The House of Night series has always been filled with twists and turns, and AWAKENED doesn’t deviate from that score. Despite all that occurs, however, I felt that this book promises more than it delivers.For those not familiar with this series, all of them are written in a spare style that packs a lot of action into their pages. This can be both good and bad. I think it would be easy to jump into the series with AWAKENED, as the Casts pack a lot of recap into the narrative without bogging down the story. On the downside, I often wished there was more detail provided for the book’s current events. Sex, death, and betrayals happened with little consequence or reaction from the characters, and I never felt engaged enough to fill in the blanks myself.
Ultimately, I think it was just that dynamic that had me feeling let down at the end of AWAKENED. Looking back, a lot of fairly major events took place, and even more were hinted at for future books, but all of it was delivered in a style that was so quick and matter-of-fact it blew right past me. While there was way too much cavalier sex for me to recommend this as a Young Adult series (and way too little sexual detail for the grown-up Paranormal Romance crowd) it does make for a quick, enjoyable read for those who don’t mind the middle of the road.
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