Review: Destined (House of Night #9)

Destined 
by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast 

Zoey is finally home where she belongs, safe with her Guardian Warrior, Stark, by her side, and preparing to face off against Neferet -- which would be a whole lot easier if the High Council saw the ex-High Priestess for what she really is. Kalona has released his hold on Rephaim, and, through Nyx's gift of a human form, Rephaim and Stevie Rae are finally able to be together -- if he can truly walk the path of the Goddess and stay free of his father's shadow.

But there are new forces at work at the House of Night. An influx of humans, including Lenobia's handsome horse whisperer, threatens their precarious stability. And then there's the mysterious Aurox, a jaw-droppingly gorgeous teen boy who is actually more -- or possibly less -- than human. Only Neferet knows he was created to be her greatest weapon. But Zoey can sense the part of his soul that remains human, the compassion that wars with his Dark calling. And there's something strangely familiar about him . . .

Will Neferet's true nature be revealed before she succeeds at extinguishing Light? And will Zoey be able to touch Aurox's humanity in time to protect them all? Find out what's destined in the next thrilling chapter of the House of Night series.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review:  
Oh man, I said to myself that I was going to read a TON of books this winter break.... but then I discovered a new Taiwanese drama that had me thoroughly enthralled for an entire week.... BUT I (finally) managed to finish this book!


The House of Night series and I have had a somewhat complicated relationship throughout the years. I started off thinking the series was pretty darn cheesy--I don't know, I just found Zoey's character to be somewhat annoying and I've never really liked it when the main character just has all this awesome stuff handed to her (e.g. affinity with the 5 elements, getting the cute guy, being the new "it" girl in school...) But then, after the first couple of books, I started liking the series more. But note: I said "Like" not "Love."


At this point, I really think the Casts are dragging this series on for waaaaay too long. I mean really, enough is enough. This series could have ended already, but they have even more books coming out?! At this point, I'm only continuing to read these books because I have invested way too much time already, goshdarnit! 


I was actually pretty excited for Destined because I always rather liked the Zoey-Heath pairing (not to say that I don't like Stark... because honestly, he's pretty cool too) so I was super excited when the authors decided to bring Heath back into the mix, albeit with a little twist. The strange thing was, the more time passed before I read it, the more I actually didn't want to read it....totally weird I know, but I was actually kind of dreading reading this book.... But OK enough of my rambling--On to the actual review!!!


This book is told in multiple POVs, and I'm not just talking about Zoey, Stark, Stevie Rae, and Rephaim--there was Aurox (aka Heath), Kalona, Neferet, Dragon, Lenobia, and even Shaunee! I both liked and disliked this arrangement. 


Why I liked it: all the different POVs allowed you to see the story from multiple angles and you get to know much more of what was going on as opposed to just knowing what Zoey knows.
Why I disliked it: The whole story's so busy switching from one person to another, there wasn't any real action! Upon finishing the book, I looked back and realized nothing major actually happened until like the last couple pages of the book. 


So, if you like reading about all the interpersonal relationships and stuff in the books, you might like this a lot. 


As I said before, I am indeed a Heath fan so the fact that they brought him back as Aurox had be pretty stoked! However, it wasn't really what I expected--Aurox was pretty cool to read about and I liked his character quite a bit---but OH MY GOSH it literally took Zoey the entire book to figure out that Heath=Aurox! Honestly, I can't even begin to describe how irritating that was for me... and it wasn't even as if she couldn't find out before, she just chose not to! 


There was quite a bit of redemption going on in this book namely involving Dragon and Kalona--reading the other books, I never pegged Kalona to be a father who cared about his son as much as he did in this book, so that was pretty cool to find out. 


Also, Shaunee and Erin, aka the Twins, become not so twin-like in this book...which, I'm still deciding whether or not I like. I mean, it was good that they both realized their individuality...but seriously? Right now of all times? Just a little confused...


One thing that this book does really well is setting up for the next book. After looking back on Destined, I can't help but feel like nothing actually happened! But of course, the ending had me hooked and eager for the next release because I really want to know what happens next, what with all the changes and discoveries made..... darn you Kristin and P.C. Cast.... 


But bottom line: the book was good but not great or holy-crap-this-book-is-absolutely-freakin'-amazing! Overall, I think I've just grown a bit bored with the series, but hopefully, hopefully, the Casts can make the next books, the last ones, fantastic and end the series on a good note! :D