This is the fourth book in the House of Night series written by mother and daughter duo P.C and Kristin Cast . Due to the way the books follow on from each other, there will be a few spoilers here , so if you haven't yet red any of the previous books, but intend to, you may want to skip over this review .

Zoey, the leader of the Dark Daughters, is feeling pretty alone right now - her friends are mad at her for keeping the fact that her dead best friend had become un-dead a secret . She no longer has any of her three boyfriend - her imprint with her human ex Heath was broken when she gave over her virginity to Loren Blake (whom she later discovered only slept with her because Neferet, the decidedly dark high priestess of the house of night ordered it.). Sadly, whilst she was losing her virginity, Eric, who'd just become a full adult vamp happened to walk in . Funnily enough, he wasn't too impressed .

So, Zoeys feeling lonely and a bit stressed as the book starts ,especially as right at the end of the last one, Professor Blake was murdered (as was another professor) and now Neferet wants to start a war against the humans. Zoey knows that somehow it's down to her to stop this - but with Aphrodite, the only person who is currently on speaking terms with her, having become human again, it doesn't look like she's going to have much help - which is especially worrying as Aphrodite has had a vision that the war all starts because Zoey dies, and that Zoey dies because her friends have deserted her.

Add to this the fact that her now ex-boyfriend Eric is now one of her teachers, that Zoey is being attacked by invisible darkness, that she's still an object of curiosity because of her advanced fledgeling status, and that Stevie Rae, although human again, is still running around the towns prohibition tunnels with a bunch of bloodthirsty undead fledgelings, and all in all, its a lot for her to handle .

This book is, so far, the best in the series in my opinion - You're thrown straight into the action, and it keeps up a fast pace throughout the whole book. There's a lot less self pity and teen angst too, and it feels altogether more grown up than the last few books in the series - Zoey even swears properly .

There's a lot of inclusion of Cherokee folklore, and we get to see a lot more of Zoeys gran, who is a fantastic character. We also get to meet quite a few new characters in this book, from Nyx gifted archery champion James Stark , to a very cool nun who is perfectly accepting of vampires and even believes that Nyx is just another incarnation of the Virgin Mary .

Characters we already know develop a lot more too - we get to see a whole different side to Stevie Rae than the dippy country girl who is all sweetness and light, and we also get to see a very vulnerable side to Aphrodite who, from being one of the characters I despised in the first book is actually becoming someone I quite like .

There are still a lot of pop culture references here - one in particular referenced a book, Ink Exchange, by Melissa Marr . It feels a little bit like a product plug - I wonder if the book is by the same publishers . However, it's worked, as I've now added that book to my 'to read' list.

It doesn't feel quite as teenage though- I think as the plots get darker the reading gets more adult, both in the scenes depicted (some are quite violent and scary) and in the way the characters interact with each other . I think part of this is to do with Zoeys love life in this book being less complicated, but either way this book is a much smoother read than any of the others in the series so far .

The ending of the book I really like - I'm not going to ruin it for you, but it does leave you tensed and dying to get hold of the next book so you can leap right back into the action .

Overall, I love this book The best in the series so far, and the full five stars from me .