Hunted by PC & Kristin Cast

Back Blurb-What if the hottest guy in the world was hiding a nameless evil, and all he wanted was you? At the start of this heart-pounding new installment of the bestselling House of Night series, Zoey’s friends have her back again and Stevie Rae and the red fledglings aren’t Neferet’s secrets any longer. But an unexpected danger has emerged. Neferet guards her powerful new consort, Kalona, and no one at the House of Night seems to understand the threat he poses. Kalona looks gorgeous, and he has the House of Night under his spell. A past life holds the key to breaking his rapidly spreading influence, but what if this past life shows Zoey secrets she doesn’t want to hear and truths she can’t face?

Whoo-boy. I've never hidden the fact that I'm a big PC Cast fan-girl. I love her books. There's something about her writing that just calls to me. I can't even begin to describe why. I remember when I found out that she & her daughter were going to be writing a YA series together. My first thought? Cool! My second? Aw, but it's vampires. Yeah, what did I know.

All along, we've had to follow Zoey and her...well, her choices. The girl's life has never been easy and it got even harder when she was Marked as a vampire and had to leave her "human" life behind. And now that we're into book 5, her life just gets more and more complicated.

For those of you who've read the House of Night series, I'll just say this...Hunted was probably the most spiritual of all of them. Not religious...spiritual. Zoey's struggles to deal with her powers, her friends, her world AND dealing with the evil that was unleashed at the end of Untamed really leads up to a crisis, not only of spirit, but also of her very reality.

And I think, for me, that's why this series is so amazing. It's not perfect, but the pure emotions that are behind all that Zoey does are what make this series such a winner for me. Out of all the books, Hunted is definitely the darkest one yet. Evil has manifested itself into an actual human guise and since Zoey and her friends are the only ones who can sense it, it is their responsibility to break the others free from this evil being.

Zoey has truly grown from the young, confused child that started out the series into a strong woman. It's amazing to me that such a short amount of time has passed since the beginning of the series. A lot has happened to her, in more ways than one.

The ramifications from her actions in the previous books are super strong in this book. She's not perfect. Which is why I like her. She's funny and sarcastic, but she also has a strong sense of right and wrong. Her powers are immense, but she still makes mistakes.

As I said earlier, this book is definitely the most spiritual yet. A combination of a lot of different elements. It's a book that definitely showcases the battle between good and evil. And all the shades of gray in the middle.

Was it perfect? No. The end was a bit abrupt and it seemed like it could have been, well, more, but all in all I really really enjoyed it. I can't wait to see what they cook up next.


My Rating: A-