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May032010
House of Night Week – BOOK REVIEW: ‘Burned’ by P. C. & Kristin Cast
by Carolyn • Posted in 3.5 Star Reviews, Atom, Book Reviews, House of Night Week, P. C. Cast, Paranormal, Reviews by Carolyn, Young Adult
Title: Burned (House of Night #7)
Author: P. C. & Kristin Cast
Publisher: Atom (UK|US)
Publication Date: May 2010 (UK) | April 2010 (US)
Hardback: 323 pages
Genre: Paranormal
Young Adult
Source: Review Copy
Reviewed by: Carolyn
RATING: 7/10
GOODREADS SUMMARY:
Zoey Redbird is the youngest High Priestess in House of Night History and is the only person – vamp or fledgling – who can stop the evil Neferet from raising all kinds of immortal trouble. and she might just have a chance if she wasn’t so busy being dead.
Well, dead is too strong a word. Stevie Rae knows she van bring her BFF back from her unscheduled va-cay in the Otherworld. But it’s going to take a lot more than hoping to bring Zoey back. Stevie Rae might have to give up a few secrets of her own…
REVIEW:
‘Burned’ is the seventh installment to the House of Night series and the last one in the series for a while. It is in the same format as Tempted in that the point of view changes with each chapter, which I really like. This time we hear mostly from Stevie Rae and Stark, but Aphrodite, Rephaim and even Kalona are present too, as well as Zoey, but she doesn’t play as much of a role as in the previous books, although she is still the main focus.
After the sad events that happened at the end of Tempted, which I won’t go into as it will be a big spoiler to those of you who haven’t read this series yet, Zoey is in the Otherworld, and Stark, as well as all her friends, are trying to find a way to reach her and bring her home.
The most interesting, and my most favourite aspect of ‘Burned’, is Stevie Rae and her connection with Rephaim, the bird-man, son of Kalona. This connection intensifies through out the book and both are confused by it and what it means. I really enjoyed this relationship and every time the story moved away from Stevie Rae, I found that I missed it and couldn’t wait to get back to it. Stevie Rae also has to deal with the Red Fledglings who haven’t decided between good or bad and also comes face to face with Darkness itself, with unforeseen consequences.
Aphrodite is still having her visions and although we only get to see the world from her point of view in three chapters, we do see the Aphrodite we know and love, but who is now fully integrated into Zoey’s circle, and she’s liking it too. Burned is also much more about the boys and we get to learn more about Stark and Rephaim. There are quite a few passages about warriors and guardians, which seemed to go on a touch too long for me, but it was nice to get the view from a guys perspective.
VERDICT:
‘Burned’ feels more mature than the other books – each character has grown quite a lot, especially Stark and Stevie Rae. The story is exciting and continues to be completely addictive but ‘Burned’ definitely has a different feel to it than the previous books in the series. Another really good edition to the House of Night series and I am SO looking forward to Awakened… I just wish I didn’t have so long to wait!
4 Comments
Great Review! I agree that this one seems to have matured all the players. Something I think will play well as the story moves along
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This one sounds great! I didn't know it was the last for a while.. I thought Awakened was due out fairly soon.
Really glad you've enjoyed this series so much!
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Felicia – Yes, I agree. As the series is meant to go on until books 12 I think it's a good idea to have the characters grow and not remain too young.
Jenny – I did enjoy the series – my reviews/ratings do go up and down a little bit, but overall I thought it was good, *but don't get me started on Zoey's boyfriend issues!*
I thought Awakened was due Jan next year, which is quite a long time to wait! But maybe i'm wrong, will have to check 
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Oooh, this one sounds really, really good. I think its a good thing their characters matured more…
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