Hi all, I'm also on Dooyoo under the same name. will try to return rates always x
Hi all, I'm also on Dooyoo under the same name. will try to return rates always x
Member since:18.10.2007
Reviews:89
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I am a nearly 23 year old female who is one of those sad “twilight” fans. I worship the books and thought the film was great.
My other half, who incidentally was the one who introduced me to twilight, has also been helping me on my mission to find another book that I can read, after many failed attempts to get into another book.
Enter the “House of Night” series.
Background -----------------
The book “Chosen” is the third of the soon to be 6 book series (Number 6 is not out yet) centring on a 16 year old girl, Zoey Redbird.
“Chosen” is set in Tulsa, America and in this world Vampires not only exist but are openly known about. To become a vampire in this series, there is no need for biting and blood drinking. The person is simply “Chosen” and marked with a crescent moon on their forehead, this means they will now have to move to the House of Night, which is basically a boarding school for vampire fledglings, as they learn over 4 years all that is involved with vampirism; including their beliefs, powers and abilities. This change that is happening to the fledglings isn’t guaranteed to complete and a small percentage of fledglings’ bodies will reject the chance at any point and they could die.
As this is the 3rd book in the series I will give a very brief overview of the previous books, hopefully without giving anything away for those looking to read the series.
Basically,
Zoey has been marked and moved to the house of night, her family do not except her now and she has settled and made friends within the school and is learning what it means to be a vampire fledgling. Zoey became the leader of an elite school group “the dark daughters” after her abilities and powers have started to manifest in the first book, Zoey is more advanced than all of the other students and has many powers that even the adult vampires have never seen in a fledgling.
She has a close knit group of friends and even made friends with an old enemy. Zoey has also got a boyfriend (or 3) and a unique link to the vampire goddess of night “Nyx” which is helping her to understand some of the more sinister motives behind their vampire version of a principle, high priestess Neferet, who isn’t as nice as she seems.
I will not give away any major plot points for the first two books, as I said, I do not wish to spoil it, but that is the overall basics. She keeps getting in trouble and solving problems with her gifted fledgling ways.
About "Chosen" ---------------------
In this book we follow on the story as Zoey learns more about the not so nice plans the vampire “high priestess” has for certain fledglings after they reject the change. Turning them into the literal blood drinking monsters we associate with vampires. Zoey is struggling with her obvious uniqueness and trying to keep her friends safe after she learns about these “undead dead fledglings” but when her best friend becomes one of them she begins to feel more and more alone.
This is probably the main factor is her being a little confused about who to trust and leading to her accidentally sort of having 3 boyfriends and trying not to start a war with a powerful high priestess who is trying to bring Zoey down, while maintaining her cover.
My Opinion ---------------
Written by a mother and daughter duo, these books are kept in the children’s section in most book stores but tend to have a “Not for younger readers” stickers on them.
Although much in the same style as twilight, both being based on teenage girls and written in the first person, the whole of the “House of Night” series is a lot darker.
There are some detailed deaths and violent scenes, in this book particularly and references to bloodlust sex and drugs. Although written very well as the story is being told by a teenager, we do get a lot of detail on these aspects and I do not think it would be received well by children at all.
The first person narration keeps you hooked well throughout the book and being the 3rd book in the series, the events are building up and the tension in this instalment makes for some very enjoyable reading.
I particularly like the fact that through the writing, PC and Kirsten Cast have really made the reader get in Zoeys head. With the use of side notes and brackets throughout the book, you completely understand everything that is processing through her head as and when she thinks it. Rather than have a lengthy paragraph afterwards to explain a dialogue exchange between 2 characters with what Zoey really thinks about it all.
There are also a lot of pop culture references in this book; from modern recent movies, actors and events. I think this helps give the reader a sense of realism and involvement into the house of night world, as all of these things could so easily be happening in the real world. If the characters are on the way to the cinema to watch a new movie release and discussing how gorgeous Johnny Depp is, then I find I can relate myself a lot more to the situation and it really grips the reader into the book. This makes it very hard to put the book down and I have found it very easy to breeze through the chapters without even noticing. I do think this is also a negative for the books though as it really dates them, and in a few years time will make it harder for readers to relate.
The fluid and simple language of the writing is by no means award winning. It is supposed to be first person perspective of a 16 year old girl and it reads just as I would expect. A little naive at times but this is all to help build the relationship you feel with Zoey as you go through her troubles, remembering what it is like to be a 16 year old girl myself I’m sure helps enjoy this more.
Conclusion ----------------
Overall this is a great book for the intended audience, although I feel this is a smaller audience than the likes of “twilight” I still think most women would enjoy this. I do not see as many men liking this however, and definitely think it is best avoided by those under the 14 year old mark.
It’s easy to read and very engrossing. The story moves along at a realistic but not dull pace and we learn a lot more about this world of vampires that PC & Kirsten Cast have created. The characters grow more depth and come across more interesting situations in this instalment of the series and I think it is a series that hasn’t lost momentum by the 3rd book. “Chosen” keeps the flow going nicely and has a great story that leads to the bigger picture of the overall picture brilliantly.
I have enjoyed all the series so far and this is no exception. I can’t wait to finish the forth book.
Thanks for reading :)
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I guess it had gone okay with Stevie Rae. I mean she had agreed to meet me tomorrow. And ... more
she hadn't tried to bite me which was a plus. Of course the whole trying-to-eat-the-street-person thing was highly disturbing ... Zoey's best friend Stevie Rae...
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Jul 1st, 2009
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