Untamed - A House of Night Novel (Spoilers!)

I just finished the fourth House of Night novel, Untamed, last night.


I really wasn't impressed with Untamed when I first began reading it. While I liked the other books, I've begun to find them extremely repetitive. The fact that Damien uses advanced vocabulary has already been established, and yet it is still mentioned way too many times in every book. While I can understand the authors explaining this to new readers, it is extremely overdone to the point that it becomes annoying.


I also started to get annoyed with the dialogue of other characters as well, mainly during conversation involving the twins. It's just not believable for me that conversation would actually progress like that between older teens. 


Thankfully, the plot quickly advanced and previously introduced ideas were addressed and developed which made the rest of the novel enjoyable. Once I really got into it, I forgot about the annoying writing style (except when the twins were speaking to each other). The progress in the war on humans and the exposure of Neferet's true evil motives are what really kept me reading. In fact, wanting to know how this war on humans progress is what caused me to check out the fifth book in the series today. I suspect that the fifth book will be even more action-packed.


All in all, I am still this series when I'm able to overlook some of the more irritating aspects of the Casts' writing and will continue to recommend this title to other readers of Young Adult Fiction.

End of Year Reading Review for 2011

If you've been following this blog for sometime, you might remember that last January I posed a challenge to myself and all followers to read one book beginning of each letter of the alphabet. I forgot about this challenge mid-year, and upon compiling a rough list of the books I read this year, I can say I was unsuccessful in completing the challenge. I did read many notable books this year though -- see some highlights below!
 
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert -- This book took me on a journey. I re-read several pages and passages from the book because I found Gilbert's thoughts and perspectives so inspiring. I'll probably read this book again in 2012 when I need some motivation or a change in perspective.
 
Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs -- I'm not entirely sure why I chose to read this book, but I'm glad I did. I loved all the characters in this book, and their relationships were extremely entertaining. Unfortunately, I was disappointed by the other books in this series.
 
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins -- The Hunger Games series was so good. If you haven't read the series yet, make sure it's the first thing you read in 2012. Seriously.
 
Other books I read (and remembered):

Chosen - P.C. and Kristin Cast
No Roads to Follow - Michael Herman
Betrayed - P.C. and Kristin Cast
The Best of Me - Nicholas Sparks
Marked - P.C. and Kristin Cast
Knit the Season - Kate Jacobs
Mocking Jay - Suzanne Collins
Along for the Ride - Sarah Dessen
Knit Two - Kate Jacobs
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Keeping Faith - Jodi Picoult
The Undomestic Goddess - Sophie Kinsella
Unbearable Lightness - Portia de Rossi
House Rules - Jodi Picoult
Sing You Home - Jodi Picoult
Bossypants - Tina Fey
Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris
Friday Night Knitting Club - Kate Jacobs
Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
Save Me - Lisa Scottoline
Sizzle - Julie Garwood
Fire and Ice - Julie Garwood
Mommywood - Tori Spelling
Mini-Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella
The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom
The Shack - William P. Young
Sundays at Tiffany's - James Patterson
Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas - James Patterson
Sarah's Key - Tatiana de Rosnay

Instead of creating another Reading Challenge in 2012, I'm just going to try and read as often as possible and add a little more diversity into my reading list by exploring new authors and new genres. I'm also going to blog about each book I read... which will hopefully make it easier to review the books I've read this time next year.

Happy New Year!