Review: Chosen (House of Night Novel) by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Note: If you haven’t read the first two books in this series you should read them before reading this book or this review! I have reviewed both Marked and Betrayed.

Bloodlust and dark forces are at work at the House of Night, and fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird’s adventures at the school take a mysterious turn. Those who appear to be friends are turning out to be enemies. And, oddly enough, sworn enemies are also turning into friends. So begins the gripping third installment of this…series, in which Zoey’s mettle will be tested like never before. Her best friend, Stevie Rae, is undead and struggling to maintain a grip on her humanity. Zoey doesn’t have a clue how to help her, but she does know that anything she and Stevie Rae discover must be kept secret from everyone else at the House of Night, where trust has become a rare commodity. Speaking of rare, Zoey finds herself in the very rare position of having THREE boyfriends, a situation with the potential to spell social disaster. Then vampyres start turning up dead. REALLY dead. But as Zoey and her friends find out, things are not always what they seem at the House of Night…

Chosen by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast is the third book in the House of Night series. This young adult series is very popular (Chosen debuted at #2 on the New York Times Bestseller list this spring) and keeps getting better and better. One thing I especially like about the series are the book covers. Each one is beautiful and evocative of the series. It’s a coming of age story as well as a vampyre series and has all the angst involved with growing up, self-discovery and issues of friendship.

One criticism I have of this series, however, is that each book packs in a great deal of action in only a few days. I wish the books covered larger timespans. Between each book several weeks pass, but I would like time in the books to see more of Zoey’s day-to-day life. Some of the events in the books seem to happen too quickly–Zoey’s quick acceptance by a group of friends, for example.

Of the three volumes in this series this is my favorite so far. Zoey grows and changes as she faces the heartache which occurred in the previous book (Betrayed) and new heartache in this book. Zoey is going through difficult times–only a few months have passed since she was marked and became a fledgling vampyre. In that time she’s estranged from her mother and stepfather, leaves her school and most human friends behind, is a leader at the school, a Goddess chooses her to fix problems in the vampyre world and her roommate and best friend at the vampyre school dies and yet is not exactly dead.

Even though she’s obviously chosen by the Goddess Nyx to do great things she’s still growing up, still makes mistakes and must live with the consquences and can still be manipulated emotionally especially by people older and more mature. She learns hard and painful lessons during this book and is more isolated by the end of the book. She’s learning that being chosen, being special, being gifted can be lonely positions and even though she has great gifts she still makes mistakes which often have far-reaching consequences. By the end of this book she’s had to face grief and betrayal.

“Well, Nala, seems I’m in the middle of some deep poo. The negatives in my life totally outweigh the positives, and you know what’s weird? I’m starting to actually get used to it….”

The next book in the series–Untamed–is scheduled for publication in October 2008. Check out this new website for the House of Night series and this graphic for the House of Night series. I like the artwork for these books and this series as well as the books themselves!