It's not an easy path that Nyx has chosen for Zoey Redbird. Since she was Marked as a vampire by a hunter, she's had to kiss her old life good bye. Zoey has to juggle her burgeoning Imprint with Heath, her romance with Erik and yet, she still is mysteriously drawn to hottie Professor Loren Blake-a full-fledged vampyre. Things get further complicated as two professors are murdered on school grounds (possibly by the People of Faith), and the House of Night calls in the big guns: The Sons of Erebus (super-hot warrior vampyres). More surprises ensue-Zoey confronts the parental units, Damien has a love interest (finally!),the crew comes into their own magical elements and even Aphrodite doesn't seem to be the bitch everyone thinks she is.... ( )

I'm really enjoying these. They're really dorky in some places, but I don't mind. ( )

I would have to completely agree with glade1 (see review below) “I'll say it again: This series is addictive, yet flawed…I find myself unable to put down these books, in spite of my reservations/criticisms... They are just good brain candy!” I did enjoy this book in the series better than the previous two, yet the teenager language is still unbearable at times. Also, the author(s) like to repeat their selves too much, especially about the Indian word for daughter. We, the readers, do remember things. Overall, I was pleased with this book. I will continue with the series just because I have acquired the books, and would like to know what happens next to Zoey. ( )

Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com

Trust is a powerful emotion, mostly unnoticed until it's broken.

Zoey can no longer trust her mentor, Neferet. But the bigger question Zoey must ask herself is how long her friends will continue to trust her.

Zoey's afraid that sooner or later, they will uncover the truth about Stevie Rae, who hovers on the brink of life and death. Technically, they watched her die, but she is still alive. She lives as a monster, with just a little piece of her soul left. Zoey believes that she can bring her best friend back; unfortunately, she'll need help from Aphrodite.

Not only does she have to keep Stevie Rae's "death" a secret from her friends, but she also has to make up excuses for admitting Aphrodite into their circle.

Readers will devour the third book in the HOUSE OF NIGHT vampyre series and eagerly await the next delicious morsel of the tale. ( )

It's not an easy path that Nyx has chosen for Zoey Redbird. Since she was Marked as a vampire by a hunter, she's had to kiss her old life good bye. What is becoming even more evident to her is Nyx's parting advice: "..darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good".

This sets the scene for the Cast's next foray into the House of Night series. In this third book, "Chosen", Zoey has to grapple with more personal drama-and girls, there is a biggie in this book, the calamity of her having three boyfriends! Zoey has to juggle her burgeoning Imprint with Heath, her romance with Erik and yet, she still is mysteriously drawn to hottie Professor Loren Blake-a full-fledged vampyre (who is doing some serious swoopin'). How it all ends...welllll... is the climax of the book. Things are definitely heating up for Zoey in more ways than one.

The Casts don't leave us hanging entirely-the drama continues from "Betrayed" as Zoey wrangles further with Neferet-the conclusion that she is not as she appears to be-Neferet has been controlling the remnants-blood-craving ghouls who are no longer human or vampyre. These are the students that mysteriously "died" during transformation and are being led by Zoey's former roommate; Stevie Ray and Zoey will do anything to save Stevie Ray-including hiding and lying about her existence from Shaunee, Erin, Damien and Erik. But saving Stevie Ray means going against Neferet, who is hell bent on preventing exposure.

Things get further complicated as two professors are murdered on school grounds (possibly by the People of Faith), and the House of Night calls in the big guns: The Sons of Erebus (super-hot warrior vampyres). More surprises ensue-Zoey confronts the parental units, Damien has a love interest (finally!),the crew comes into their own magickal elements and even Aphrodite doesn't seem to be the beeyotch everyone thinks she is....

The Cast's talons craft a symbolic tale steeped in mysticism, arcane vampire religion, and a riveting cast of characters that is believable enough to stand solidly on its own-two feet.

By comparison, it might not have the verve of de la Cruz's Blue Bloods, but this cast of characters are compelling enough in their own right. The series is absolutely riveting and once you cross the threshold into the House of Night, you'll find it very hard to put down.

I cannot wait for "Untamed" to come out!Copyright(c)Nicola Mattos ( )

I'll say it again: This series is addictive, yet flawed.

