Book review: Betrayed by PC Cast & Kristin Cast

Betrayed is the 2nd book in the House of Night series.. I think it opens a few weeks after the events in the first book (I say 'I think' because it doesn't really say). Zoey's now the leader of the Dark Daughters and she's thinking what to do to change things. Her lovelife also takes on more complications and we're hit from out of nowhere with a death of one of the troops (I won't say who, I promise..). It just surprised me that a major character died on the 2nd book (the first death in the Harry Potter series happened in the 4th book when Cedric died and he wasn't even a major character (although Robert Pattinson did go on to play a more than major character in Twilight, hee..)) so I'm dreading the losses the good guys will have in the books to come..

*Just a side note, while writing this post, Spice Girl's The Lady is a Vamp starts playing, haha..*

Summary (of sorts): It opens with 'Parents' Night' where parents of the fledgings are invited to the House of Night and see how their kids are faring and meet the teachers as well.. I only expected Zoey's grandma to come but surprisingly, her parents went as well.. Of course, a clash that was inevitable occurred between Zoey's stepdad and Neferet over their beliefs with Zoey's stepdad saying that his religion is the only religion and everything else is the work of the devil (sheesh!). Because of this, Zoey's parents were asked to leave and never to return to the House of Night..

Zoey went out to clear her head after her parents left and accidentally witnesses Aphrodite getting a verbal lashing from her hoity-toity parents (Aphrodite's dad is the mayor of the town) which made Zoey understand her a bit.. Later, Zoey walks in on Neferet scolding Aphrodite about her visions. Zoey was surprised with Neferet's words and actions and thought she was more than harsh with Aphrodite. Neferet even went so far as to say that their goddess Nyx has turned her back on Aphrodite because of all the wrongs she's done. Her uncertainty with her mentor's actions resurfaced when Neferet took credit for the changes that Zoey wanted to implement with the Dark Daughters. 

Then we find out that a couple of guys from Zoey's old school went missing and Zoey felt that they were dead. Aphrodite also told Zoey of a vision she received about Zoey's grandmother dying. Zoey started believing Aphrodite when Zoey and her friends successfully changed the future by keeping her grandmother and the other people who would have died on the accident alive and well. She also started to wonder why Neferet said that Aphrodite's visions are no longer valid when it was obvious that Nyx did not turn her back on Aphrodite.

During Zoey's first circle, they all realize that each one of them has been gifted by Nyx with an affinity for the elements: Damien (their gay friend who now has found a new love in Jack) with wind, Shaunee with fire, Erin with water and Stevie Rae (Zoey's roommate and bestfriend) with earth. If I didn't mention it earlier, Zoey has affinity with these four plus spirit so she has an affinity with all the 5 elements.

After the joyous occasion of casting her first circle as the leader of the Dark Daughters, something tragic happens.. One of the major characters rejects the Change and dies in Zoey's arms.

Things turn for the worse when Heath went missing and Zoey, because of their Imprint, realized he was taken by the same undead dead fledgings that she previously thought were ghosts. So she goes to save him only to see the newly-dead-major-character among the undead dead fledgings. The newly-dead-major-character has retained some his/her (I did promise I won't tell who it was so I'm really being careful even with the pronouns, haha..) humanity and told Zoey who was responsible for the undead dead fledgings which confirms Zoey's worst fears..

Unsolved mystery: A powerful, charismatic High Priestess vs a powerful, young fledging, why? Also, why were the dead fledgings brought back to life with more-than-normal thirst for human blood and bloodred eyes?

My thoughts: Okay, the book has really gotten dark and more than PG-13.. That chapter with Heath and Zoey, though only a few pages, was way too graphic for my innocent eyes to read and mind to imagine, hahaha.. Actually, it wasn't that bad, the book was sexually-charged, yes, but when you start reading the series, you would have known that it was bound to go in that direction because of the tone of it..

Talking about Zoey's lovelife, well, she has her fledging boyfriend Erik and her human boyfriend Heath and now it seems that she's also caught the eye of Loren Blake, a temporary professor at the House of Night.. I don't know how this will play out but it looks to be interesting..

Anyway, not to linger on that topic, the death was a great blow and you've barely recovered when you get hit in the gut again.. I wasn't as distraught with this death as I was with Dobby (yep, Dobby's death is now my standard for all deaths I encounter in books) and it came out of the blue.. But upon reading further, you'd realize that this death is the one that makes most sense.

I liked how Aphrodite was shown as a disgraced fledging who has her own issues but doesn't care about all of it except her real fear that she has offended Nyx so bad that the goddess has turned her back on her.. Yes, she's awful, but she's really starting to grow on me.. I really feel bad for her but I'm glad that she's starting to turn around and do something good.. Her character was the most changed and I wish Zoey and her friends would catch up with her.. They're nice and all that but it seems they're stuck in their current mind frame..

I also like Heath.. I think he really loves Zoey, Imprint or not..

I had a few laughs when they were planning how to save Zoey's grandma from death..

The impending battle royale between Zoey and Neferet is something to look forward to as well.. Honestly, when I first "met" Neferet in book 1, I took a look at the last few pages of the book (yeah, I know, I cheated) to satisfy the feeling that I had that she's the bad guy, but when she apologised to Zoey for ignoring Aphrodite's behaviour, I thought, man was I wrong or what.. But because of the events in this book - vindication! in your face! Hahaha..

Was there something about this that I didn't like? Hmm.. I guess it'll be Zoey.. I mean, not that I dislike her immensely and I can't compare her to Katniss because they're in two different worlds, but Zoey's irritating in a way that I found Harry a bit irritating sometimes.. I really can't explain it.. Yes, they're both young and yes, they've both been thrust into a position they neither seeked nor wanted, but that's just an excuse.. DEAL WITH IT! Yeah, I would have shouted that in both their faces if I had a chance, hahahaha..

Anyway, I'm still hooked and hopefully will catch up with the series soon..

Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again!

Til then..