I spent July finishing off The House of Night series. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, see my post about my June books. I am free from this series! First and foremost, this series was 12 books long… Which is at least 7 books too long. The series was incredibly repetitive and could have cut out or condensed a lot of plot lines. I also read the 4 Novellas and 1 “related” book. There’s 7 more books tied to this series… that I absolutely will not be reading.
Was this series a waste of time? No… ish. I wouldn’t have continued to read this if my niece wasn’t involved. It is really dated but seeing as she was obsessed with it, if you’re looking for a vampire series for a pre-teen, you got it. Twilight is better though #sorrynotsorry.
The order that I read them in was what was suggested on the internet. It helped having the novellas sprinkled throughout the last few books, as they explained a few things that were talked about in the main series. I recommend reading it the same way I did.
1. Awakened (House of Night #8) by P.C. and Kristin Cast
I love the trope in Young Adult books where adults are absolute morons who don’t notice anything. It’s one of my favorite things. This book really loves that trope. No one, besides the group of teens, knows that Nefert is bad news because only these random teens can see through her. I do have to say that I’m excited to see where Repheriam goes from here – his storyline is one of my favorites so far. Erik is annoying, Zoey is being a brat, and Stark is being Stark.
2. The Fledgling Handbook 101 (House of Night Related) by P.C. and Kristin Cast
The characters in House of Night talk about this handbook a lot. You absolutely don’t have to read this. To be honest, I skimmed it. A lot of what is in here is already talked about in the actual series. It’s a little terrifying that the authors are teachers because this is a terrible handbook for teens.
3. Dragon’s Oath (House of Night Novella #1) by P.C. and Kristin Cast
Ah student teacher relationships. Wonderful. But in the vampire-verse of House of Night, you can be a ~21 year old student because you haven’t “made the change” to become an “adult” vampire. The student/teacher love story is still the worst and I really wish that people would stop writing about it. To be honest, I actually forgot this was technically Dragon’s story because I thought it was Anastasia’s.
4. Destined (House of Night #9) by P.C. and Kristin Cast
This is just Harry Potter, isn’t it? I understand that it’s a cliche for a reason but the whole “love wins over evil” thing is overplayed. It’s not Harry Potter because at least the characters mature. I get that this long ass series is really only over the span of like 5 months or so (ridiculous) but boy oh boy am I over the immaturity in this novel. And all the really bad “slang”. There’s nothing worse than grown ass adults writing teen slang. Also, no one wants Heath here.
5. Lenobia’s Vow (House of Night Novella #2) by P.C. and Kristin Cast
I love Lenobia as a character and I really loved being in her head and seeing her story. Her story was well written and you get to see more about her. That being said, this book gets a little intense when it comes to sexual harassment and abuse. I had planned to write about each book as I read it but forgot… And now my thoughts on this novella are overpowered by the following novella…
6. Neferet’s Curse (House of Night Novella #3) by P.C. and Kristin Cast
And that’s because clearly all men in olden times are rapists (or want to be). I understand that people love the villains backstory but I’m sick of a villains backstory being all about a man. This is probably why I like Maleficent. We got a clue into Neferet’s horrible upbringing earlier in the series but this dives deeper. Despite the plot, I actually think this was my favorite novella. It was really well written – compared to the rest of the series and it created a really good flow into why Neferet is the way she is (no excuses though, she’s a horrible person).
7. Hidden (House of Night #10) by P.C. and Kristin Cast
Blah blah blah vampires finally knows Neferet is bad news. The fact that this all takes place in about 5 months really is insane though. Neferet is SO BAD at being bad that within a few months, she was brought down by a teenaged girl who has no idea what she’s doing? How boring was vampire life before Zoey came along? The authors really should have made the series take at least a year. The crazy thing in this series is the Twins being COMPLETELY different all of a sudden. Like literally, all of a sudden. There’s zero explanation and I don’t blame Erin for feeling whiplash. Oh and don’t worry, if you missed the love triangle/square/octagon, it’s back.
8. Revealed (House of Night #11) by P.C. and Kristin Cast
I think I’ve already read this book. Like, this entire book in this series already. This book is a rehash of this entire series in one book. I’ve already talked about Zoey and her pickiness about who she decides is good and who’s bad. Like how she calls women big hoes for having sex while she’s kissed at least 4 different guys in a 2 month period. How is it that Stark can be forgiven for being evil (and almost raping someone) but Erin can’t because OMG SHE’S A MEAN GIRL AND WE HATE MEAN GIRLS (except Aphrodite who continually uses the “r” word and I’m over it). I really don’t remember what happened in this book anymore. But Neferet’s secret is out (I think), people are dead, everyone is looking to Zoey for what to do, and Zoey is judgy McJudgerson. Cool. Are we done yet?
9. Redeemed (House of Night #12) by P.C. and Kristin Cast
Oh my god I’m so close to the end that I can smell it. This book was fine. I enjoyed a few new POVs and the ending was good. But I’m here to ask WHY we always have to do the neat bow of “and everyone has a partner”? Let’s all just enjoy being single. Anyway the best part of this book was finishing it. Neferet sucks and she’s really dumb. She’s probably the dumbest villain I’ve ever seen.
10. Kalona’s Fall (House of Night Novella #4) by P.C. and Kristin Cast
This is trash. Just stop at the end of the series. It’s poorly written, rushed, and just a bad plot. The authors clearly just wanted a money grab. Kalona’s whole “story” is… just bad. Blah blah blah jealous dudes blah blah blah. I’m a feminist and I believe in girl power but the amount of men in this series that are just written as jealous and/or rapists is terrifying. Kalona’s “fall” is ridiculous and I really think that he should have never been redeemed. His past was too horrific, there’s no coming back from that.
Was there a series you were obsessed with as a pre-teen? What was it?
Writes with Wolves 