Book: Entice
Author: Carrie Jones
Published: December, 2010
Publisher: Bloomsbury Teens
Source: Purchased
My grade: B
Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together forever.
But that's not quite how things have worked out.
For starters, well, Nick is dead.
Supposedly, he's been taken to a mythic place for warriors known as Valhalla, so Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. But it's taking time, and meanwhile a group of evil pixies is devastating Bedford, with more teens going missing every day. An all-out war seems imminent, and the good guys need all the warriors they can find. But how to get to Valhalla?
And even if Zara and her friends discover the way, there's that other small problem: Zara's been pixie kissed. When she finds Nick, will he even want to go with her? Especially since she hasn't just turned...she's Astley's queen.
But that's not quite how things have worked out.
For starters, well, Nick is dead.
Supposedly, he's been taken to a mythic place for warriors known as Valhalla, so Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. But it's taking time, and meanwhile a group of evil pixies is devastating Bedford, with more teens going missing every day. An all-out war seems imminent, and the good guys need all the warriors they can find. But how to get to Valhalla?
And even if Zara and her friends discover the way, there's that other small problem: Zara's been pixie kissed. When she finds Nick, will he even want to go with her? Especially since she hasn't just turned...she's Astley's queen.
My Review
Ok, so I might be a little behind in this series. Fine, a lot behind! : ) This is one of those books that I’ve been waiting and waiting to read. I got it when it first came out, but then I had a cataloging class and then I had a YA lit class where the professor severely limited the amount of paranormal fiction I could read. So, this fine tome kept being put on the bottom of the pile. Thank goodness I got my hands on an ARC of the 4th book! That forced me to read the 3rd one. Hooray! There are spoilers ahead if you haven’t read the first 2 books. If you don’t want to read spoilers, scroll past quickly until you see the big sign marking the end of the spoilers!
*******THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE FIRST TWO BOOKS!!!! ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!***********
I’m not sure how I want to review this book. I really, really enjoy this series and I enjoyed this book, but with a few reservations. First of all, Zara was sooooooo whiny, whiny, whiny!! It really got on my nerves. I just wanted to tell her to suck it up already and just do something. All the teen angst about Nick and Astley was too much to deal with after a while. I wanted to tell her to just put on her big girl panties and go get Nick and then see what happened.
On the other hand, I LOVED Astley in this book. After feeling like pixies are all evil creatures in the first 2 novels, this novel really made me sit back and reflect on my own personal pixie prejudice! (Whew! Alliteration!) Astley became my favorite character in this book. It was very interesting to see that he is the one person/pixie in the whole series who seems to harbor no pre-conceived notions about others. He willingly accepted anyone who seemed to be good and righteous. Plus, the fact that he cared enough for Zara to actually help her find ways to get back his competition was just…….swoon! This book moved me firmly into the camp of Team Astley!
This fact leads to my next caveat. I am so rooting for Astley now that if Carrie Jones goes back and picks everything up with Nick and it’s all hunky dory, I don’t know if I can deal with it. She left with not quite a cliffhanger, but it just sort of stopped and I am dying to find out what will happen when it picks up again. The 4th book has an April date, but I may have to read it sooner and just hold my review!
*************END OF SPOILERS! CONTINUE ON!!!!****************
Otherwise, this book was just as captivating and enticing (bad taste, I know) as the first 2 in the series. I love the way Carrie just pulls me right into the story and makes me believe that a small town in Maine is under a pixie attack and that Valhalla really exists in the world. The quest to find the entrance to Valhalla had all the trappings of a great quest….there were heroes, monsters, false directions, self-sacrifice, traitors, misdirection, great injuries and everything else one expects to find on a classical hero quest. If Jason were searching for the Golden Fleece in modern-day Maine, it might look something like this! Now, if only Zara would stop whining and jump up and become the hero.
My grade for this book is a B. I loved the story and I loved Astley, but Zara lost points for being a whiny butt! Boo! Zara! Girls do not have to be whiny damsels in distress. But on your big girl panties for the next installment!
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