Darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good. These are the words that the Goddess Nyx whispers to High Priestess in training Zoey Redbird several times throughout the second novel in the House of Night Series. As the title of the second novel makes clear, not all is as it seems at the House of Night.
A month has gone by and Zoey has settled into life at the House of Night with her friends and her sort-of boyfriend, Erik Night. She's also imprinted her former boyfriend, a human named Heath. If that wasn't enough, she seems to have caught the eye of teacher Loren Blake. Zoey's angsting over her man issues takes a back burner to the news that a human boy she knew is missing. When his body turns up drained of blood, eyes turn to the House of Night. Another teenager she knew also ends up missing and suspicions start to turn to Zoey herself.
As if that wasn't enough, Zoey keeps seeing the possible ghosts of fledglings who had passed away recently. Dead is dead, isn't it? Or is it? They don't look like ghosts or like any vampyre that Zoey's ever seen before. Solving the mystery of the missing youths and the ghost fledglings is something Zoey takes upon herself, not including her friends in the matter. In fact, she turns to her enemy to help her find out what is real and what is really happening at The House of Night.
Zoey has observed several tense interactions between her mentor, High Priestess Neferet, and Aphrodite, the girl she displaced to become head of the Dark Daughters that have her questioning whether or not she truly knows her mentor. Is Neferet as good as she seems or is she the darkness in the light that Nyx is warning her about?
While the first book in the series emphasized the importance of acceptance, I think this novel highlights the importance of opening oneself up to others. By keeping secrets from her friends, Zoey is setting herself up for some heartbreak down the road. If you can't trust your friends, who can you trust? When something truly heartbreaking occurs, who will she have to turn to?
Betrayed is a good second novel in this series, advancing the plot greatly and bringing some real emotion into the fray. The many "loves" of Zoey can be overly taxing at times but Zoey maintains a sense of humor about it that makes it less grating than in some other series. I recommend this, as I do the whole series.
5 comments:
Ah the heroine with the many, many suitors... Sounds o familiar! The plot sounds interesting, and I was very curious about the "ghosts" of the recently dead students from the first book. And a teacher falling for her? That's the kind of scandal I might have to check out...
Thanks so much for taking time out of your fanfic writing to write this review!
Hehe no problem. I need the break from all the angst so reading and writing about HON helps!
Yes, like Sookie and Bella, Zoey has more than her fair share of men. I will say the teacher thing is important and leave it at that. Nothing but flirtation right now, inappropriate but not that bad. Yet. hehe The thing I like about Zoey and her men vs. the others is that Zoey is constantly questioning herself about her behavior, wondering when she became hoish and that kind of thing. It at least adds some amusement where the others just make me roll my eyes.
Guess she can't blame it on fairy blood or some ridiculous excuse... I'm intrigued by this book now that I have read your review. I'm in the middle of reading Kelley Armstrong's "Bitten" for a review I plan to do (needed a vampire break, I think), but perhaps HON could work it's way into the rotation again...
I finally managed to finish reading this book, thank you Nole for granting me this freetime from my betaing duties. I had slight problems with seeing the lines of the book at times, but other than that I really enjoyed the book.
I agree that Zoey's self critique is refreshing and makes it bearable to watch her dancing around all these male's. I believe that there is a point for all these loves for, but I just hope she learns how to distinguish lust (and bloodlust) from love, and attraction for from whatever power the others cast over her. She's all about relying on her instincts, why can't she simply centre herself, clear her mind and ask her instincts what she should do about all these men? If the instincts tell her none of them is right, why shouldn't she just decide to have some fun...
I completely agree, rameau! I honestly would love for Zoey to just say, Heath, you're my human. I will suck your blood and maybe do you because it makes me hot. Erik, you're my consort; we'll vamp and love together. Loren, teach me the ways of womanhood. hehe And...well...you'll have to read on to find out what the AND is. I do think by book 5 she's starting to pick up more on flaws with the males and have high hopes that the next book will shake one of them loose. We'll discuss that in a few more books though! I can embrace a girl that just decides she wants some fun instead of true love. I don't know if we're lucky enough to have that play out but I do have hope!
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