Review: Awakened

Awakened (House of Night, #8) by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin 
Format: Ebook
Pages: 290
Source: Purchased
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★★★★★

Exonerated by the Vampyre High Council and returned to her position of High Priestess at Tulsa’s House of Night, Neferet has sworn vengeance on Zoey.  Dominion over Kalona is only one of the weapons she plans to use against Z.  But Zoey has found sanctuary on the Isle of Skye and is being groomed by Queen Sgiach to take over for her there.  Being Queen would be cool, wouldn’t it?  Why should she return to Tulsa? After losing her human consort, Heath, she will never be the same – and her relationship with her super-hot-warrior, Stark, may never be the same either…

And what about Stevie Rae and Rephaim?  The Raven Mocker refuses to be used against Stevie Rae, but what choice does he have when no one in the entire world, including Zoey, would be okay with their relationship?  Does he betray his father or his heart?

In the pulse-pounding 8th book in the bestselling House of Night series, how far will the bonds of friendship stretch and how strong are the ties that bind one girl’s heart?

Awakened is, by far, the most emotionally charged book in the House of Night series. I found myself tearing up during numerous parts, both happy and sad. Until this book, I never realized just how much of a hold the characters have on me.

Like the other books, the story is read from the different point of views of select characters. The Casts do a great job with this! I never found myself getting bored of reading the different point of views. I especially enjoyed getting in Rephaim's head. So much inner turmoil! He has an entire battle of light vs dark raging inside his head. He's one of the most interesting and original characters in the series and my personal favorite. The turn in the relationship between Stevie Rae and Rephaim was the highlight of this book for me. I cannot express how happy I was with the outcome of this relationship in Awakened. The Casts did a wonderful job working the plot to make that outcome possible. I really love Rephaim... I'm just a sucker for bad guys gone good! I  hope to see more of him in the next book.

Though there was plenty of drama in this book, it was not the stupid teen drama from the previous books. It's good to see the kids have finally grown up a bit! While there were not too many advances in the plot of the series, I still found the story to be engaging and interesting. Awakened paves the way for some true action in the next book, Destined.

Awakened has rekindled my love for the House of Night series. I think it is safe to say it is my favorite of the series so far! For those wondering if this series is worth pursuing, it is! There were rough patches in the beginning, but I think those have finally been smoothed over.