Book Review: Burned (House of Night #7) by PC Cast and Kristin Cast

Summary:

Things have turned black at the House of Night. Zoey Redbird’s soul has shattered. With everything she’s ever stood for falling apart, and a broken heart making her want to stay in the Otherworld forever, Zoey’s fading fast. It’s seeming more and more doubtful that she will be able pull herself back together in time to rejoin her friends and set the world to rights. As the only living person who can reach her, Stark must find a way to get to her. But how? He will have to die to do so, the Vampire High Council stipulates. And then Zoey will give up for sure. There are only 7 days left…

Enter BFF Stevie Rae. She wants to help Z but she has massive problems of her own. The rogue Red Fledglings are acting up, and this time not even Stevie Rae can protect them from the consequences. Her kinda boyfriend, Dallas, is sweet but too nosy for his own good. The truth is, Stevie Rae’s hiding a secret that might be the key to getting Zoey home but also threatens to explode her whole world.

In the middle of the whole mess is Aphrodite: ex-Fledgling, trust-fund baby, total hag from Hell (and proud of it). She’s always been blessed (if you could call it that) with visions that can reveal the future, but now it seems Nyx has decided to speak through her with the goddess’s own voice, whether she wants it or not. Aphrodite’s loyalty can swing a lot of different ways, but right now Zoey’s fate hangs in the balance.

Three girls… playing with fire… if they don’t watch out, everyone will get Burned.

 

Review:

This book was such a let-down. It was slow, hard to get in to, and frankly, pretty boring.  It is very much a transition piece. The only new things introduced were the additon of the Light versus Darkness struggle. Zoey is skittering around in the Otherworld like a detoxing addict the whole time, Stark is working out his issues, Stevie Rae is in love with a half-human, half-beast Raven Mocker who HAS A BEAK FOR A MOUTH for goodness sake, and Aphrodite is still her usual self. There's very little from Damien, Jack or the twins in this book, which was a disappointment. I usually like hearing about their escapades.

Unlike the other House of Night books, Burned has a lot of bad language. Why are these kids all of a sudden cussing like sailors? I feel like the Casts are trying to make their characters more grown up, and instead of DEVELOPING them, they just decided to make them cuss. 

Burned is a transition into the next line of the story, and I sincerely hope that Awakened (book 8) is a better book. Hunted and Tempted were too good for this series to go bad. The Casts better get crackin' on these books because I don't plan to be still waiting for House of Night books to come out when I'm 40!!

 

Just One Gripe:

Oh, I have so many.  Just one hundred gripes is more like it.  I'd have to say my biggest gripe was the plot or lack thereof.

 

The Best Thing About This Book:

Hmm, thinking hard here.  This is a stretch, but I did enjoy reading about the kids traveling to Venice and the Isle.  It was nice to not be at the Tulsa House of Night the whole book.

Appropriate for a younger audience:

No.  I can't believe that this book is in the YA category. It has all the elements of an adult book but is written simply (easy reading level). If I had teens, they would NOT be reading The House of Night series.

Score:
Characters:  2/5
Plot:  1/5
Setting/Imagery:  3/5
Originality:  2/5
Ending:  1/5
Total Score:  9/25

 



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