Name: Captivate
Rating: 3.392156862745098 (51 reviews)
ISBN: 9781599903422

Carrie Jones

Captivate

Elizabeth Neill

** spoiler alert **
           This book made me laugh and cry.I can't wait to go on with this series.I can beleave what happened to Nick and what Zara did.

Alexandra Mellas

Carrie Jones continues her Need saga in Book Two: Captivate after Zara and her friends have rescued their missing school mate and confined the Pixies, and Zara's Father, their King, within the house buried in the woods. But they soon learn that it is far from over, and their little Maine town is attracting more Pixies than they can handle. Unfortunately for Zara, two new Pixie Kings arrive on the scene and they want her as their Queen.
An interesting continuation of the Need storyline, Zara is once again our protagonist and narrator, and she is face again with life and death choices. Only this time, she has to give up her humanity to make that choice. Jones begins bringing the story together by incorporating the four other 'Shining Ones' : Pixies, Weres, Elves, Valkyries and Vampires (?); as well as using Norse mythology to create a legend of her own. According to Devyn's research, and the creepy Valkyrie spotted by Zara, fallen warriors are being taken to Valhalla to prepare the war that will bring about the Ragnorak.
I have the same criticisms of Captivate as I gave for Need. The language is immature, and phrases like 'squeeing' (p119) and 'wow' are overused. Captivate seems to have deteriorated Jones' ability to communicate with any elegance. 
As well as the language, Jones has incorporated even more modern terms and appliances into Captivate. In Need we already note the types of cars and one or two other things, but Captivate brings more to your attention. By using terms such as iPod, brand names, or even mentioning popular bands/songs, novels lose their timelessness and becomes outdated very quickly.
I'm going to outline some of the issues I had with Captivate.
Example: "If I don't call again, I'm probably dead or something. Yeah. Right. Bye." (p13)
Problems: Zara doesnt have time to go for help. Instead of calling one of her friends who can help she leaves a rambling, pointless and dramatic message on her boyfriends phone. This is one of the ways that she comes off annoying rather than self sufficient of quick witted.
Example:"Everything inside of me is hollow. Wow. I miss Nick" (p153)
Problem: If something happens to someone you love, you miss them. There is nothing astonishing about that; 'wow' is unnecessary. I do approve of Jones repeating the use of hollow, an example she used once in Need when talking about how she missed her step-dad. 
Example: "Basically, all I get is that Valkyries brought slain warriors to Valhalla, the hall of Odin, who is the head god guy." (p 28)
Problem: I just can't get over the use of "head god guy'. If Jones wants to channel her novel in the direction of the Norse myths, especially basing it around Odin, and later Thor, then she needs to share better information with the readers. WHY is Odin the head God? WHO are the other Gods? She doesn't have to overload us with information, but even by the end of the book, nothing more is gained. Considering Devyn is such a 'brain' that is disappointing. Rather than knowing what the word 'Astley' means, I want him to use his supposed research skills to keep us informed!
I find myself cringing as I read. I like the story, the plot is fantastic, but the characters are frustrating and the language are driving me crazy. Zara is beginning to come across as both ignorant and selfish. Her morals arent as strong as she tries to assure us she is ("I wanted to slap them in a non-violent way" p 96. How is that possible?), and her Amnesty International chatter is making her sound like a Harpy.
Yet, despite my constant irritation with Jones' narrative style I find myself wanting to know what happens next, how Zara will handle the next hurdle and what the end of the world will be like.
Carrie Jones continues the Need Saga with Book Three: Entice.

Captivate

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