Dueling Reviews is a new feature here at RB where we read the same book and post multiple reviews of it at once. You are invited to add your thoughts in the comments, or hit me up at zombiemichele@gmail.com if you want to duel with me.
Michele Says:
Betrayed is the second book in PC Cast’s House of Night series. It starts with some of the worst writing Cast has to offer. Heavy-handed and repetitive, the first two chapters recount the events of book one and also depict lead character Zoey as the super special, chosen one of the goddess (okay, all the vampyres and fledglings are chosen ones, but Zoey is super Mega ultra chosen). Zoey has finally found a place she belongs in being marked to become a vampyre (if she survives). But her mother and stepfather are complete jerks, and super Christian ones at that.
On Parent Visitation night they show up, pretty much tell everyone they’re evil for not being Christian while the vampyres preach the peace and happiness of being beloved of Nyx. The scene is amazingly heavy handed and preachy, villainizing Christianity through a flat hateful character who represents the worst of people, not just a faith. Truthfully it made me pretty mad, and not at the bad character, but at the writer.
But then things settled down and even Cast’s authorial interjections smooth out letting Zoey shine through. See, this is the power and the draw to these books. Zoey is a normal girl, under all the super awesome powers. In fact, through Betrayed it’s the powers and vampyre stuff that comes natural and the normal stuff, like being true to yourself, trusting yourself, not falling into personal indication and greed and not trusting light, goodness, darkness, evil or authority figures just because you’re told to, that Zoey struggles with.
In Betrayed, Zoey is thrust into a mystery that started in book one when she saw the very solid, very wrong, ghost of fledglings who died in the change process. When bodies of humans Zoey used to know start showing up drained of blood it looks like vampyres are killing off humans. Zoey can’t shake the feeling that something is really wrong at the House of Night.
She also can’t shake her ex-boyfriend, Heath, who has been darn near stalking her (or as much as he can with Zoey locked up behind castle walls.) Which brings me to my next rant. Zoey’s love life really bothers me. This isn’t in the same way as the preaching issue.
First we have Heath, who Zoey kind of broke up with before she was even marked because he was a boozer and becoming a pothead. Now in Betrayed he’s making an effort to clean up, but since Zoey has fed on him he’s gotten more tenacious, and their relationship has taken on a really creepy tone. She wants him for blood, but also because he is sweet to her. There’s no question the blood and lust is the driving force, and she repeatedly puts him in danger and uses him despite knowing it’s wrong. For the second time in the series he almost dies because of her.
Then there is Erik Night, who is sweet, gorgeous and going places. He is in her age range, patient and understanding and supportive of Zoey’s special powers. He’s also a fledgling, so he understands.
Enter #3 and the most creepy, Loren Blake. The vampyre poet laureate, Loren is in his twenties at least. He is definitely an adult, is also a teacher, and his seeming attraction to Zoey feels really dirty. Not just because of the age, or the position of authority he holds over her, but also because Zoey completely loses her ability to think around him. The overwhelming nature of his presence to Zoey combined with world building that hints at vampyre powers really, really makes me wonder if he’s using some ultra-attraction power on her, either on purpose or not, but either way dulling her ability to consent with a clear mind. Pretty much the fact that Zoey cannot control herself around him, and he is the older, more experienced and fully mature vampyre and the one in the position of authority over her, yet he chooses to keep pursuing her instead of backing off makes me feel like we are witnessing the prelude to a rape. The Loren-Zoey romance is ultra squicking.
Once you get past the thorns in Cast’s writing style, Betrayed is an engaging, enjoyable read, rife with hot tension, drama, danger and teens just trying to live their lives and instead being called to do something special.
Naomi Says:
The good news is, Betrayed is a better book than Marked. The bad news is, Marked didn’t set the bar very high. We’re back with Zoey Redbird and her gang of wacky misfit friends in the second House of Night book. Betrayed sees Zoey dealing with being the most powerful vampyre fledging in history, juggling boys, coping with loss, and generally Mary Suing her way around the plot. Zoey’s learning that not everyone in her new life is what they seem and that her enemies are much closer to her than she ever realised.
Once again I feel the only way I can really explain how I feel about this book is to divide my review into the good and the bad, so let’s start with the good. Firstly, the writing in Betrayed is a big step up from Marked. The plot is intriguing and adds some new, unexpected twists and turns to the overarching story. There’s some cool character development with Aphrodite (my favourite character, actually) and the pagan element remains interesting. I remember now why I found this series so cracky when I first discovered it a couple of years ago – Cast has a talent for keeping you reading by layering in little details in the plot and worldbuilding that just pique your interest. The whole idea of the House of Night is just…neat.
