Book #30: Untamed

Title: Untamed (Book #4 of the "House of Night" series)

Author: P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Date started reading: March 4, 2012
Date finished reading:  March 5, 2012

Publish date: September 2008
ISBN: 978-0312379834
Number of pages: 352

Official summary: "Life sucks when your friends are pissed at you. Just ask Zoey Redbird – she’s become an expert on suckiness. In one week she has gone from having three boyfriends to having none, and from having a close group of friends who trusted and supported her, to being an outcast. Speaking of friends, of the two Zoey has left, one is undead and one is unMarked. And Neferet has declared war on humans, which Zoey knows in her heart is wrong. But will anyone listen to her? Zoey’s adventures at vampyre finishing school take a wild and dangerous turn as loyalties are tested, shocking true intentions come to light, and an ancient evil is awakened." (http://www.houseofnightseries.com)

Official book "trailer:"

How I obtained the book: Received through the Paperback Swap book club. (I had to pay to mail a book to another member in order to receive a credit to request this book)

Memorable quotes:

• "Aphrodite makes us understand why women have drowned their babies." ~ Shaunee
• "Sometimes chaos and love seem like the same thing." ~ Aphrodite
• "Free will sometimes sucks." ~ Zoey
• "I started hearing police and fire sirens, along with gunshots, which made me smile grimly. This was Oklahoma, and us Okies did love our guns. Yep, we exercise our Second Amendment right with pride and vigor. I wished I had a clue if modern weapons would make any difference to creatures born of magic and myth" ~ Zoey's reaction to hearing people shooting at Raven Mockers (It was really spot-on when it comes to how many Oklahomans are with their guns)

My commentary:

• Aphrodite has become my favorite character in this series. Her personality is surprisingly like me in many ways. She's often rude and mean. She's moody. She hurts a lot of people's feelings, but in some ways it's mainly just because she's so blunt and honest. She's probably the most honest person in the series. Sometimes honesty hurts. I've always said I'd rather be called a bitch than have someone think I'm weak and don't speak my mind, and Aphrodite portrays this attitude well. Deep down she is a good person, but she uses the rudeness to shield herself from pain due to a troubled childhood with nightmarish parents. I totally get how that is...
• Cats play an important part in the series. I guess that makes sense because cats are often portrayed as familiars to witches, and the vampires in the series perform magic all the time. If the books ever really get made into a movie, it will be interesting to see how they handle the cat situation. Each cat has such a distinct personality in the books, and each one looks a specific way. Anyways, Aphrodite's cat is such a perfect fit for her character. I'm glad she found a cat... or rather a cat found her.
• With the previous book, I said I was getting annoyed with Zoey's love life. She was seeing three guys. In this book, she is basically single for two days before a fourth guy comes into the picture. Seriously can the authors not put so much focus on being in a relationship?  It puts a bad light on single girls... despite the girl power message in all the other aspects of the series. I really think Zoey should be single until she figures out who she is and what she wants from life.
• I really hate how I started reading this series because it was about vampires, but things just keep getting odder as I'm going through the books. Now there are bird demons (called Raven Mockers). Why can't authors stick with just the vampire theme without throwing in other random types of creatures into book series? Isn't a bird creature why I started hating L.J. Smith's "Vampire Diaries: Return" series? Why, yes, it was. I was really glad L.J. got fired from writing more VD books because of all the whimsical elements she was throwing in. The "House of Night" books are getting as stupidly whimsical.
• As much as I complain about various details of the series, it is so oddly addictive. I'm enjoying the books as much as I hate them 
• *Spoiler alert* --- I mentioned above that cats play an important role in this series, and at the end of this book after Neferet releases ancient demon Kalona from the earth, as Zoey and her friends are running out of the trap door in the school's surrounding wall, there is a line of cats waiting there for them. I have to admit that would be a really hilarious scene if this book is made into a movie. A bunch of people stumbling through a wall's trap door only to find all the cats from the House of Night sitting there. I'd laugh at that scene.  It does make sense because cats do seem to sense evil, so they'd want to get away from the place BEFORE Kalona is released, so I'm sure the cats would've all known something evil was about to happen

Buy on Amazon.com: Untamed (House of Night, Book 4)