I'm very interested to see what happens next with Zoey and company but continue so think the Casts need a better editor. The typos and wrong words have become rather jarring (e.g., "here yes" for "her eyes," "calvary" for "cavalry," etc.), and there is still the occasional "When did that happen?" moment where the narrative seems inconsistent.

The sex has become overt in this installment, and the tale is bloodier. I find myself unable to put down these books, in spite of my reservations/criticisms (see my review of Betrayed). They are just good brain candy! ( )

Chosen takes a bit of a left turn from the setting of the last two books, this one is less about school and more about creepy. Definitely more "adult content" as well. ( )

Yet again P.C. and Kristin Cast has done it again. The House of Night Series just keep getting better and better. It's December at the House Of Night and Zoey must deal with her sucky 24 birthday at first. But she also has to deal with saving her undead best friend Stevie Rae by helping her keep her Humanity. As for the guy's in Zoeys life, leave her one by one. On top of that Vampyres are being Killed at the House Of Night and Zoey must deal withNeferet as she stills fools everyone at the House Of Night except Zoey. ( )

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 “highly addictive series” (Romantic Times), 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 unexpected and rare position of having three boyfriends. Mix a little bloodlust into the equation and the situation has the potential to spell social disaster. Just when it seems things couldn’t get any tougher, vampyres start turning up dead. Really dead. It looks like the People of Faith, and Zoey’s horrid step-father in particular, are tired of living side-by-side with vampyres. But, as Zoey and her friends so often find out, how things appear rarely reflects the truth…

O.k So Chosen is like all hell has broke loose. So i guess you can agree with me when Zoey says (pg 82)"I think I'm turning into a Ho," yep, Zoey, ur a Ho, well she is........ that pretty much sums up the book.

So in Chosen Zoey has a pretty "crappy" life at the moment but then again she has 3 boyfriends so..how "crappy" can that be? hmmm....So she's juggling 3 boyfriends and is the leader of the dark daughters and is having issues with her BFF Stevie Ray and a whole bunch of other crap. Poor Zoey :( I feel bad for her but she's still annoying...i just feel bad....for her. So Chosen was pretty good. Towards the end like the last chapter my jaw was like on the floor. So my rating is... ( )

To sum this book up in one word: Amazing! I literally couldn't put the book down at all seeing i finished it in one day. Kept me guessing throught the ENTIRE book. ( )

Major spoilers here.

Up until this point I've been a bit critical of the House of Night series. I keep calling it a series that has potential but hasn't realized it yet. I admit that I wasn't so sure of these books after reading Marked, but after Betrayed I thought things were starting to move in the right direction. But then I read Chosen. What happened, Casts? I was hoping for the series to just keep improving but Chosen was actually a few steps backward.

I'm not going to go over again what I think is wrong with the series in general. Those are detailed in my reviews of Marked and Betrayed. I'm going to stick specifically with my thoughts on Chosen.

First off, I know I complain a lot about Zoey being perfect. I do this because it is a blatant issue that needs to be dealt with and it annoys me a lot. I think Chosen was meant to illustrate Zoey's imperfections since she seems to make a lot of bad choices and she's pretty much friendless by the end of the book. But it didn't really showcase Zoey's shortcomings so much as it came across as a compensation for what I'm sure have been multiple complaints by readers. It's like Zoey was saying, "Look at me, guys! I'm not so perfect! I can make bad choices, too!"

Okay. Zoey's imperfections include all of the following:

1) She witholds vital information from her friends in an effort to keep them safe. This results in anger on their part. Really not so much an imperfection or even an example of a bad choice. It could probably be classified as a misunderstanding that will only make Zoey look more virtuous once it's cleared up.

2) Zoey can't choose between boys and this makes her a 'ho'. And I can understand a girl having a weakness for boys and having trouble choosing. Not exactly what I would call an interesting or tragic weakness like having a lame leg or being jaded and unable to form solid relationships but whatever. (Or the visions Aphrodite has which can be considered both a gift and a curse depending on which way you look at it.) Zoey can't choose between however many guys she has chasing after her. But there's really only so far that little subplot can stretch before it gets old. When Zoey went to end her relationship with Heath I had that "YOU GO GIRL" attitude. Because I thought we might actually be GETTING SOMEWHERE with the love triangle. But no. She ends up in the same place she did the last time she tried to break up with Heath: lusting over his blood and still in a (demented) relationship.