I loved the developments with Stevie Rae. It’s a creepy new direction for her character that adds some much-needed tension and mystery to the series. And maybe now Zoey won’t harp on about her “Okie twang” anymore.
Now the bad. This might be a slightly longer section.
The opening chapter is offensively cack-handed in dealing with Zoey’s Christian parents versus the pagan vampyres. I felt in Marked that Zoey’s parents were portrayed as they were (uptight, inflexible, ashamed of Zoey, zealous in their religion) because it was convenient for the plot rather than because they organically developed that way. Betrayed reinforces that. We have a clash of epic proportions when Zoey’s folks come to the school open…um…night and start preaching at Zoey and her headmistress/mentor Neferet about how everyone’s going to hell. Neferet, being a wise pagan, puts them in their place very effectively. It’s not a pleasant scene and not for the reasons Cast wants it to be unpleasant. Castigating all Christians as hateful fire-and-brimstone zealots and implying that all pagans are enlightened superior souls by default is, to me, unnecessary. It adds nothing to the plot and tells me more about the authors than the characters.
I cannot stand the Twins. They’re the most hateful characters in the book for me. Their entire friendship is based on the premise that it’s just so crazy that they have so much in common because Shaunee is black and Erin is white. I get what Cast wanted to do here, but rather than the Twins seeming like a great example of interracial harmony, it just seems clumsy. That aside, they are simply not nice people. Aggressive, bitchy, shallow, mean…All the things they slag off Aphrodite for. Hmm.
Zoey spends a lot of Betrayed being preoccupied with how gay people are/are not. She refers to Damien (the group’s token gay best friend) as speaking gayly, more gayly than usual on one occasion, and notes that she herself is definitely not gay even though she thinks a female teacher is attractive, and of course we are reminded forcefully that Zoey’s sort-of-boyfriend Erik is definitely not gay even though he’s nice to gay guys. I don’t know if maybe Cast thought we’d forget Damien is gay if she didn’t remind us every time he appeared on page. No danger of that, as he’s a walking stereotype. He’s gay, so he loves fashion. He’s gay, so when another gay character enters the scene, they have to hook up. He’s gay, so other guys in school shun him (except Erik, but Erik is super special and definitely not gay even though he’s nice to gay guys). Look, I love it when books bring marginalised characters front and centre. I think it’s important that YA books especially are inclusive and welcoming of all sexualities and races. But Cast handles it so, so awkwardly that it becomes uncomfortable.
Speaking of uncomfortable, what’s the deal with Zoey’s love life? She has Erik, her sort-of-boyfriend, Heath, her sort-of-ex-boyfriend, and Loren, her teacher. No grey areas there, Loren is definitely a teacher. And yet nobody thinks it’s inappropriate that he flirts heavily and repeatedly with her. Zoey has some pseudo-angst over it, but it’s quickly dismissed because, well, Zoey is special and the rules that govern other students (ie, teachers and students shouldn’t get involved) don’t apply to her. I can’t really get behind that idea. It’s not so much that I object to Zoey having multiple love interests (although that is pretty tedious), but more that nobody, not Zoey, not her friends, ever says “hey, maybe this older male teacher flirting with an underage girl is not a good thing?” I’m sure if it was one of her friends, Zoey would say something but because it’s Zoey, it’s fabulous.
And of course, the flirtation with Loren is going on whilst Zoey is dating Erik and seeing Heath (although more for his blood than his personality). There are complicated love-lives and then there’s this hot mess. Aphrodite is constantly branded a slut for trying to seduce her ex-boyfriend in Marked, but Zoey is just super-awesome for stringing her guys along. Double standards, the House of Night has them.
Which brings us to the crux of my issues with this series: Zoey Redbird herself. She has nowhere to go. By the end of Marked she was already the most powerful vampyre fledging in history with divinely bestowed abilities, the attentions of the hottest guy in school, the leadership of the Dark Daughters, and the blessing of the Goddess Nyx. How do you develop a character like that any further? She’s already at the top of the food chain. She might make some token noises about just wanting to be normal and fit in, but we pretty much already know she’s just going to become a more special snowflake with every book. The real reason to read this series isn’t Zoey’s journey, not for me. I already know how that will end. What I want to see is Aphrodite’s journey. It’s a shame we’re supposed to hate her really…
Naomi Says: