{Review} Hunted (House of Night #5) by P.C. & Kristin Cast

Hunted (House of Night #5) by P.C. Cast

Published Date: Mar 16, 2010

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

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Synopsis: What if the hottest guy in the world was hiding a nameless evil, and all he wanted was you?
At the start of this heart-pounding new installment of the bestselling House of Night series, Zoey’s friends have her back again and Stevie Rae and the red fledglings aren’t Neferet’s secrets any longer.  But an unexpected danger has emerged. Neferet guards her powerful new consort, Kalona, and no one at the House of Night seems to understand the threat he poses.  Kalona looks gorgeous, and he has the House of Night under his spell. A past life holds the key to breaking his rapidly spreading influence, but what if this past life shows Zoey secrets she doesn’t want to hear and truths she can’t face?

On the run and holed up in Tulsa’s Prohibition-era tunnels, Zoey and her gang must discover a way to deal with something that might bring them all down.  Meanwhile, Zoey has a few other little problems.  The red fledglings have cleaned up well – they’ve even managed to make the dark, creepy tunnels feel more like home – but are they really as friendly as they seem?  On the boyfriend front, Zoey has a chance to make things right with super-hot ex-, Erik, but she can’t stop thinking about Stark, the archer who died in her arms after one unforgettable night, and she is driven to try to save him from Neferet’s sinister influence at all costs.  Will anyone believe the power evil has to hide among us? (SOURCE)

There have been a lot of reviews about Zoey not being able to choose between her guys. I can honestly say that I get where her confusion is coming from. I can understand her conflicting feelings about Erik (with his mood swings and anger), Stark (with the uncertainty of his loyalties) and Kalona (with his hypnotic mojo). Zoey's abilities pull in the good and the evil, it's only logical that someone like Kalona would try to use lust and emotions to bring her over to his side, knowing she could defeat him if he didn't. Add to that, his belief that she is A-ya and he is determined to seduce her.

Zoey is confused about Erik, I believe, mostly because of his change in behavior. Maybe she goes back to him because she feels like it'll ease the guilt over hurting him after being with Loren, maybe she feels that he is the safe choice, the familiar choice. Who knows. She's a teenager, even though she is a powerful high priestess and is entitled to confusion and mistakes.

I think Stark stirs something in her that no one else has. But that scares her since she doesn't know if she can trust him or if she should. I'm glad that things turn out well for him in the end.

As for Heath, I believe she wants to cling to him so hard because of her fear of moving on from her old life. There is nothing written anywhere saying that she can't be friends with him but for him to have a relationship beyond that would be difficult, as has been proven many times. He could very easily be put into danger over and over.

I can't wait to read the next book to see what follows.