Book Review: Tempted by P.C & Kristin Cast

Book reviews

17 Mar

P.C and Kristin Cast- Tempted (House of Night Series, #6) Format- Paperback Source- self-purchase (used books store)Publisher- Hachette (Atom)Publication date- 2009Synopsis- Zoey needs a break after some serious excitement. Sadly, the House of Night school for vampyres doesn’t feature breaks on its curriculum—even for a High Priestess in training and her gang. Plus juggling three guys is no stress reliever, especially when one is a sexy Warrior so into protecting Zoey that he’s sensing her emotions. Wider stresses lurk too, and the dark force in Tulsa’s tunnels is spreading. Could Stevie Rae be responsible for more than a group of misfit fledglings? And Aphrodite’s visions warn Zoey to stay away from the immortal Kalona and his dark allure—but they also show that only Zoey can stop him. She’s not exactly keen to meet up, but if Zoey doesn’t go to Kalona he’ll exact a fiery vengeance on those closest to her. She just has to find the courage to do what’s necessary, or everything that’s important to her will be destroyedReview- Before I picked up this book, I told myself that if this one didn’t really draw me in, then I would probably give up on the House of Night series altogether. It's been quite some time since I read the last book in the series (#5), Hunted (pre-blogging days). I did enjoy this YA paranormal series in the beginning, because the premise was interesting- a school for vampires and Zoey Redbird, the protagonist is a special kind of fledgling with unique elemental and spiritual abilities.But I think Zoey has developed ‘Sookie syndrome’-something that started to annoy me in the Sookie Stackhouse series, was that every male character seemed to be in love with the protagonist. In Tempted, Zoey falls into this trap. She has an imprint with her human ex-boyfriend Heath who still obsesses over her, then there’s her vampire boyfriend Erik who is possessive, and Stark who she now shares a special bond with since he pledged an oath as her warrior to protect her, oh and there’s Kalona her lover from a previous lifetime. It seems most of these guys are drawn to her because she is a goddess and on quite a superficial level which is a little disappointing. Except perhaps for Heath, who has known Zoey since childhood and although he may love her for her, his feelings are now a little warped since she has imprinted on him. Zoey obviously has a lot of boy troubles to deal with, at the same time she is trying to figure out what her best friend Stevie-Rae, a red fledgling is hiding from her, while trying to prevent her reincarnated self from falling for Kalona’s charms when he seduces her in her dreams.It was actually nice to see Aphrodite continue to grow as a person, and I think her inner conflicts are quite realistic, especially when she is faced with the unfamiliar, unconditional love from her boyfriend warrior Darius.Perhaps I have just outgrown this style of YA novel, as the adolescent voice is very prominent with lots of ‘oh my goddess’ and ‘he’s seriously hot’ talk, I do find myself rolling my eyes from time to time. The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger regarding Heath and Zoey and it was the only point in the story that i actually wanted to find out what happened next... but then it was over. Even though I have the next book, Burned (#7) sitting on my TBR shelf, I am seriously considering clearing this series off my shelf and trading them in at the local book exchange.I am happy to be challenged though… if you have read this series and feel Burned is worth reading following my dissatisfaction with Tempted, then please let me know.