And she potentially kills two guys in the process. Which I want to discuss briefly. I guess the whole scene might have been interesting if it wasn't so arbitrary and poorly dealt with. She doesn't stay long enough to find out if they're dead and it's never brought up again save for a moment of "OMIGOD I THINK I MIGHT HAVE JUST BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR TWO DEATHS" and then we're back to boyfriend troubles.

3) Zoey makes bad choices. Or at least a small series of related bad choices that accumulate in the climax that anyone thinking rationally would have seen coming. Thus we have my biggest problem with this installment: I complimented the last book on the storyline and flow of events. Because despite its problems the book was generally engaging. But in Chosen the best way to describe the storyline is forced. Here's what I mean:

I didn't believe that Zoey the oh-so-virtuous who condemns anyone who so much as kisses in public as a 'ho' would hop into the sack with a teacher on an impulse. Even if I did believe it, it's too much of a stretch for me to believe that Zoey would ignore that goddess-given feeling in her stomach and spill EVERY COMPROMISING DETAIL she's been dealing with the entire book to a man who's almost a complete stranger. Everything about Stevie-Rae and Neferet and anything else any sane person would have kept quiet about.

Events in this story moved happened because the authors needed for them to happen. Zoey needed to confess what she knew so that she could be betrayed and the conflict with Neferet would further. Adding to this the fact that none of the faults of previous books have improved makes for one very unhappy reader.

I hope Untamed brings this series back up to the level of Betrayed. ( )

The very last sentence in that, I agree with wholeheartedly. Now before I get too ahead of myself here, I'll start from the beginning. We come together again with Zoey as she is trying to find her way as the new leader of the Dark Daughters. She wants to change things from what they were when Aphrodite was in charge. Make in nicer ... to everyone. Then as the story progresses she comes face to face with Loren, who BTW is the most gorgeous, adult vampyre that she meets and he seems to have taken an obvious interest in her. But she gets distracted when some of the guys that her ex-boyfriend Heath used to hang out with start going missing and end up dead. Trying to escape for a short period she finds herself in a little mess involving Heath and they become Imprinted again. Darn, bloodlust!

After she completes her ritual for the first time for the 'new' Dark Daughters, her best friend Stevie Rae falls ill and isn't going to make the Change. This hits her quite hard and after all of this, she starts having very vivid dreams, or visions of Heath. Heath had been kidnapped and she has to try to save them and she comes to the conclusion that a certain someone isn't as really nice as they pretend to be.

Once again, PC and Kristin Cast have done a wonderful job with this part of the story and it really makes me look forward to reading the next book in line: Chosen. But let me tell you, the part with Stevie Rae dying really brought a lump to my throat and I almost started to cry. I really felt connected to the characters and I really felt for them during that time. But as the story moves forward, I just knew that Zoey would come out on top. ( )

I thought this was a good one. Just as good as the first and much better than the second. Some of the characters can be a bit annoying at times, but it's definitely an interesting story and fun to read. I'm sure I'll finish the series. ( )

For full review see the posting on our blog:

http://vampsrus.blogspot.com/2009/07/... ( )

Spoiler-free Review: I've made every effort to review the quality of this book without revealing the story. This is not a *summary* but what I think of this book.

This is the third book in the "House of Night" series. While it *could* stand alone, I believe the prior books ("Marked", "Betrayed") establish the world and Zoey's relationships with the people around her and therefore add fullness to this book. I believe all that has happened in these first 3 books could have easily been edited into a single book.

The series is written for a Young Adult audience but I think some of the plotting is pretty obvious. That's not to say it's *bad*, just...."I saw that coming"... My only complaint in this series is the almost simple "aimed at teens" language and plotting. Teen writing doesn't have to be dumb, just interesting to teens. I don't count in that category (I turned 39 in Feb 2009) but I've read other teen fiction which I felt was less predictable and more complex of a read.

