Tempted

Tempted by Kristin and P.C. Cast, 2009 St. Martin's Press

     Unlike the other stories, Tempted is told from the point of view of not only Zoey, but Stevie Rae, Stevie Rae, Aphrodite, Rephiam, Heath, and Stark.
     After Kalona rose and helped Neferet attacked Zoey and her friends the two retreated to the House of Night leaving the 'nerd herd' to gather their allies. But Stevie Rae notices that Zoey is becoming exhausted and takes the reigns to allow her time with Stark and her grandmother. Sylvia recovers from her car accident and explains the relationship between Zoey and the reincarnation of Ay-a Kalona searches for. A sliver of Zoey's spirit is Ay-a, and she has the power to re-imprison Kalona. However the part of Zoey that is Ay-a is drawn to him, despite her desire to stay away.
     Kalona, Erik, and Stark all vie for Zoey's attention, but when Erik is overly possessive and jealous she dumps him. Erik turns and starts up a relationship with Venus, Aphrodite's former roommate. Kalona takes the opportunity to sneak into Zoey's unguarded dreams, when Stark senses her panic he climbs up to her room and acts as a shield against Kalona's entry into Zoey's dreams. Aphrodite takes Darius, the group's resident Sons of Erebus Warrior and Aphrodite's love interest, to Stark's empty room where she reveals her feelings and he pledges his Warrior's Oath to her.
     When the group returns to the House of Night they find Anastasia Lankford has been killed by Rephaim, a Raven Mocker. Dragon is devastated, Jack stays to comfort him and help him through the pain. Aphrodite's visions and Kramisha's prophetic poems show the 'nerd herd' Neferet and Kalona planning to return the vampyre world to the old ways. Jack uses social media to find the pair and locate them on the isle of San Clemente with the Vampyre Council. Zoey and her friends go to Italy to have their say at the Council. Zoey has a dream revealing if she is with Kalona the world will end, if she chooses Nyx and rejects him he will "die", but Zoey feels he can still be saved and has a hard time rejecting him completely. Zoey learns she is the only one who can defeat Kalona, but he promises to change if she will have him and shows her his past as Nyx's Warrior.
     At the council Neferet claims to be Nyx incarnate and places Kalona as her consort Erebus. The council names Aphrodite a Prophetess of the goddess, but distrusts Zoey because of her age. After the Council meeting Zoey and Heath talk, then Zoey sends him to find Stark. When Heath finds Neferet and Kalona in secret conversation he is found and uses the imprint with Zoey to call her just as Kalona kills him. Zoey throws Spirit at Kalona. Her action shatters her soul and sends her to the Otherworld.
     Meanwhile Stevie Rae has stayed in Tulsa to watch over the red fledglings and finds Rephaim injured on the Benedictine Abbey grounds. She rescues him and binds his wounds, but when she discovers he is the one who killed Anastasia Lankford, she doesn't know how to deal with it. The rogue red fledglings find Rephaim and use him to capture Stevie Rae and leave her in a cage on the depot roof where she is nearly burned alive. They get free and Rephaim offers Stevie Rae his imortal blood to save her, breaking the imprint between Stevie Rae and Aphrodite.
     The revolving relationships and power structures of the House of Night change how the students grow and develop. Zoey stands her ground and fights for what she believes, despite her friends' disbelief and the discouraging response of those in power. She finds inner strength and the changing world around her only adds to her convictions. Aimed toward middle teens, Zoey's story and that of her friends takes the age-old struggle of the average high schooler and puts it in an epic-quest format.

Everflame

Everflame by Dylan Lee Peters, 2012

     When Eveneye and Whiteclaw discover a human child while returning from a nighttime fishing excursion the two bears decide to rescue it from the wolves trying to make it their dinner. The bears take the boy home to their mountain fortress, Grey Mountain, and Eveneye asks the king to keep the human child: something about the boy makes him think he could be the bridge between humans and the bears. However, the king doesn't see anything special in the human child who was abandoned and left to be devoured by wolves and forbids Eveneye to keep him.
     Eveneye challenges the king and succeeds him as the next ruler of the Grey Mountain. They boy is named Evercloud and he grows as many young creatures do; in harmony with his world. But when he is a young man, some unknown thing appears in the sky to threaten the bears' sense of safety.
     Evercloud and his cousin, Riverpaw, petition King Eveneye for the chance to explore the mysterious shape in the sky--a shadowy ball of lightning. Despite his desire to keep his son at home, Eveneye sends Whiteclaw with the two youngsters on a mission to find the Ancients who ruled the land in time before history. The Ancients will know how to deal with the thing in the sky.
     The trio begin their quest at a nearby human village where they meet Ben and Thomas Floyd, two brothers who protect and guide them on their quest. The Floyd family, however, is hiding something. The newly enlarged quest sets out toward the mountains where they hope to free Tutoro, one of the four Ancients--the Ancient of Air.
     Hot on their trail is a cloaked Messenger, a man who travels the country answering to no one but the voice that gives him power. He believes he is on a holy mission and the horrific acts he commits are orders from his mystical patron. The Messenger kidnaps Old Man Floyd's daughter, Iolana, and forces her to lead him to the others.
     When the two voyages meet the Floyds' secret is revealed and the Messenger and his Tyrant escape the vengeance that would save the world. The quest continues in the second novel: Everflame 2: The Burning Man.
     Peters' book is an interesting take on sentient animals; the bears are much like traditional human characters and have growth like any other novelist's creation. However, their society is superficial; they live and survive but have little more than survival on the agenda. The appearance of the Tyrant and resulting quest provide reason for action in an otherwise unchanging landscape. Everflame is accessible and readily understood by most readers, it is a quick read and an appropriate age group would be young teens.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, 2009 Quirk Books

   Like in Pride and Prejudice, the story of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies follows Elizabeth Bennet and her family as they attempt to navigate the social waters of 18th century England. The twist is the outbreak of brain-eating zombies causing havoc throughout the countryside.
     Many of the same events take place in this parody of Austen's novel: the addition of Bingley and his party to Netherfield, the rampant dislike of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Wickham's appearance and encouragement of anti-Darcy sentiment, Jane's visit to London, Lydia's elopement, and the eventual connections between Elizabeth and Darcy, and Jane and Bingley. Unlike the original tale, marriageability is based on accomplishment in the martial arts and destruction of zombies. The Bennet girls have been taken to Asia to learn from the experts and have become very accomplished. The characters' main motivation throughout the novel, with the exception of finding a partner with whom to defeat the zombies, is to eradicate the "unmentionables." The charm of this spin-off relies on its use of Austen's original language, the zombies are added in Grahame-Smith's version of contemporary language.
     Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a fun take on Austen's classic and is easily accessible for young and teen readers. Along with the prequel and sequel the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies trilogy is a fun read for fans of paranormal literature.