House of Night has a unique take on vampires, but I can't say I liked it very much. In fact, the book sucks. It was this off-brand, trying-too-hard-to-be-different version of Twilight which turned out to be an epic fail.
Okay, maybe some parts of it were fine. But most were weird, stupid, disgusting, boring, repetitive, predictable, annoying and lame. The main character was terrible, all her friends were fake, and her so-called "boyfriend" was the lamest guy ever.
The main character : finally someone whinier than Bella Swan.
Zoey thought too much of herself. Of course, she was gifted with great brains and was a one-of-a-kind fledgeling. She had amazing powers like no one had ever seen before, magically gifted stunning tattoos, a coloured-in super cool Mark, smart friends who always had her back, a gorgeous and popular boyfriend, and only the best mentor in the school.
Was she grateful? No.
Was she polite and understanding? No.
Was she kind to her friends? No.
Did she really even like her boyfriend? No.
Did she deserve any of what she had? NO.
She was mean and rude, and since the entire book was written from her point of view, every single person whom she met was either - a) lame, b) annoying, c) random or d) a loser.
Seriously, the amount of times in that book that people have been called losers is atrocious. I mean, everyone who wasn't a big fan or loyal friend or faithful worshiper of Zoey's was inevitably a loser.
Her "boyfriend" Erik was so random and useless it was hilarious. Of course, he was the ex-boyfriend of the most popular (and naturally, Zoey's arch-nemesis) fledgeling in the school, the most handsome, the smartest - and honestly I don't even need to continue. We all get it. He was perfect.
Why did he like Zoey, you may ask. Well for the exact reason every other cliche protagonist is loved by the dashing hero - none at all. The first time he approached Zoey, she ignored him. The second time - she yelled at him. The third time - she cried. The fourth time - she rejected him. The fifth time - she almost got him killed. The sixth time - she kissed him and fell in love.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the touching love story of our protagonist.
There was absolutely no use of Erik in the entire book. He did nothing except "be there for her" and provide unnecessary comfort and undeserved love (both of which happened one out of hundred times). He just followed Zoey around, asked her creepy questions, pried into her life, made her very uncomfortable and did nothing to make her life easier. So very romantic.
I will refrain from writing about how extremely irritating it was that all the best things in the world happened to Zoey because that's how the world is. That's how our great, awe-inspiring heroine is. She's the best. She's the absolute best at every single thing.
The plot : acceptable but annoying
Honestly, the plot was fine. But it was hidden underneath all the layers of unedited writing (I really need to talk about this), useless characters, the annoying-ness of Zoey, and of course, her "boyfriend".
The story was not too bad once it actually started. But when did it start? In the last chapter of the whole book of two hundred pages. The rest was just rubbish added to make the book longer and build-up to the final moment. Or to make the book more like Twilight.
The author (authors? I really don't know) has basically just written the first thing that came to her mind. She was perhaps trying to make Zoey a relatable character by writing her "thoughts" or whatever all those brackets were supposed to be. She has written "hehehe" or "hahaha", or something along these lines, once in every page. All the girls in the school who Zoey hated were blonde. Just blonde. Because that described them so well like the mean, bratty, holier-than-thou girls they were supposed to be.
The author has used just one word to describe everything. If an object happens to be black in colour, that's all it ever is. If a girl has blond hair, that's the only thing she is - a blonde. If Zoey hates someone, she will hate them forever, and if someone is her "friend", he or she always will be.
I have heard many nice things about the series and perhaps the "vampire fiction" part of it is okay. Most reviews also say that the story gets better in the next few books. I have lost all hope of the writing-style or editing to get better, but maybe the story will.
And yeah, this review was not exactly written in praise of the book, but I am going to read the next one, so there was a little part of it that makes me want to see what happens next.
So I will go read the next book and get right back to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment