Currently reading... Review to be posted
Well sorry it took me so long, I had life going on and got a little side tracked. This book was actually good. I know I haven't reviewed the other 11 books on this blog or the 3 novellas but if you are on shelfari you can find me (sgamble187) and read my reviews on them there.
Rant time - I wish it didn't take P.C Cast and Kristin Cast 12 books to finally do what readers have been complaining about since the second book. My biggest issue with this entire series has always been the redundancy. By the time I hit book 6 and they were still explaining why Grandma called Zoey u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya I wanted to slam the book down and be done with it. If I didn't love books so much I just might have. And it wasn't just with Grandma, it was with everything that could possibly have been related to a previous book. I wanted to scream to the authors that we are obviously several books in, we get it, stop repeating yourself. I won't continue on about the previous books and what angered me because this book was actually really good and I am happy I stuck it through to the end. Again just read my shelfari reviews if you want to see my opinions.
*spoilers ahead*
So, Redeemed. Zoey finally gets her shit together. If you are an avid reader of this series you will get the little joke I made there. (for those who haven't read the series Zoey does not curse). When I first started out the book I was so afraid it was going to be the who is Zoey going to have sex with saga all over again but it was not! In the beginning Zoey turns herself in because she believes she murdered two men in the park (Revealed). Now we, the reader know Nefret is the true killer. Don't worry Zoey doesn't waste the book away in there, she is actually out in a few chapters. The #1 thing I have always loved about this whole series is how it changes narrators so you can see where several characters are at once. I loved getting inside Nefret's head and see just how crazy and deluded she had become.
Crazy Pants Nefret decides the Mayo (a hotel in town) is now her temple where people should worship her. She honestly thinks that the people inside are waiting to worship her... She uses her little darkness worm things to take over peoples bodies and make them do her bidding. Nefret is easily upset and lashes out on the receptionist Kylee just because she doesn't immediately refer to her as Goddess. Nefret goes on throughout the book just proving how crazy she is by throwing people off of her balcony and making her worms burst through peoples bodies. One human, Lynette, does not get taken over by the worms and pretty much becomes Nefret's personal assistant. Lynette is only saved by the fact that she herself is power driven and uses that to her advantage to please Nefret. In the end she dies like all the other people trapped in the Mayo but seriously it's Nefret I wouldn't have expected it to be any other way without it seeming cheesy.
Kalona goes on to prove his worthiness of forgiveness to everyone. His story is more of a wrap up of the novella Kolona's Fall. So I did enjoy his part in the book just to see how far he really has come and why he has been so jaded over the years.
Shaunee and Erik end up together. While the characters in the book don't find it weird I certainly do. Erik was always a cry baby to me in the books. Shaunee is a strong character, her affinity is for fire for goddess sake! ;) I do like the turn in personality Erik took not being so self centered like he has been but that is the running theme of the book. People changing and coming to see what is truly important in life.
This book should have been called Zoey Redbird Finally Stops Whining. This is the first book that I have liked Zoey's character. Being in jail finally makes her snap into reality and make some major decisions that needed to be made 6 books ago. I do understand why she was so annoying in the other books because obviously they wanted to show her growing as time went on. And now that the last book has been written I can appreciate the annoying Zoey in the earlier books. She really does come a long way and starts to act like an adult.
My favorite quote in the book I took a picture of sorry if it is grainy. It is at the end of the book before the big showdown which is in the last 50 pages. I started to panic thinking how on earth can this book be done and have all my questions answered in 50 pages. Well they do it, and they do it well. That is why they write books and I read them.
So that is the end. I will try and do better reviews like this for future books too.
