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| Chosen (House of Night, Book 3) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Pc Cast, Kristin Cast
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Category: Book
List Price: $8.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  54 reviews
Sales Rank: 420
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 1
ISBN: 0312360304
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780312360306
ASIN: 0312360304
Publication Date: March 4, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: GREAT BUY!Brand New From US Distributor! WE ARE A 5 STAR SELLER with OVER 3,500,000 BOOKS SOLD!!! OVER ~ 600,000 FEEDBACKS ~ POSTED!!!
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Product Description
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…
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| Customer Reviews: Read 49 more reviews...
 Z and the gang brace for a bumpy journey this time around-(not even brown pop can take the edge off ) March 6, 2008
16 out of 20 found this review helpful
It's not an easy path that Nyx has chosen for Zoey Redbird. Since she was Marked as a vampire by a hunter, she's had to kiss her old life good bye. What is becoming even more evident to her is Nyx's parting advice: "..darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good".
This sets the scene for the Cast's next foray into the House of Night series. In this third book, "Chosen", Zoey has to grapple with more personal drama-and girls, there is a biggie in this book, the calamity of her having three boyfriends! Zoey has to juggle her burgeoning Imprint with Heath, her romance with Erik and yet, she still is mysteriously drawn to hottie Professor Loren Blake-a full-fledged vampyre (who is doing some serious swoopin'). How it all ends...welllll... is the climax of the book. Things are definitely heating up for Zoey in more ways than one.
The Casts don't leave us hanging entirely-the drama continues from "Betrayed" as Zoey wrangles further with Neferet-the conclusion that she is not as she appears to be-Neferet has been controlling the remnants-blood-craving ghouls who are no longer human or vampyre. These are the students that mysteriously "died" during transformation and are being led by Zoey's former roommate; Stevie Ray and Zoey will do anything to save Stevie Ray-including hiding and lying about her existence from Shaunee, Erin, Damien and Erik. But saving Stevie Ray means going against Neferet, who is hell bent on preventing exposure.
Things get further complicated as two professors are murdered on school grounds (possibly by the People of Faith), and the House of Night calls in the big guns: The Sons of Erebus (super-hot warrior vampyres). More surprises ensue-Zoey confronts the parental units, Damien has a love interest (finally!),the crew comes into their own magickal elements and even Aphrodite doesn't seem to be the beeyotch everyone thinks she is....
The Cast's talons craft a symbolic tale steeped in mysticism, arcane vampire religion, and a riveting cast of characters that is believable enough to stand solidly on its own-two feet.
By comparison, it might not have the verve of de la Cruz's Blue Bloods, but this cast of characters are compelling enough in their own right. The series is absolutely riveting and once you cross the threshold into the House of Night, you'll find it very hard to put down.
I cannot wait for "Untamed" to come out!Copyright(c)Nicola Mattos
 The Potential in this Series Has Died March 30, 2008
16 out of 20 found this review helpful
P.C. and Kristin Cast's "House of Night" is one of those series that started off with a lot of potential and now has no idea what to do with it. Marked (House of Night, Book 1) was a little rough around the edges, but a genuinely good start for the new teen series. Things started looking a little more troublesome in Betrayed (House of Night, Book 2), when the heroine showed less growth, because who needs to create depth when the protagonist is becoming increasingly perfect? The third book in the series, Chosen (House of Night, Book 3), was just full of sloppy character development and awkward plot transitions.
I kind of anticipated "Chosen" to expand further on the increasing conflict between Zoe Redbird and Neferet. After all, "Betrayed" did end with Zoe finding out the lengths that Neferet would go just to keep her secrets and hold up the facade of being a kind-hearted priestess. Somewhere in the chaotic narrative some professors were murdered, but those ended up looking like nothing more than devices to lengthen the page count. "Chosen" instead focuses primarily on Zoe's mess of a love life, the secrets she's keeping from her friends, as well as following up on the effects of Stevie Rae's transition since the end of "Betrayed".
I did like where the Casts went with Stevie Rae. The fact that the authors obviously cared not only about her character but about her friendship with Zoe really showed. These scenes are some of the most well-written in the entire series, and their connection with one another shines in every one of them. In fact, Stevie Rae shows the most growth of any character in the book, including Zoe. Oh, hell, let's just admit it: she outshone Zoe by leaps and bounds, and stole the entire book away from the heroine. This should NEVER happen in a first person novel.
Zoe, meanwhile, was floundering from page one. Perhaps the Casts realized that Zoe was becoming too perfect and was put on a pretty tall pedestal by all of the supporting characters. "Chosen" was a sloppy attempt to create Zoe's fall from grace--when she makes really bad decisions regarding her love life and when her friends finally realize how many secrets she has irrationally been keeping from them.
