Review: Redeemed (House of Night, #12) by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Title: Redeemed (House of Night, #12)
Authors: P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Paperback, 310 Pages
Published October 2015
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
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Summary: In the final electrifying novel in the HoN series, Neferet has finally made herself known to mortals. A Dark Goddess is loose on Tulsa and the world. No single vampyre is strong enough to vanquish her - unless that creature has the power to summon the elements as well as the ability to wield Old Magick. Only Zoey Redbird is heir to such power…but because of the consequences of using Old Magick, she is unable to help. Find out who will win and who will lose in this epic battle of Light versus Darkness. 

Oh my goodness, I can't believe that this series is finally over. I'm in serious denial. And I'm seriously so sad.

I was a bit worried before I picked up this book because the last House of Night book I read was over a year ago, so I really didn't recall a single thing that happened. I struggled for the first few chapters, because the previous book had ended with a serious cliffhanger (that I won't spoil for you guys - you should definitely read this series yourself, because it's a highly under-appreciated but super great one!). Because of this cliffhanger, there was no beating around the bush. From chapter one you're thrown right into the action, so it takes some time to adjust. (Luckily, by the time I was a few chapters in, I was beginning to vaguely remember some of the stuff that was mentioned and by the end of the book it was like I had never taken such a long break between books at all.)

Now, before I get to the serious review-type stuff, I want to take a minute to cry over the fact that now that this series is over I'll never be able to read about James Stark ever again. *insert severe crying emoji* Ever since Stark was introduced (I honestly forgot what book it was, but probably around Book #7..?), I fell in love with him. Seriously. He goes beyond the realm of book boyfriend - that boy is my book husband. No matter how many books I've read since I first met him, he's always been my top choice for my favorite guy in all books. And I am actually severely depressed that I'll never be able to read a House of Night book and be jealous about his relationship with Zoey or just admire him in general ever again. *begins to cry profusely*

Now, down to the actual review-worthy stuff. This book was really good, which was a welcome change, since I haven't been a big fan of some of the more recent House of Night books - this was definitely one of the best ones. This one and the last one were definitely my favorites out of all of the twelve. Anyway, like I said, I was pretty surprised that I couldn't tear myself away from this book. Neferet became more than just a crazy b*tch in this book - she became an extremely crazy b*tch. Some of the stuff she did made me shiver and be all creeped out and horrified, honestly.

This last book also definitely highlights Zoey's maturity. She isn't the scared, awkward teenage girl calling everything "bullpoopie" like she was in the first book. Zoey has grown and matured and become strong and smart - not to mention powerful! Reading the book from her point of view (although again, there were several point-of-view switches, which weren't as difficult to keep up with and actually kept the story interesting) definitely helped show her mature side. In this book you really analyzed the fact that Zoey didn't think like an average teenager - she thought like a High Priestess and vampyre whose main job was to protect her people and the ones she loved. She definitely seemed pretty bada** in this book, if you ask me.

All in all, Redeemed was definitely worthy of being the conclusion of the 12-book House of Night series. I read this entire series throughout my entire middle school and high school life, and I'm genuinely sad to see it go - I can't believe I'll never be reading about my book husband James Stark ever again!!! :'( I'm still super satisfied with this book and although a lot of it made me really sad, a whole bunch of it left me feeling warm and fuzzy and happy inside, too - but not without some heart-stopping plot twists. I really hope there's some sort of spin-off or novella coming from this because I need to keep up with my book husband!!

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