Untamed by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
Series Name: House of Night
Volume Number: 4
Genres: Fantasy, Magic, Paranormal Romance, Romance, Urban, Vampires
Intended Age Group: YA
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-312-37983-4
Rating: 4.5/5
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Description from the Book
Life sucks when your friends are pissed at you. Just ask Zoey Redbird—she’s become an expert on suckiness. In one week she has gone from having three boyfriends to having none, and from having a close group of friends who trusted and supported her to being an outcast. Speaking of friends, of the two Zoey has left, one is undead and one is unMarked. And Neferet has declared war on humans, which Zoey knows in her heart is wrong. But will anyone listen to her? Zoey’s adventures at vampyre finishing school take a wild and dangerous turn as loyalties are tested, shocking true intentions come to light, and an ancient evil is awakened in P.C. and Kristin Cast’s spellbinding fourth House of Night Novel.
Personal & Info
This series is definitely a result of the times. P.C. Cast consulted her daughter to help her write the speech to make it more like how teens at the time actually spoke. The series started releasing in 2007. Speech was cringe and insensitive, and political correctness was not as prevalent. If you look at the series with a modern eye, it’s easy to find it offensive. Keep in mind exactly what it is that you are reading. Some things don’t age well.
Content Warnings
-Death
-Insensitive language
-Sexual themes
-Bullying
Characters
Zoey is the main character. Her Cherokee heritage through her grandmother is integral to her powers and identity. At this point in the story, she is leader of the Dark Daughters, and a High Priestess in training. Zoey has a special relationship with the goddess Nyx to be her eyes and ears at the House of Night.
Stevie Rae is Zoey’s best friend from Henrietta, Oklahoma. She’s a true country girl with a love of country music, cowboy hats, and cowboy boots. Zoey considers her a “true Okie” because she speaks with a southern “twang.” Stevie Rae has an affinity for the element Earth.
Erin is a pretty blonde girl from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her best friend is her roommate Shaunee, because they are so similar in personality that they call each other twin. Erin has an affinity for the element water.
Shaunee is Erin’s roommate and best friend from Connecticut. She considers herself Erin’s spiritual twin. Shaunee has an affinity for the element fire.
Damien is the guy friend in the group. He’s from Dallas, Texas, has a sophisticated vocabulary, and is out as gay. Damien has an affinity for the element wind.
Jack is Damien’s boyfriend. He transfers into the school in Betrayed and takes up the job of DJ for the Dark Daughters rituals.
Stark is a new transfer from the Chicago House of Night. He has a special gift involving his archery skill. Instead of a cat, he has a dog by the name of Duchess, or Duch, for short.
Faculty
Shekinah is the High priestess of all vampyres. She lives in Venice and her markings are the same as the emblem the school faculty wear.
Neferet is the High Priestess of the House of Night. She has beautiful red hair and green eyes, an affinity for cats, and a gift for healing. Neferet is also Zoey’s mentor, and she teaches Vampyre sociology class.
Erik is Zoey’s now changed ex-boyfriend. He’s about six feet tall and good at acting. Zoey describes his appearance as reminiscent of Superman with the hair curl.
Lenobia is the equestrian instructor.
Dragon is the fencing instructor.
Sons of Erebus
Ate is the leader of the Sons of Erebus present on the House of Night campus.
Darius is one of the Sons of Erebus who guards the girls’ dorm. He also accompanies Aphrodite and Zoey whenever they leave campus.
Humans
Aphrodite is pretty, blonde, and gifted with disastrous visions of the future. She is the villain in Marked, but plays a much less evil part now as she is seeking redemption from Nyx.
Sylvia Redbird is Zoey’s grandmother. She is the one person in the whole world whom Zoey loves more than anything. They don’t see each other often, but whenever they talk, it’s usually immense emotional support for Zoey.
Heath is Zoey’s ex-almost boyfriend from her life before the Change. He’s the star quarterback of the football team.
Sister Mary Angela is the prioress of a Benedictine abbey and the manager of the Street Cats charity.
Story & Thoughts
This might be the best volume out of the first four. It has a lot going for it, but there are enough negatives involved that I don’t want to give it a five. I’ll go over the negative things first.
There seems to be a wider variety of instances using insensitive language. Normally I only see a few things per volume, but this one has several scattered all over. The usage in this one definitely seems more blatant than the others. I remember hearing speech and jokes like that around the time this book was published, but it definitely does not sound good in a modern lens. It was jarring how much of it I noticed specifically in this volume, like it’s worse in this one than the previous three.
Neferet is disappointing. It’s like she’s lost her capacity to be clever. I suppose she’s probably just so close to her plan coming together that she’s just kind of lost her marbles. Her accusations to try getting Zoey into trouble make no sense and there is no way anyone could possibly believe them. They are just way too far-fetched. Those are my main complaints.
However, the story itself is really good. I was so mad at Chosen for how quickly Zoey’s friends turned on her, because everything could have been resolved if they had just let her explain. They finally have that conversation in this book, and it’s such a relief.
Aphrodite continues to impress me. She’s experiencing constant character growth. Despite the events in Marked, she is capable of taking charge in a chaotic situation. It’s nice to see her good qualities.
Everything comes together. The constant mention of how recently the Tulsa House of Night was built and that it used to be a monastery all make sense. The series was dropping bread crumbs leading up to the events of this volume.
This is the first book in the series where things do not get a resolution by the end. Instead, it sets up a much bigger problem. I wanted to read the next one right away, but I don’t have it, yet, so it’ll have to wait.