The terribly written "romance" in this book was absolutely agonizing to read. But then again, this isn't exactly anything new. First there's Heath, the idiotic sap of a human who, for some reason or another, can't quite understand that Zoe's affection for him appears to be less out of real attraction and more out of the desire for that wonderful tasting red stuff running through his veins. How many times has she tried to break up with him only to embarrass herself with a display of unbridled lust a second later? Who knows--obviously way too many to count. Then there's Erik, the almost-vampire whose romance with her is about as heated as the lukewarm coffee I'm drinking. It's possible that the only reason this relationship has managed to survive three books is because they are hardly EVER together. Obviously, someone has failed to inform Zoe the simple fact of relationships being built around trust, since the amount of information she confides in Erik is pretty much nil. And lastly, there is Loren Blake. Zoe deserved this one all the way. Loren spoke so prettily, he just about reeked of deception. The Casts should have developed this a bit more if they truly wanted me to be shocked by how it turned out. The worst part about this whole three boyfriends mess is the fact that Zoe spends nearly the entire book lamenting about how she's a "ho" and doesn't deserve any of them. Well, Zoe, you said it, not me.
The relationship between Zoe and her friends was equally as dreadful. I was getting there in "Marked" and "Betrayed", but "Chosen" pushed me to the threshold of just about despising every single one of Zoe's so-called "friends" (except Stevie Rae). Zoe's deviation to persona non grata among her peers was pretty well deserved, since she was keeping just about everything from them. "Chosen" made me realize just how little they actually know about Zoe--so little, they never even knew that she preferred the separation of her birthday presents from Christmas presents. But even before that, they were more of a nuisance than anything. Their dialogue with one another has become excruciating to get through. I suppose the Casts wanted it to come off as playful, but the sheer amount of "teen speak" has reached epic proportion. When it has infiltrated into the heroine's internal dialogue in astronomical amounts, my brain wants to explode to save itself from regressing to my middle school vocabulary.
And the rivalry between Neferet and Zoe that I had been anticipating? Almost non existent. Neferet was gone nearly the entire novel. She made a couple of appearances, blurted a few of stereotypical villain-like threats and went away. Neferet doesn't exactly evoke any kind of fear or intrigue. She simply acts as a very two dimensional excuse for conflict, and whatever semblance of battle between the two has become more boring than compelling after 3 books of nothing happening.
RIP "House of Night". You weren't great, but you could have been a hell of a lot better.
 Zoey's perfect life isn't so perfect all of a sudden... March 9, 2008
13 out of 17 found this review helpful
I was pretty iffy about CHOSEN. The authors have tried to throw a few curveballs Zoey's way in this book, and although I think it's long overdue I wasn't impressed.
In book 2, BETRAYED, I really liked seeing Zoey grow into a role of leadership, think for herself, and show some courage. She had ideas, and she made things happen. But in CHOSEN Zoey backslides a lot - she keeps coming up with plans of action (especially where her romantic life is concerned), and then...doing the exact opposite of what she decides. She makes some progress with Stevie Rae, but loses control everywhere else.
She makes some decisions that cause her friends to think twice about her. But I ended up thinking less of her friends because of these incidents.
A good example comes from the very beginning of the book, in the first chapter. Zoey's birthday is Christmas Eve and she has a serious problem with "Birthmas," when Christmas and Birthday gifts are smooshed together. But all of her friends get her Christmas-themed birthday presents. This seems unlikely from people like the Twins and Damien, who are very fashion-conscious and unlikely to get excited about kitsch. Zoey isn't thrilled but she thanks them all as enthusiastically as she can.
Then her friends spy on a birthday card from Zoey's old boyfriend that mentions how much she hates getting Christmassy gifts for her birthday...and they all get angry at Zoey. Because she should have told them what not to get before she knew what they were getting? Because she didn't tell them she didn't like their presents as she was opening them? Both of these things would have been pretty tacky and rude. But her friends are unanimous in their disapproval.
This whole incident left me feeling pretty frustrated with her friends, who were way too quick to jump on her, and whose behavior had been a little bizarre to begin with. Later on in the book, this type of incident is repeated and I was even more shocked at how fickle her friends appear to be. If someone has your back, they shouldn't be so fast to turn against you.
The end result is that even though Zoey is facing more difficult challenges than ever before, they felt manufactured and artificial to me. I'm not sure if I thought CHOSEN was better or worse than earlier books - it's still fun, self-indulgent, and kind of lightweight. I'll be reading the next one when it comes out.
 Being Chosen Doesn't Mean Everything's Easy June 9, 2008
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
After having been let down by Betrayed, the second book in the House of Night series, I wasn't sure what to expect with Chosen. Would Zoey be able to save her undead dead friend Stevie Rae? Would she ever resolve the boyfriend drama? What about her rivalry with High Priestess Neferet? It had seemed we were heading somewhere, and I wasn't sure it was going to be worth the ride, but I plunged ahead into Chosen anyway. And I was pleasantly surprised.
Zoey's world is crashing around her in Chosen. She's still got the boyfriend dilemma (why on earth didn't she just stay with Erik?), and her relationship with young professor Loren Blake is still just icky. Heath's still around, still Imprinted, and Zoey's still confused. In fact, this confusion takes a major amount of energy and drives a lot of the plot in Chosen. Meanwhile, Zoey's relationship with her mother and step-loser continues to deteriorate, and there's another Full Moon Ritual coming up. Zoey's unsure what to do to save her best friend Stevie Rae, but she knows she must do something, and it's going to have to involve arch-nemesis Aphrodite. Sound like enough turmoil? It's not. Adult vamps are turning up horribly murdered, and war against the humans is about to be launched.
I liked that this book showed us another side of Zoey--the confused teen who is led by her hormones to do things she knows she shouldn't. Yet Zoey still wants to protect her friends, though they don't understand. I was disappointed in their treatment of Zoey at the end; sure, she didn't make the best decisions but they are supposed to be her friends, the ones who have supported her throughout her transition into the House of Night. So now Zoey's alone, more confused than ever, and her worry over both Stevie Rae and Aphrodite will be driving her actions in the next installment. I hope the Casts will show us a continually maturing Zoey, not just a powerful one, in Untamed. I'll be waiting for it.
Book 3 in a Really Great Series! March 26, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
"Yep, I have a seriously sucky birthday," I told my cat, Nala. And Zoey Redbird couldn't be more accurate with that statement!! First of all her birthday is December 24th, and everyone always gets her Christmas themed birthday presents. Her mother has basically given up on her. Her step-loser (uh, step-father) is an elder in the People of Faith church. They believe that all Vampyres are evil, and now some not-so-veiled threats have been received. Her best friend, Stevie Rae, "died" at the last Full Moon Ritual. But I guess you have to use that term loosely. When a fledgling is "marked", the change process to become an adult Vampyre begins. Not all fledglings survive the change because their bodies reject it. Some die. But Stevie Rae's death was actually another type of change. Because now she has become "undead", almost a caricature of what people believe vampires to be: full of bloodlust, only can move at night, and rather evil. But at least in Stevie Rae's case, a small part of her humanity is still present and Z wants to help her.
Then there's the fact that she has 3 boyfriends. The wonderful Erik Night, who is an upperclassman at the House of Night and a total catch. Her human ex-boyfriend, Heath who doesn't really want to be an ex. Ever since Zoey drank a little of his blood, they Imprinted and Heath just can't leave Zoey alone. And then there is Loren Blake, the Vampyre poet Laureate. He's gorgeous, sensitive, an adult Vampyre and a teacher to boot. Completely off-limit to students, but he really has a thing for Z.
Finally, there is Neferet, the High Priestess at the House of Night. She was Zoey's mentor and friend, until she betrayed her. Zoey knows she has something to do with the Undead fledglings and Stevie Rae. Zoey knows in her heart that Neferet represents something evil, but she doesn't know what to do about it. She can't even discuss it with her friends. Since Neferet has the ability to read minds, the little her friends know, the safer they will be. Zoey feels awful about lying to them, but she really is doing it for her own good. Then there is Aphrodite....Zoey's sworn enemy. When Zoey took over control of the Dark Daughters from Aphrodite, Neferet told everyone that the Goddess Nyx had withdrawn Aphrodite's powers to see the future. But that wasn't true. And since Neferet was unable to read Aphrodite, she turns out to be the one person who can really help her navigate her way through the mess her life has become!
When Zoey and Aphrodite stumble across the body of one the adult vampyre professors, it's almost a certainly that something bad is on the horizon. A war between the humans and the vampyres is coming and Zoey is trapped smack dab in the middle.
Can I just say now how much I really LOVE this series?? With that said, I really hated the ending of this book. I do realize Chosen ended in a way that will lead us to the next book. Zoey is a wonderful character: she is strong, smart and vulnerable at the same time. When she makes mistakes, she tries to own up to them and that makes her something special. She has been blessed by Nyx with an affinity for ALL the elements AND the spirit. Again, that is something that has never happened before. She is definitely a High Priestess in training. She just needs to figure out who she can really trust and find a way to do something about all the drama that has become her life!
This book was fantastic, even with the ending that I didn't like and a Zoey that was more than a little whiney. Doesn't make it a bad book. Just leaves me on pins and needles until the next book is out. And I can't WAIT until Untamed, Book 4 in the House of Night series is released later this year!!
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