At last, Zoey has what she wanted: the truth is out. Neferet’s evil has been exposed, and the High Council is no longer on her side – but she’s far from done wreaking havoc in the vampyre world. First, a mysterious fire ravages the stables. Then, Neferet makes a devastating move that will test them all.

With the seeds of distrust sown and Darkness breeding chaos at the House of Night, everyone must band together – but that’s proving to be more difficult than ever before. The twins are barely speaking and the House of Night’s former enemy, Kalona, has now become their warrior, pushing their trust to the limit. To top it off, Zoey is pretty darn sure she might be losing her mind. She saw something when she looked at Aurox through the Seer Stone that she can hardly explain to herself, let alone her friends. Is it possible that Heath has come back in a different form? Is that why Zoey’s so intrigued by Aurox, when it’s so obvious that he’s dangerous? And who would believe her if she told them? Zoey knows that following her instinct about Aurox might be just what they need to defeat evil . . . but if she’s wrong, it could cause the destruction of those closest to her.

With the tension at a breaking point and friendships on the line, can the nerd herd come together to stop the spread of Darkness before it’s too late?

I have always known what to expect with this series, but honestly I find myself tiring of the same old same. For one, I wish the Casts would quit referencing pop culture phenomenon. It’s really hard to take your series seriously when you have your characters constantly berating other series or claiming, “That’s fake, this is reality.” No, I’m sorry, your series is just as fictional as theirs. Also, if you are going to reference something, like, I don’t know.. The Wizard of Oz, get your facts straight. A book series and popular movie for decades deserves more respect than to have your main character call someone Glinda the Good Witch of the West. And considering, you were referring to Damien whose affinity was air and therefore is supposed to be connected to North, this is a mistake that should have never came into play.

A lot of people don’t understand how or why someone continues on with a series after they’ve come to despise it. The only way I can explain it so that you might understand is that I’ve invested a lot of time into reading these books and though I feel they’ve grown worse over time, I’m still invested in the storyline. One of the things the Casts had going for them during this series was the world and mythology of vampires that they created. The concept of a vampire finishing school was interesting. The concept of having a vampire goddess, who also happened to share a likeness to many other female goddesses and/or religious figures (i.e. the virgin Mary), was interesting. So where did it all go wrong?

For me, I think the books began to take a huge nose dive after they started including multiple points of view. As much as I like Stevie Rae, I wasn’t fond of her point of view and honestly, I wasn’t fond of her story with Rephaim. Also I have to say the lack of maturity and passage of time is really bogging these books down. All of this is happening within Zoey’s first year at the House of Night. So… while it’s understandable to why she’s not maturing, having a scene where Nyx is telling her to grow up and yet she says she magically did is really annoying. Why? Because she’s not growing up. Her best friend dies, she doesn’t grow up any. Heath who was her first love and best friend dies, she falls to part, goes to the Otherworld and yet she still hasn’t shown the slightest bit of maturity. I’d mention her mother, but I feel like I’m being redundant. These are the kinds of experiences that change people’s lives and outlooks. Yet, Zoey is still the same girl who is worried about finding brown pop, snotting when she cries and her raging IBS issues. When Erik is more understanding to things than you are, something is wrong. If you want me to support this kind of heroine, than make her to be more than just a self-centered teenage girl. She can be both. But she can’t just be teenage Zoey. As it stands, she’s gotta grow up at least a little for me to believe she deserves to be the big savior she’s believed to be. Hell, if Harry Potter can do it, so can freaking Zoey Redbird. How’s that for a cultural pop reference, Cast?

As with all of the books, I have never been fond of the spells they have included. Especially this “I save the day!” one. It’s as if they were too busy trying to find something that rhymed that they didn’t realize how childish and ignorant it sounded. What is the point of coming up with these silly little things if you aren’t going to put some damn effort into it. Zoey didn’t save the day, she just pissed off Neferet even more. Needless to say, the longer this series goes on, the higher my Team Neferet flag raises. Worst part about it all, is the fact I know Neferet won’t win. But I’d rather back the guaranteed loser than Zoey.

Rating

Amazon

Pick up your copy on Amazon: Hidden by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast