LoveVampires. The Website Dedicated to Vampire Fiction - with vampire book reviews, information and author interviews.

Chosen

P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

Published 2008       307 pages

Summary (from the book jacket)

Bloodlust and dark forces are at work at the House of Night, and fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird’s adventures at 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.

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 rare position of having three boyfriends, a situation with the potential to spell social disaster.  Then vampyres start turning up dead.  Really dead. But as Zoey and her friends find out, things are not always what they seem….

The Review

Chosen is the third novel in P.C and Kristin Cast’s popular House of Night series for young adults.  Events in this novel start shortly after where the action in Betrayed finished and the opening scenes show Zoey not enjoying her seventeenth birthday, or “birthmas” as she calls the misfortune of having a birthday the day before Christmas.  If you haven’t read any of the House of Night novels before, don’t start here.  There is a strong continuous story arc running though these books so you really need to read them in order, starting with Marked.

Throughout Marked and Betrayed events have transpired to make it plain that Zoey has been chosen for a special purpose by the vampyre goddess, Nyx.  Zoey quickly usurped the position of the Nyx’s previous chosen fledgling Aphrodite, who was also a complete bitch or “hateful hag” as Zoey’s friends cheerfully prefer to call her.  After abusing her powers, Aphrodite lost her position as high priestess in training and leader of the Dark Daughters to Zoey.  She also lost her boyfriend, Erik, to Zoey too (ouch) proving that the cost of abusing her gift came with a steep price tag.

Zoey, while being an altogether much nicer and more sympathetic character than Aphrodite, finds out that even with the best of intentions it is hard to do Nyx’s will, keep your friends happy and resist the temptations of illicit sex and bloodlust.  Especially since bloodlust (which can be tied to sex) is fast becoming a part of her vampyric nature.

Aimed at an older (15+) teen audience Zoey experiences illicit sex, witnesses the results of gory violence and suffers a cruel betrayal during the course of Chosen which makes for compulsive reading no matter what your age group.

The pacing of Chosen is more even than Marked or Betrayed and the story zips by at a rapid pace, with the religious rituals getting less word-count devoted to their set up and more page time concerning their results.  The plot twists and turns but even as some mysteries are solved, such as why does the poetry professor have such an intimate interest in Zoey, other mysteries occur to take their place, such as who is responsible for the horrific deaths of some of the school’s adult vampyres.

Chosen is another gripping and hugely readable book in the House of Night series.  Full of dark intrigue, mystery, blood and death - there is plenty here to entertain vampire and fantasy fans alike.  When you add Zoey’s complex relationships and complicated love life into the mix I can just about guarantee that after reading Chosen you will be making a return trip to the book store for the next instalment (Untamed) in this series.  I know that I am…

LoveVampires Review Rating: