Burned (House of Night, #7)

by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

'The pieces of her spirit are with the dead in the Otherworld,' Aphrodite said, blinking hard against the stinging of her red-tinged eyes. 'Zoey is completely gone.'

Zoey Redbird's soul has been shattered by the death of her high school sweetheart Heath, and she has followed him to the Otherworld. As the world threatens to fall under Neferet's control, the only hope is that Zoey might find the strength to bring her soul together again.

Stark, Zoey's Warrior, is determined to save her, no matter what the cost to himself. And Heath is only just beginning to understand that, in the Otherworld, the only way to save Zoey is to lose her - completely...

• ISBN10: 0312606168
• ISBN13: 9780312606169
• Publish Date: 27 April 2010
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[FranJessca @ A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog]

I’ve been diving back into the House of Night series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast since I realized I never finished reading the series. I read Burned, the seventh book in the series when it was first released in 2010. I enjoyed it the first time I read it. The second time around, I’m finding some issues with the book, and I think it’s due to me being older. Yup, I’m older, and I noticed my love of the Young Adult genre had changed a bit. That doesn’t mean I don’t like this series by the fabulous P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. 

Storyline/My Thoughts: If you haven’t read the previous six books in the series, I would recommend not reading my review on Burned. I may end up spoiling something that happened from the earlier books. However, I try not to in my reviews. 

The book picks up from the previous book where Zoey has had her soul shatter in pieces after what happens to Heath. Kalona kills Heath in front of Zoey, and it breaks her. It’s going to be a mission for Zoey’s friends to get her back from the Otherworld, but it’s not going to be easy. They also have a time limit, so they do everything they can to get Zoey back.

What I enjoyed from this book:

• I loved how Zoey’s friends never gave up on her after her soul shattered. Her Warrior, Stark, felt he failed on keeping Zoey alive and was determined to get her back from the Otherworld. There were extensive risks with getting her back, but he didn’t care. Stark learned something about himself in this book was a shocker. His character is growing on me.
• The only real drama and action were really with Stevie Rae. She put herself in a predicament that almost got her killed, and Rephaim saved her. She also had to deal with the other red fledglings that didn’t want to go back to the House of Night but cause issues in town. Stevie Rae has to deal with them. Stevie Rae is dealing with a lot for a Red High Priestess.
• I did like the ending and how Zoey was saved. It took a lot to get there, though. (which I go over slow pace below in my review.)

What I didn’t like in this book:

• There was quite a bit of point of view in this book from others. Although there was a plus that Zoey didn’t get much POV time. She was pretty annoying in this book, especially since her soul shattered. There was more Stevie Rae in this book, and even she was driving me crazy. Her keeping secrets is what drove me bonkers the most. Readers will also get Kalona, Stark, Aphrodite, and Rephaim’s POVs. It was too much at times.
• The pace in this book was slower than the previous books. It took forever to get to any action and drama. It dragged on, and I found myself putting this book down to pick up another book or watch a tv show. I needed some more action.

Overall, this time around, this book receives 3.5 stars from me. I liked it but didn’t enjoy it the first time I read it. I’m older now, and my reading tastes have changed a bit. I do plan on finishing my re-read and finally finishing this series, but I’m doing it slowly.

Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the House of Night series, and I recommend reading in order.

Cliffhanger: Yes

Would I recommend this book? Yes. I recommend it to the readers that have already dived into the previous books in the House of Night series. I do recommend it to young adults/older teens that enjoy YA Paranormal/Fantasy. There is cursing in this book—more than usual. Since I was in the U.S. Navy, I can handle cursing, but some readers may not enjoy it in a YA/Teen book.

[Baroness Book Trove]

Once again the mother-daughter duo created another filler book. This book was purely made to deal with what happened at the ending of the last book. Sure all of them are sort of like that but this book takes place directly after Zoey's soul was shattered. I read some of the other reviews on this book and I believe them that this book could have been better but it really wasn't. I mean sure it kept me entertained as I read it but also I could see that it wasn't really edited and it also purely sucked.

I mean I know I said it before and I also know it's too late for what I say to take effect for the Casts but this series should have been put into third person, like in some of the chapters, and should have been told throughout her journey in the finishing school. I mean it's suppose to be a finishing school for vampyres but this book series only focuses on Zoey's first year. But like I said it should have been in each year. Like the first three books should have been her first year, the next three should have been her fourth year, the next three should have been her fifth year, and the last three should have been her sixth year. While at the end of her sixth year after she saves everyone she should have turned into a vampyre. Or something like that instead of pushing it all in her first year as a fledgling.

Also another thing I don't like about it is all of the stereotypes. I know I should have mentioned that before in my other sixth reviews but I just didn't think it would be important enough to do so. Anyways we have the gay stereotype(Damian and Jack), the black stereotype(Kramisha), the rich stereotype(Aphrodite and Venus), the blonde stereotype(Erin), and the country stereotype(Stevie Rae). I think that is it for the stereotypes but I could be wrong those are the only ones I have caught so far. But still each of those stereotypes are pretty much present throughout the book series. I didn't add in Shaunee because she isn't really apart of a stereotype really...or at least I don't think so. Anyways these stereotypes are pretty much obvious a whole lot throughout the book.

I love this series I do and I will continue on reading it until I get to the twelfth book but I just hope that it gets better or I'm not going to be too happy. Anyways this book is actually pretty good. It doesn't receive a five or four stars from me. It gets a three star. I usually start out with five then I take stars away if I need to. For this book sure it kept my attention and made me want to continue on reading it but what I didn't like was how this book to me was made purely to have as an after effect of the last book. Don't get me wrong it's a good book but it also could have used a little bit more editing and probably be reread from someone else and maybe add in some more things from the Otherworld from Zoey or Stark or even Heath's point of views. Oh or even Kalona's point of views. But oh well.

I'm glad though that Stevie Rae isn't dating Dallas anymore and that some things are a little bit better about the book but not by much. Opps that is totally a spoiler but you could tell by reading the plot up above this review that something was going to end up happening about that. But yeah hating the stereotypes and other things. Oh and I even more hate the whole abbrevations I mean yeah it's target to teenagers and I was a teenager when I started out this book series but the whole way they made the teenagers act in the books are also another thing that I hate about the book series. I mean I know that the two aren't teenagers anymore clearly but they should have at least let a teenager read the books as a beta reader to see what they think of it. But again oh well it's already over with. And I think I am done with my rambling of this book review. I hope this review has helped you out.

To read my other book reviews or movie reviews or anything really please go to my blog: http://baronessbooktrove.blogspot.com/

[violetpeanut]

Horrible, horrible annoying dialogue and little to no character development beyond their "powers."

[angelarenea9]

This book was a bit different than the previous 6. The pace was a little less fast, however it still had the urgency. Zoey's spirit has been shattered by Heath's death, and she is trapped in the Other world until she can literally pull herself together. Unfortunately she only has a week to do it before her body will die and she will become something terrible. The council tries to decide what should be done about the whole situation, but once again Neferat manipulates the situation. Once she knows what has happened, she sends Kalona's spirit into the Other world after Zoey to prevent her from leaving. Stark, with Aphrodite's and Darius's help heads to the ancient island of Skye to seek the help of it's ancient queen. Stark undergoes a ritual to become a shaman and Zoey's guardian which will allow him to enter into the Other world after her. Once there, he must convince Heath to leave so that Zoey will come back and save the world! Meanwhile in Tulsa Stevie Rae picks up where Zoey left off with two guys (one the lead Raven Mocker who Killed Dragon's mate Rephaim). She invokes the two Bulls personifying Light and Darkness because of one of the (terrible) prophetic poems their new poet gives her. However Dallas finds out about her new crush(?) and chooses darkness, which changes him into the second red vampyre. Luckily for everyone Zoey pulls herself together and her and stark make it out of the Otherworld alive, but not before a showdown with Kalona that ends in Nyx making Kalona give Stark a piece of his immortality!
There was more feelings in this book, but don't let that fool you, it was still an action packed book!

[neddieb]

I loved the relationship building between Stevie Rae and Rephaim. The only thing I don't like is that he is part Raven.

[Linda]

OK, so I laughed and I cried, and I was stunned when I came to the final page, thinking to myself : already??