Redeemed (House of Night #12) by PC & Kristin Cast-a review

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About the book: Release Date October 14, 2014

In the final electrifying novel in the HoN series, Neferet has finally made herself known to mortals. A Dark Goddess is loose on Tulsa and the world. No single vampyre is strong enough to vanquish her – unless that creature has the power to summon the elements as well as the ability to wield Old Magick. Only Zoey Redbird is heir to such power…but because of the consequences of using Old Magick, she is unable to help. Find out who will win and who will lose in this epic battle of Light versus Darkness.

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REVIEW: REDEEMED is the final instalment in PC & Kristin Cast’s HOUSE OF NIGHT young adult, paranormal series focusing on sixteen year old fledgling vampyre/high priestess Zoey Redbird and her House of Night gang of misfit vampyres with affinities to the elements.

The final instalment focuses on the take down of the House of Night’s self-proclaimed goddess Neferet and the absolution of the Dark Winged Warrior Kalona. As Neferet terrorizes and destroys much of the city of Tulsa, Zoey and her fellow fledgling vampyres must devise a plan to stop Neferet’s reign of terror-once and for all.

As in the previous instalments, the language and text of the storyline is adolescent in nature but the series is directed at middle grade and young adult readers so perhaps it is to be expected but I felt is was a little condescending. My biggest disappointment was with Neferet’s speech, language and actions. The immature nature of the character did not equate with the age and power of the supernatural being. She reminded me of ‘the mean girl’ when she didn’t get her way would have a temper tantrum of epic proportion.

The level of violence has escalated in REDEEMED such that the graphic nature of the violence and the numerous killings was disconcerting; as the numbers climbed so did my disappointment with the story. I found the numerous violent incidents over the top and redundant, and not necessary to storyline.

I will add that the House of Night series had much potential in the early books but somewhere along the way, the authors may have erred in their storyline content and characterizations such that many readers lost interest and no longer cared. Perhaps it was the introduction of too many characters; too many villains; too many deaths; too many dead characters brought back to life; or the immature nature of the characters. Or perhaps it was the very slow build up of the series such that twelve books (and four prequel novellas) spanned less than a year in the series timeline but seven years to write and publish. Seven years is a long time and many readers-especially young adults and tweens- will walk away from a series where very little happens between storylines. Teens become adults and will eventually gravitate to more mature storylines and adult books. Or perhaps, YA novels are just that-young adult storylines and the more mature reader may have difficulty with some of the storyline content.

The final battle will see justice served but it will also see the loss of friends but a loss that is comforted by a happily ever after-for now -because although Neferet will get what she deserves, she is immortal and obviously very hard to kill. Is any character truly dead in a paranormal series?

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy