Book Review-- Chosen (House of Night #3) P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.

Synopsis:  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…

The Nerd's Ramble:  Despite the spelling of vampire (yes, I will mention that in probably every review of this series, it just gets under my skin, and I can't let it go) and the teenage angst/cliches I really liked the first two books of this series. They were so promising. The House of Night presented a different take on vampires, one that really stuck with me and made me think. Not to mention, on a purely superficial level the covers of the books that I own are absolutely gorgeous.

Chosen, however, is a whole different kettle of fish. Rather than the amazing plot and conflict that is hinted at by other characters, or events in the previous two books, and bits and pieces throughout the third, this book instead focuses on Zoey's 'ho-ish behavior.'

Zoey doesn't have a boy problem, she has a honesty problem. She's leading around two boys who in their own way care very much about her, and somehow she's managed to attract the attention of a very 'young and hot' teacher. Teacher/student relationships bother me on a slight level, but for the most part I can ignore it. Not here. Every other paragraph Zoey is slathering on about whatever boy she's daydreaming about for that half second. I understand that romance conflict is interesting, but this is a little much. Especially for a high school student-- who is still the top fledgling and super unique (inching scarily close to the Dreaded Mary Sue Line), has a great group of friends and has to deal with the change.

Also? The constant presentation of stereotypical homosexual cliches in one character have gotten out of hand. Please stop that. This character is way too cool to have this done to him. It's only gotten worse as the series progressed. I wish the Casts had focused on this plot that they've created. The changes that happen to two other supporting characters are interesting and continue to lead the reader into what's going to happen.

I will continue to read this series, as it's sucked me in just enough. I'm hoping Untamed is a bit better.

Marked (House of Night #1)
Betrayed (House of Night #2)

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Total Length: 307 pages
Format: Kindle, Epub, Traditional.
Publication Date: March 4, 2008 (St. Martin's Griffin)