Burned

Burned is the latest book in the House of Night series by mother-daughter writing team P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast. From the inside cover flap.~

Things have turned black at the House of Night. Zoey Redbird’s soul has shattered. With everything she’s ever stood for falling apart, and a broken heart making her want to stay in the Otherworld forever, Zoey’s fading fast. It’s seeming more and more doubtful that she will be able to pull herself back together in time to rejoin her friends and set the world to rights. As the only living person who can reach her, Stark must find a way to get to her. But how? He will have to die to do so, the Vampyre High Council stipulates. And then Zoey will give up for sure. There are only seven days left.

Enter BFF Stevie Rae. She wants to help Z, but she has massive problems of her own. The rogue Red Fledglings are acting up, and this time not even Stevie Rae can protect them from the consequences. Her kinda boyfriend, Dallas, is sweet but too nosy for his own good. The truth is, Stevie Rae’s hiding a secret that might be the key to getting Zoey home-but it also threatens to explode her whole world.

In the middle of the whole mess is Aphrodite:ex-Fledgling, trust-fund baby, total hag from Hell (and proud of it). She’s always been blessed (if you can call it that) with visions that can reveal the future, but now it seems that Nyx has decided to speak through her with the goddess’s own voice, whether Aphrodite wants it or not. Aphrodite’s loyalty can swing a lot of different ways, but right now Zoey’s fate hangs in the balance.

Three girls…playing with fire…if they don’t watch out, everyone will get Burned.

The House of Night series is one of my favorite YA vampire series on the market right now. Burned was good, but not my favorite one in the series. I really think it’s because we didn’t get to see Zoey as much in this book. Once her soul was shattered, she wasn’t the Zoey Redbird I’d come to love in the series. I did enjoy Aphrodite finally stepping up in a take-charge role. I think the biggest thing I disliked about the book was Stevie Rae and her lies. I’ve always liked Stevie Rae and as she lied over and over to her friends and her Red Fledglings, I lost some respect for her. She is supposed to be the first High Priestess of the Red Fledglings, yet she seemed a bit selfish in this book. I’m fine with her being imprinted with Rephaim, a Raven Mocker. I just don’t feel that she is honoring Nyx by not being honest with her friends about Rephaim.

I’ll continue to read this series, as I want to see what becomes of Zoey and her friends. I’m hoping my concerns and questions are answered in the next House of Night book. Awakened is set to be released either at the end of December 2010 or the first week of January 2011.