Destined: Number 9 in series (House of Night) [Hardcover]

Zoey Redbird is safe with her Guardian Warrior, Stark, by her side. Stevie Rae, the first Red High Priestess, is safe with her mate, Rephaim, by her side too. Even Aphrodite, who is not really human or vampyre, has her Guardian Warrior, Darius, always close at hand. Though they and the others reside at the Tulsa Depot, each night they bus to the Tulsa House of Night for their daily lessons. It is difficult to get an education when you must keep your guard up constantly. But since the High Council cannot see Neferet for what she really is, the false High Priestess is still a major problem. The manipulative beauty has totally allied with the white bull (or Darkness). It is Darkness in its purest, most powerful form. The white bull has also given Neferet a gift, a creature she has named Aurox.

Aurox may look like a handsome young man, but he is Neferet's secret weapon. When the gorgeous teen fights, the bull within him begins to show. Neferet tells him never to think or feel for himself - to only do as she commands - but whenever Zoey is near, Aurox cannot help but feel. There is something strange, almost familiar, about the female fledgling.

Rephaim is a former Raven Mocker. Nyx has forgiven and blessed Rephaim. During the day he is a raven, but at night Rephaim is a boy. During school hours, Rephaim does his best to keep his distance from Dragon Lankford. At the same time, Rephaim must deal with his immortal father, Kalona, who claims to want a truce with his new group of friends. Neferet is a shared enemy and Kalona would be a powerful ally, but he still could not be trusted.

Neferet brings the rogue red fledglings and their leader, Dallas, back to the Tulsa House of Night. The bad blood between Dallas and Stevie Rae will cause a lot of trouble. In addition, Neferet has hired several humans to work on the campus. This will ensure that chaos will reign.

The Twins, Shaunee and Erin, are beginning to clash. All hope that it is nothing but a bump that happens with all BFFs from time-to-time. And Nyx sends Erik out to Track and Mark his first fledgling. But the new fledgling is unlike any before!

**** FOUR STARS! P.C. and Kristin Cast are bringing the HoN series back up to par. Professor Lenobia, the Horse Mistress, takes the spotlight a few times. (Lenobia's past is revealed in the HoN Novella "Lenobia's Vow".) Readers will see more of the feisty professor in the next installment.

In a shocking twist, one of the characters die and a new fledgling, with interesting powers, joins our group in the fight against Darkness. One other major event happens at the exciting end of this installment, but to even hint at what it is or who is involved would ruin the story. Just trust me, readers will see A LOT of changes this time around and the plot is finally moving forward again.

P.C. and Kristin Cast are back! And the future for this series looks better than ever. Stellar! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

House of Night books used to dominate on-the-bus conversations between my friend and me, another avid reader. Casts' first few books were exciting, captivating and felt close to reality. One particular hallmark was Zoey's conversational tone, and as a 15 year-old girl, I loved the books. However, even though more and more instalments were cluttering up Waterstones, our debates over each novel became gradually less and less prolonged. What used to be heated arguments over Heath and Eric, followed up shortly by squeals that the next novel was due out soon, eventually became more along the lines of "Did you read the new one? You know, that one with the vampires and stuff?" answered with "Ohhh. That on. Yeah, I did. Can't remember what it was about though." New topic of conversation. The sad, yet realistic fact is, what once was a fun storyline is ageing and fading and becoming, if I'm perfectly honest, ridiculous; over-shadowing its former brilliancy. I am not saying that all storylines should be brief. Sometimes, on occasion, an author such as JK Rowling makes it work. However, what Rowling has that Cast doesn't is structure. Seven Harry Potter books, seven years of secondary schooling. Yet with every new House of Night novel, it is becoming more and more apparent that Cast just wishes to drag the whole plot on for as long as possible, so as to make more money. As understandable as this is, I'm genuinely disappointed. I have always been meticulous about completing book series; if I buy one, I must by the others. Marked was so good that I bought the first six, yet in spite of this I've found myself actually waiting for a new release to come into libraries. I borrowed Destined from a friend, who, like me, vows to never buy another HoN novel after such a let-down. So, one could say its one redeeming feature was its ability to dampen my impatient bookish nature, but other than that, a real shame House of Night has reached such a tragic end.

One thing you need to bear in mind that is that while the characters are having sex occasionally in the series, and they swear - they do talk like seven year olds sometimes. There's a lot of 'Oh Em Gee, really?!?!?!' type conversation. It can wear on the nerves quite steadily, as characters of this age do not speak like that.

However, that being said, this is one of the better books in the series. Cast's character definition, which was sorely lacking in the last few, comes into play in Destined. At least two characters mature, and we get insights into two of the favourites. The storyline works, and the change near the end of the books is suprising but believable. In the last few books, it felt like the storyline was being stretched far too thinly, and the plot was often meandering and dry - in this book though, it comes back to being fast paced withou being rushed. Much more like the P C Cast we know!