Chosen by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

fantasticfiction.co.uk

Released: March 2008

Chosen is the third book in the House of Night vampyre series by the Cast mother and daughter duo. It's getting REALLY hard for me to take a break from this series. It's just so fun! I'm loving the story so far. Like I mentioned previously in my review for Betrayed, I'm completely hooked!

Taking care of undead dead Stevie Rae

Chosen picks up shortly after the ending of Betrayed. It's Christmas time, and Zoey's friends are throwing her a birthday party, or "Birthmas" party. Zoey is desperately trying to enjoy her birthday celebration, but there's still so much going on behind the scenes for Z.

First of all, Zoey is still juggling her feelings for three different men: Erik Night, Loren Blake, and Heath -- the human with whom she's managed to Imprint. Second, Zoey is still working on coming to terms with the fact that her best friend Stevie Rae is dead -- or, at least, "undead dead," meaning the country gal is still technically alive, but without a soul. Third, Zoey must continue to keep High Priestess Neferet at arm's length, considering Neferet cannot be trusted and is confirmed to be the evil mastermind killing off vampyre fledglings and turning them into soulless, bloodsucking creatures like Stevie Rae.

Immediately following her birthday celebration, Zoey's nemesis Aphrodite approaches Zoey with another one of her visions. This time, Aphrodite has seen Neferet pulling Stevie Rae into the sunlight and killing her for good. In an attempt to save undead-dead Stevie Rae, Zoey and Aphrodite escape the House of the Night to hide Stevie Rae at Aphrodite's giant family mansion until they can figure out how to save Stevie Rae and possibly restore her soul. Meanwhile, Zoey's friends continue to grow frustrated with Zoey, since Zoey appears to obviously be hiding a handful of secrets from them -- including the secret about Stevie Rae still being alive.

Torn between three hot men!

While Zoey deals with trying to keep Stevie Rae safe and "alive" away from Neferet, she's having difficulty with trying to choose a romantic partner.

Erik is Zoey's most compatible option, but she can't help but be irresistibly drawn to the sexy and mature poet Loren. On the other hand, Zoey has known Heath her entire life and finds their hot, passionate, Imprinted bond difficult to pass up. Later on, events happen in the novel that forces Zoey to choose her ultimate companion.

Away with the witchy rituals already

The only downside to the House of Night novels so far are the MANY witchy rituals that call on the five elements and are hosted by either the Dark Daughters or Neferet. All the ritual scenes read almost exactly the same, and involve Zoey invoking each of the elements while her friends hold candles and say things like "Awesome!" "Cool!" "Wicked!" when each of the elements do their thing. The rituals just feel too redundant and identical, and these are the chapters I dread. I certainly hope the Cast duo tone down the rituals in future books. There's only so much "Water I call thee to me" I can take in every other chapter. Enough is enough already.

What I'm really excited about is the character development, especially between Zoey and Aphrodite. Aphrodite is my favorite character right now, and I love the spicy dynamic between her and Zoey. I'm a bit sick of Erin and Shaunee -- the "Twins." They're a bit too annoying for my taste. I'm DYING to talk about this novel's spoilers, but I'll hold back and discuss them in my next review of book four, which is Untamed. I can't wait to see what P.C. and Kristin have in store for Aphrodite and her recent "change!"

Don't forget to check out my reviews for Marked and Betrayed!