I've enjoyed the books in this series--Zoey isn't an amazing superhero who always has the answers or does the right thing. I like that about her. She makes bad choices and tries to live with the results of those choices. It is perhaps inevitable that this series will get compared/contrasted to the highly popular Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. This series is less idiotic and puts Zoey right into the middle of the darkness, while struggling to figure out her own life.

Potential readers should be aware there is some sexual content in this book.

I received this book from the Early Reviewer's program for my teenaged son, who is a huge fan of urban fantasy. He gulped down this book in two sittings, and is now looking for the other books by this writer.

Definitely a book that's suitable for teens, but not really interesting to me. I think I would have loved this book if I were 14 again, but I'm not. It rings true for the mindset of a teenage girl as I read it, and if you liked the Twilight books, you'll like this. It's not terribly original or beautifully written, but it is adequate and I've read worse books. Probably won't entertain most grown ups though. ( )

Zoey has more on her plate then ever. She is still dealing with the fact that her best friend is dead. Well she is actually undead, she is more or less alive, but just without her soul. She’s is juggling not one, but three boyfriends, and Neferet is still looming in the Shadows.Zoey feels more alone then ever because she can’t confide in her friends about Stevie Rae. She can’t confide in anyone, except for the last person she thought she would ever trust, Aphrodite. This alone would be enough to stress to last a lifetime, but then Zoey and Aphrodite find a vampyre professor of the House of Night decapitated and staked to a cross. Zoey thinks that her family, or more specially her step-dad may have been involved.I couldn’t put this book down! Poor Zoey! I wish that she would catch a break. It seems like whatever she does, just doesn’t work out for her at all! I was glad how things ended up with Stevie Rae, but I actually felt bad for Aphrodite, even though she isn’t really the nicest person. I could definitely see the romance writing style of P.C. Cast shining through on this one! Let’s just say there are some lovely intimate scenes, if you will! All I have to say is it's about time her and Erik started making out! :) The boy is too cute not to kiss! I am hoping there will be a another book. The ending definitely left the possibility. I can’t wait to see what happens to Zoey and her friends next!!! The suspense is killing me! ( )

Awesome read. Continues to pull you in to the intrigue at the House of Night. Zoey finds trouble around every corner. ( )

Another compelling installment in the series. I just wish the authors would rest assured that we remember the details from the previous books and stop reviewing everything. Zoey is starting to discover some rather unpleasant aspects of her new life and changing personality which keeps her an interesting character. ( )

I just couldn't get into this third book. I liked the first book and was really getting into the second, but the dialogue and the telling instead of showing was really getting to me. Plus for some reason "brown pop" was a phrase I never wanted to see printed again. Maybe I'll try again later. ( )

Oh my Gosh, how many errors? Come on is it Eric or Erik? Arghhhh!

Zoey is really annoying me now, Aphrodite is by far my favourite character, so much more depth and very well written.

I love the plot and the ideas, I just hope Zoey doesn't get anymore annoying. ( )

I had a really, really hard time getting through this book. In fact, after the first 1/4 of it I was tempted to put it down and stop reading. This series as a whole so far has been filled with ups and downs. Book 1 was just ok to me and book 2 was a lot better. I will say that the last 40 or so pages of Chosen was great and made me glad I kept reading and now I am kicking myself for having left book 4, Untamed, at home. Zoey’s boyfriend problems are pretty much her own fault and while she seems to realize her behavior is horrible she doesn’t do much to stop it. I have to admit at this point I’m actually preferring Aphrodite over Zoey now that Aphrodite seems to be making a change for the better.

Stop here because this will be a total spoiler for those who haven’t read this book. For those that have let me know if I’m wrong or right :)

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So I thought Loren was totally hot and thought there was something suspicious about his interest in Zoey. It totally suck that he died and I kind of suspect that instead of the religious nuts being the killers it’s actually Neferet. I think this was her excuse for going to war on humans and I think she killed Loren because she was ticked off he imprinted with Zoey. What do you think? ( )

betraial in romanc power ( )

I lost this book so i really dont know what the heck is going on, i left off where she was leaving heath at the park and sneaking back into school!! ( )