House of Night Series - Book Review

House of Night Series

Book Review

Burned and Awakened

By: P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

I read these two books of this series, thinking to review them before I gave them to ECJ to read. They're about vampires, one of the topics that ECJ loves to read about. Well, although these books are marketed towards teens (as shown by the ages of the main characters) this is not a series that I want my teenage son to read. It's a good series, from the two books of it that I actually read, in that it engages the reader fully in the story. There are just some sexual content that I don't find appropriate for my teenager to read.

Both books were engaging. The idea of the mix of vampires, magic, the battle between good and evil (Light and Dark) ... all of it is done very well. It caught my imagination and kept me entertained through the reading of both books. To the point that I wouldn't mind reading the rest of the series ... I sort of jumped into them near the middle to end of the series. You can get the entire series on Amazon here for a pretty decent price. The mixture between how teenagers normally feel and the magic and mysticism of these books is a great blend. And the sexuality that is included in the books isn't very graphic so could be overlooked by a lot of people. As I said, I wouldn't mind reading the rest of the series but I don't find it appropriate for my teenager.

Even in just the two books from this series that I read you can get a good feel of the battle between Light and Dark, good and bad, and the struggle that the characters face trying to find a balance in their choices. There's major points earned when you realize that some of the characters choose darkness after following the light, some never stray from the light, and others choose light even though they've been touched by darkness. It shows a humanity normally not shown in vampire books. We all have to choose between right and wrong and these books show the characters facing these types of decisions.

Overall I think that it is a good series and perhaps I'll read more of them. I bought these two books at the thrift store so if I can find a good deal on the rest of the series I probably will read the rest of them. Perhaps, even save them for ECJ for when he's a bit older and not just newly turned 15 ... if his interest in vampires remains.