Yes, I actually made something like this. Why? Because I was sick of HoN fans coming up to my face and telling me it's the best book ever written. Not many people actually criticize it, and the fans don't realize how bad of a book this is.
Anyways, I did not come up with all these problems by myself. I have these following authors to thank:
cookievb123, kittenxxkisses, and AnnieHonson
While some of the reasons I found myself, these authors helped a lot :D
Read, Review, Flame, Argue.
#1 The plot is just dragging. The older books were Ok, and had their own sub plot leading up to a big finale. But after Awakened, all that seems to be happening is the sex, sex, and more sex. The events that happened in Awakened, Burned, and Destined could be minimized down into one book with careful editing and a little more time behind them.
#2 The Nerd Herd is the most stereotypical group of friends ever. Damien: The faithful and loyal gay friend. Shaunee and Erin: The two BFF's who can't be separated. Stevie Rae: The best friend who is utterly loyal. Stark: The sexy but sweet boyfriend. Aphrodite: The bad girl turned nice. Darius: The faithful boyfriend. See? They all have a certain stereotype about them.
#3 Zoey Redbird. She has flaws, but I don't think that the authors did it on purpose. She is hypocritical, shallow, racist about her own heritage, discriminate towards "goths" and "emos", and a disrespect to girls everywhere. If the authors actually made her to be like this, they're not impressing many people. She is a reminder of Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way (from the infamous story that has made history as the worst fanfiction ever: My Immortal) who doesn't want to be perfect, doesn't want to be special, and doesn't want to have twenty guys after her, fulfilling her every wish, but has those things anyways. That spells out: Mary Sue
#4 The junior characters. What happened to Elliot again? How about Elizabeth No Last Name? Who's Johnny B.? Umm… I forgot about the name of the guy that had a crush on Stevie Rae. I'm not asking them to make an appearance every book, but it would be nice to see their face or have their name mentioned every now and then. It seems to many people that they're just used as plot devices to make the other characters look good.
#5 Neferet is probably the single worst antagonist in the history of books. Her history is as cliché as ever. In fact, her history is probably one most smart authors would avoid. I have a friend who was sexually abused by her parents, but she doesn't want to go around and destroy people. This is honest proof of how much the Casts have done research on the psychological effect that abuse has on children. Not to mention, Neferet continuously only relies on the white bull for power, and never actually stands up to him. She is a very weak antagonist in so many ways.
#6 The pop culture references. In the time of 20 years or so, nobody will know what Glee or True Blood ever was. Not to mention, half the time, the authors are praising these books/ TV shows, so it makes me feel like I'm reading an advertisement for a certain celebrity or famous book of the moment. Please, we have TV's, we get enough advertisements from that.
#7 Just because teenagers swear doesn't mean they do it in everything they say. Yes, they swear, and some do it a lot, but even they have a limit. This just proves that the authors are trying to sound young and hip (even though Kristen is young). And with Aphrodite, it is just through the roof and into the sky it's so bad.
#8 Zoey doesn't deserve her powers. What does she do? Go around and sleep with half the guys in the books. What does Aphrodite do? Save Stevie Rae, choose Nyx and light over power and darkness, help with bringing Zoey back to life, and so many more. Aphrodite deserves most of the powers, and she deserves to be the chosen one, not the annoying Mary Sue Zoey.
#9 The sexism in the book towards guys. I can't believe it. The guys only matter if they're hot. Elliot wasn't hot, where is he? And above all, the authors provide the girls with all the powers, and they get to be the head priestess and yada yada yada. Girl power is awesome, but it has been taken to an extreme in House of Night.
#10 Shekinah, Lenobia, and Thanatos are very highly respected vampyres. However, when it comes down to talking to Zoey, they believe anything she says. Ladies, she's a teenager, and you are people who has lived for thousands of years, shouldn't you do your research before you believe her? Why do you believe her, anyways? Because she thinks Neferet is evil?
#11 The necrophilia and the bestiality. Stevie Rae and Stark are dead. There for, anybody who is doing them is doing a dead person's body. Rephaim is half bird. Birds are beasts. Do you see the bestiality and necrophilia in the book yet?
#12 The Mythology is all wrong. Erebus does not- under any circumstances- have golden wings. He's the personification of shadows and darkness, why would he have golden- which is a light color, and the trditional color representing Apollo, who is the sun god- wings? Kalona did not rape women, and he is from Cherokee mythology, while Nyx is from Greek mythology. Do you see the gap in that? The Casts has put all archeologists and any avid mythology fan to shame *facepalm*
Many of you are wanting to slice off my head, and I'm fine with that. Give me your view on this, I will love to read reviews. And should I continue this? I might if I have people asking me to. I might even compare it to other books/ characters...
-Sarya