Showing posts with label series: house of night. Show all posts
Showing posts with label series: house of night. Show all posts
February 2, 2015
House of Night 12: Redeemed
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Wow, I'm really surprised this series lasted as long as it did. It's felt disjointed, redundant, and dragging for awhile now. Of course while Zoey was out of control with the seer stone, she was not in fact responsible for the park deaths. Neferet has proven that she feeds on death and is more than a little blood thirsty as a result. The good part of this is that it clears Zoey and gets the House of Night working with the Tulsa police. The bad is that it certainly still doesn't do anything to stop Neferet.
Of any of the characters, Kalona was the most interesting this time around. As hard as the book was to read, I was glad I had already finished Kalona's Fall before reading this as it made several things add up a lot easier than it would with the holes in the story otherwise. Nice symbolism with his wings turning back to moonlight again at the end there too. I like the idea of him finally learning the ultimate lesson and being allowed to return to Nyx and Erebus. Of the entire book, it's the "afterword" where we get to see the brothers truly be brothers and the Otherworld at peace that I enjoyed most of all.
Still can't help but feel a little bad for Aurox, though it does seem things got better for him in the end - also shown symbolically by the color change in his bull's form horns from white to black. I did always think that was a little backwards as typically "light" is considered white and "dark" is considered black, but here it's the reverse.
Overall I'm just glad the series is over. I can say I finished it and have no linger curiosity no matter how disenchanted I was at the end. I'm glad for that much at least.
View all my reviews
House of Night Novella 4: Kalona's Fall
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Obviously, this book failed miserably at keeping my attention. So much so that I completely put it aside while I got sucked into re-reading two other series before picking it back up. By that time, it had been so long that I started over from the beginning rather than trying to remember what I had read up to that point.
This book doesn't read like even a novella, but rather a collection of several short stories. The theme is all the same as they follow Nyx through Kalona and Erebus's creation and trials. As with the normal series, the point of view tends to shift often, which makes the story even more disjointed. On top of this, it's already segmented rather drastically within the book itself.
While the content is interesting as it gives an insight to Kalona that would obviously be missing otherwise, it is portrayed in a very poor manner that does not draw in the reader or flow well enough to allow for such a draw to hold if it did exist.
View all my reviews
January 3, 2014
House of Night 11: Revealed
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Sadly, I can't claim to be really enjoying this series, but I also hate leaving a series unfinished.
A large portion of this book can be summarized in 2 things.
1) Neferet is still reliving her past which readers already know about in full thanks to the novella Neferet's Curse.
2) Zoey is still aggravating, only now she's losing control and doing bad things while ignoring the warnings of her friends.
The ending this time around had me lifting an eyebrow. Glad to Kalona was allowed back into Nyx's temple as that was a long time coming. I can honestly say I prefer his darker and more down to earth persona to Erebus's flaunted over the top showcases.
Zoey caving so quickly to the human police is another curiosity that isn't likely to bode well for the House of Night. I can't help but wonder a) how the humans really died since Zoey did see them move before bolting and b) how the humans knew it was "by magical means" when she essentially just shoved them. Unless it in fact was not Zoey... now that wouldn't surprise me at all given Neferet's first act when she starts moving around again.
Looks like things are getting sticky quick and the House of Night just lost a large part of it's "best defense."
View all my reviews
March 8, 2013
House of Night Novella 3: Neferet's Curse
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Having read the latest House of Night book first, I was slightly curious what exactly Neferet may have seen in Zoey's mirror that she swore she "would never be again." Got the feeling it had to have been something awful for such a vehement reaction to it. It also makes it incredibly obvious how she could have fallen to darkness so easily - she already essentially was there before she was ever Marked in the first place. Makes it somewhat amazing that she was able to hold out for so long before implementing her plans, but it's rather obvious that she's been warped ever since her mothers death. The rest of what happened to her certainly didn't help matters either. Though her constant declarations in her journal are at least somewhat inaccurate - yes she is mad. Just not in a form that she recognizes even after intentionally and publicly surrendering to the Darkness.
View all my reviews
March 6, 2013
House of Night 10: Hidden
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Sometimes I honestly wonder why I'm still reading this series. It's repetitive and rather stereotypical. At the same time, it's so close to being finished, that it would annoy me not to know how it ends.
Once again, Neferet does something bad (in this case she kidnaps Grandma Redbird). Once again, Zoey and her circle have to join together to stop Neferet and save Grandma. This time however, Kalona and Aurox are both on their side. Neferet has also been publicly shunned in the vampyre world, but is now attempting to wrap humans around her oily fingers instead. The ending is especially disturbing as Neferet's broken body separates into dozens of tiny spiders. As if she wasn't creepy enough just working with Darkness? It might be interesting to see how the dynamics with Aurox change now that everyone knows he's Heath and not just Zoey's imagination. Have to admit I'm liking Kalona better than his supposedly "good" twin, Erebus. It would be somewhat amusing to see their positions reversed by the end of the series the way Kalona is learning and maturing so much faster.
View all my reviews
March 5, 2012
House of Night Novellas 2: Lenobia's Vow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Being a horse lover, I've found Lenobia and her connection to equines especially interesting. This has been even more true with her larger part in the more recent books from the original series, especially this last one where we get a glimpse to her past as she fights off new feelings and distractions for her previously unwanted stable hand. These novellas are intriguing tidbits into character's pasts that would likely get overlooked or ignored otherwise in the series.
View all my reviews
January 6, 2012
House of Night 9: Destined
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
I've become rather annoyed by this series, yet I feel like I have to keep reading to finish it now that I'm this far in it. The references to True Blood, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter all seemed redundant, repetitive, or useless. The reference to My Little Pony just earned an eye roll given I've been on a MLP kick off and on for several days now. The fact that so many outside series have to be brought in to supposedly make the overwhelming narrative and internal dialogue seem interesting is just sad. Aurox's spirit being Heath's is also redundant and obvious long before it's announced in the book. About the only thing interesting is sadly Dragon's revival and Kalona's decision at the end of the book. All I can say regarding Thanatos and forcing the High Council to act is "about time!"
View all my reviews
September 5, 2011
House of Night Novellas 1: Dragon's Oath
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This short novella focuses on Sword Master and Warrior, Dragon. One of the characters never really described in detail in the original series, this first short piece gives a glimpse into his life before becoming a fledgling and leading right up to his final Change. While it still incorporates all the history and magic from the full series, it feels much more tame in comparison rather than shoving it all down your throat, despite how big of a role it plays setting up Dragon and Anastasia in the long run. I'll admit that the chore cast in the main series has been grating on my nerves lately, so in that respect Dragon's story was a breath of fresh air.
View all my reviews
January 21, 2011
House of Night 8: Awakened
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have a definite love/hate relationship with this series. I love that it's a quick read and the characters are easy to follow. I sometimes hate some of the ways the content is portrayed and the language. Stevie Rae in particular often seems over-the-top with her Southern slang. Did get a laugh out of the "time to Cowboy up" line though. I've heard that often lately down at the stables, so it was kind of funny reading it in a book. The next book is definitely going to be interesting between Nepheret being back in Tulsa, Kalona no longer being bound, and Rephriam joining Zoey outside the House of Night.
View all my reviews
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)