Hunted (House of Night) Chapter 28:
Zoey is still freaked out even though the Raven Mocker has flown off into the night of the House of Night. There’s some ice on the ground, and Zoey asks fire to melt it for her. Zoey is that friend who calls in favours for really stupid things, but fire complies.
Stark finds this all very endearing, and pulls Zoey into his arms for another make out session.
It wasn’t a groping, intrusive kiss filled with possessiveness like I’d been experiencing with Erik. Stark’s kiss was more of a sweet question mark, which I answered with a definite exclamation point.
Is this the book’s way of making it seem okay that Zoey is cheating on Erik…again? You all know I do not like Erik at all, but god damn Zoey is being horrible.
I know that right now Stark is supposed to be fighting his evil nature, but also still be the bad boy he apparently always was, but I hate that he just pulls Zoey into his arms and starts making out with her apropos of nothing. You definitely do not have to lead into every kiss with a, “Can I kiss you?”, but there are so many other ways to signal what you’re around to do and read the room. (Worth mentioning Zoey specifically didn’t tell him she had a boyfriend when they were cuddling in bed, or I’d be complaining about that too.)
I didn’t kiss him because of stress, or fear, or escape, or because of anything except the fact that I wanted to kiss him. I like him. Really, really like him.
But why?
Maybe we can take a walk down memory lane to try to piece this all together. Here’s a recap of Zoey and Stark’s relationship so far:
Stark: My arrows never miss the target in my <3.
Zoey: OMG ur such a bad boy. Hawt.
Stark: I have a dog 2
Zoey: OMGGGGGGG
*
Stark: Oh no! I’m dying now aragghhhh
Zoey: I thought u were my soulmate nooo *kiss*
*
Stark: I’m back, but now I’m evil
Zoey: Ew, but also, ur still a hot bad boy *kiss*
Stark: Can I sleep in ur bed
Zoey: K, but just so Kalona stays away
Stark: I’m scared of purses
Zoey: I’m scared of spiders
*
Zoey: CHOOSE GOOD. Stop brainwashing women and sexually assaulting them.
Stark: Maybe I can b good? Maybe not?
Like that’s it. Somewhere in all that Zoey was supposed to have developed feelings for him.
Zoey remembers all the bad things Stark has been doing and pulls herself away from him and tells him that until he starts acting like a good guy in public, she can’t be with him. Are we’re supposed to be super impressed that she won’t date him until he acts less shitty in public.
She also cites Heath and Erik as reasons this is just so complicated for her. Stark isn’t particularly surprised or alarmed by this revelation. In fact, he knows just the solution!
‘I can take care of the vamp boyfriend.’ Automatically Stark’s hand came up to stroke the bow that was strapped to his back.
Because Zoey yells at him that this is not how we solve problems and then gives him a big speech about how he has to choose to be good, it’s safe to assume that this is going to be another narrative about the woman changing the damaged/evil/dark man so that they can be together. Great plan, House of Night. Although, given the Casts are making Erik out to be not such a great guy, maybe they’re going to turn this on its head and show that this relationship with Stark is also not the best choice.
Look, I’m not inherently against the idea that Zoey can use the powers Nyx has blessed her with to reach people who are tempted by the darkness. She did it with Stevie Rae, she can do it with Stark. Fine. Stevie Rae and the other red fledglings/vampyres are clearly still struggling with the darkness inside them and feasting on innocent pizza delivery boys. I’m aware that Stark is not the only character with this storyline. However, my issue is with the fact that the romance is being shoehorned in here. Why not have the romance come later when Stark has actually chosen the path of good, shown remorse for his past actions, and actually built a foundation with Zoey rather than a fucking conversation about purses and spiders?
Right now it’s not even clear if Stark is joking about murdering Erik to get him out of the way. Let’s just hold off on the making out, okay?
Stark then is like, “I pledge myself to you as your warrior, which is a stronger bond than the other strongest bonds that have been mentioned before.” He suddenly completes the change and is not an adult vampyre and connected to Zoey forever!
And then I was in his arms, kissing him, and our tears mingled together as we laughed and cried and held each other.
YAY Stark is good now, so they can start making out again right away! Do you think Heath has picked up on any of this since he’s bonded to Zoey too? I actually feel bad for Heath and Erik. Maybe they’re sitting in the tunnels now (or safe with the nuns) and they turn to each other for comfort. That would be a more interesting story.
Also. Wait a second. Kalona took over the House of Night like two nights ago…so how many people did Stark actually hurt? What was even the point of this “arc” if Stark was going to turn good in a matter of hours?
Zoey sends Stark to go complete his transformation with Dragon since they can trust him, and it’s important for some reason that Stark keep his change a secret. To hide his new tattoos, Zoey makes a towel-scarf for Stark and finds him a trucker hat. I bet he looks hella stylish and not at all suspicious.
They kiss some more, and Zoey prays to Nyx that Stark will stay safe. I love that Stark did nothing to actually really prove he changed except he told Zoey he was committed to her, and that was enough. I get that this is a super magical bond, but I bet an evil character could game the system pretty easily.
We finally got around to putting a Reflected in You Companion eBook together. So if you want to re-live the magic (or live it for the first time if you’re new to the blog) of Reflected in You without needing to exhaustingly click from post to post, this is the book for you.
As always, the eBook is free for Patrons. Woooooah!
This book has the WEIRDEST pacing.
“I will only stop interrupting our numerous make out sessions after some minutes if you become good!” – “Tadaa! I just became good!” – “Sounds legit. Take me now!”
I have the feeling Kalonas story will end the same way.
Forget Kalona and Neferet: Zoey’s the one who’s shaping up to be the ultimate cult leader. “Pledge yourself to me and all the bad things will go away! Yes…love me…adore me…fear me!”
Let there be a reverse John Tucker Must Die where all of Zoey’s shitty boyfriends team up to destroy her and not Neferet.
When Stevie Rae changed she never had to go do that secret thing they do when you become a vampyre. Sure Erik did it, but if she didn’t have to then is it really that important? It raises questions like is this a gender difference and has nothing to do with the red vs blue vampyre difference? Seriously though why is it so important then? It’s painful to the reader that this series cannot explain rules in more detail or stick to them.