"House of Night" series by P.C. and Kristin Cast

I read a wide variety of books. I can’t say there’s any particular genre (outside of pure detective novels) that I don’t, in some way, gravitate towards. My guiltiest pleasure when it comes to books, though, would have to be Young Adult fiction. I enjoy knowing what’s popular among tweens and teenagers because I feel it strongly shows the direction our society is headed. And, if not in a finite, serious way, it at least shows what interests are flourishing in our future societal setting. Maybe it’s the Psychology major in me, but I find it endlessly fascinating.

That being said, there aren’t a lot of books in a Young Adult section that I’ll scoff at as long as they’re decently written and have some unique twists to their plot lines. There are definitely some series I don’t boast about having read (a certain vampire-themed, four part wonder comes to mind), but there are others that I gladly pass on to others (case in point: Sabriel by Garth Nix or The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins).

The House of Night series is an interesting case, however. It definitely has a unique take on a very popular (and possibly overdone) sector of paranormal fiction. The characters are quite diverse and you can genuinely tell that the authors try to push the envelope (in some ways) by way of themes and dialogue (although I'll get to that later). However, if I'm going to be totally honest, I’m sorry to say that the House of Night series is probably the worst written Young Adult series I’ve ever read. I think part of the problem lies in the fact that it has multiple authors. I think it's lovely that a mother/daughter team like P.C. and Kristen Cast can work together on a project, but I don’t think it serves its purpose well with this series. As creators of a plot, they have succeeded in YA fiction, but I believe the execution (up until the most recent book) has been lacking.

That being said, I’ve read the entire series, including this most recent release (Awakening : Book #8), with the exception of a sort of side-bar novel featuring one of the minor characters (Dragon's Oath), which didn’t particularly interest me. There’s something about these books that does make you want to keep reading. They're fast reads, and, because it's a unique take on a common theme, it's unpredictable in a lot of ways. The plot itself is a decent one with a lot of twists and turns. The authors aren’t afraid to make unpopular decisions – which I quite appreciate – and they’re not worried about pleasing anyone but the characters they’ve created. However, the characters, to me, are the problem.

None of the five or six main characters (depending on how you look at it) are actually likable, in my opinion. This has nothing to do with their personalities; it’s just the the writing. The dialogue is poor at best, drawing out simple conversations to several back-and-forth pages like a high school Instant Messaging chat gone horrible wrong. The social affairs they attempt to address are done in such a way to demean the issues themselves. Gender equality and homosexuality are discussed extensively through the use of one-note, stereotypical characters, and the authors’ attempts to show their triumph over adversity end up sounding like closeted homophobes babbling themselves into a corner for the sake of trying to push that bar. I found it very difficult to read. Basically, every social commentary made and remarked upon becomes a dialogue rant. I believe this problem was created by the way these novels were written: P.C. Cast, a seasoned writer by the look of things, would write the first draft and then allow her daughter to deal with the re-write. I feel this is where the messy, over-drawn dialogue came into play and where having two authors expressing the same thought over top of one another became a problem.

Truthfully, I think with a good re-write from a third party might make this a worthy read. In fact, even as is, I can think of several of my friends who might genuinely like P.C. and Kristen Casts’ work. But, despite the plot, I don’t believe the books can be truly redeemed from their poor dialogue (when the term "bull-poopy" can be taken as a serious replacement for a curse word I think there's a problem), character development, and clumsy social commentary. For plot alone, I give the House of Night series a 2 / 5 stars. The best book out of the entire series is the most recent installment – Awakened, but I’m not sure if it’s worth your time to read through seven poorly executed attempts at a Young Adult novel series. If you’re of an age to appreciate it, I suggest the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. You’ll get better writing, a more entertaining story, a much stronger female lead, and a (relatively) believable plot line for less money… with a TV show to boot!