Chosen, by PC and Kristin Cast

[tea_and_tomes]

(Buy from Amazon.ca)

Summary: (Taken from GoodReads) 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…

Thoughts: I first read the back of this book while standing in line at a drug store checkout, and had rolled my eyes at the mention of Zoey's "three boyfriends." A powerful vampire who's all that and has guys fawning over her and it's oh so hard to choose between then... Blech. Pass!

Then I read the first book. And the second. And now, as I end the third novel of the House of Night series, I am amused at how much my initial reaction echoes the major theme of this book: things are not always as they seem.

The plot gets deeper, darker, and much more interesting. The first half was a little slow to get going, and the by the middle of the book everything exploded into a torrent of suspense and action and intruige. Some things I had suspected in advance. Others hit my like a ton of bricks.

And as always, I was impressed by just how adult a YA novel can be, and as tired as I am of some of the attitudes portrayed, I do have to give the authors credit for treating their readers like mature intelligent people and not trying to hide the gritty facts of life or sanitize anything. The world is messy and painful and full of swearing and sex and betrayal. Once more, this series proves that it's capable of being real without wallowing in darkness like it's going out of style.

I'm definitely looking forward to reading book 4!