Neferet's Curse A House of Night Novella

so now I kind of understand why neferet is so evil! I feel bad for her :( but then I don't because she shouldn't be evil! why can't she just forget what happened and try to move on! aside from that, I really liked her story(:

review to come

This was my least favorite of the HON Novella's... and probably my least favorite of the series as a whole. Usually I love the back story and the introduction to these powerful vampyres that we get from these Novella's but for some reason Neferet (or Emily as she was previously known) is just so impossible for me to connect with. Perhaps it was the difference in the time period but I really just don't grasp the concept of how a couple of months of what she had to endure was enough to make her a completely different person. Perhaps it's because I've never been put into that situation myself but I just don't see how this light-hearted child could turn in to this monster that we know now. I mean YES, I get how she is who she is by the explanation that the authors give. I understand why she is the way she is now. Her curse makes sense to me... I get it. But I just couldn't connect with it. Which in all honesty I guess is a good thing because that means I'm not a monster. On the other hand the book was good... and probably necessary to understand Neferet as she is now. I just prefer the beautiful love stories of Dragon and Anastasia, and Lenobia and Martin to this horrible, horrible story. Not horrible as a story but, horrible as in what made Neferet turn into the monster she is. The thing that makes me want to build a time machine and go back in to make believe fantasy land time and smack the crap out of her is that she's told that what she chooses to do at the end of the story will turn her into a monster and curse her... and she does it anyway. I guess that means she was never a truly great person to begin with.

House of Night Novellas: Dragon's Oath: ★★★★☆ Lenobia's Vow: ★★★★★ Neferet's Curse: ★★★★★ Kalona's Fall: ★★★☆☆ Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Review can be found here at Booked J. Like with Lenobia's Vow I knew I was going to love Neferet's Curse. A lot. I think, at this point, it's safe to assume that I read the prequel novels exclusively for their stories. (Of course, I'm exceptionally late in getting to them. For some reason they've just been sitting on my shelves for literal years. Better late than never?) I don't need to really explain it, but! While Lenobia is my favourite *good* adult vampyre, Neferet is my favourite evil one. Throughout the course of House of Night she serves a spine-tingling, delectable form of villainess that I am quite fond of. Based upon what we knew of her backstory and development, including her life before being marked, I always felt strangely sympathetic towards her. Which is rare for me when it comes to villains. There's something alluring and seductive to her; it is in this and her supposed 'kindness' that cloaks darkness and that darkness has always intrigued me in terms of the whys and the hows. Firstly, I want to explicitly remind you that Neferet's Curse borders between tragic and fully triggering in its exploration of grief, anger, resentment, abuse and rape. Although it is short in its pages, the story packs a serious punch that will leave you feeling nauseated and heartbroken. As a human teenager, Neferet, then Emily, suffers a great deal in very little time. It is in these series of events that Emily is fashioned into Neferet, and irrevocably is broken. Your heart will ache for her in a way that isn't wholly common re: villains. The exploration of topics is handled with honesty and sensitivity, mingling itself into the backstory and the series' mythology beautifully. I loved the Chicago setting. (Obviously. I'm a Chicago girl.) I thought that the atmosphere of it was bleak and mysterious in the way that was necessary to tell Neferet's story. Further, it felt very reminiscent of V.C. Andrews and that, in and of itself, horrifies me. It works for the context of this story. But, every little interaction between Neferet and her dad left my skin feeling prickly with anxiety and fear and hatred. There are so many moments where I wanted to reach through the pages and kick her father myself. What a garbage excuse of a human. Neferet's Curse unmasks our central House of Night villain. It makes her undeniably human. It's not an easy read in the sense that your emotions are really taken hold of. Instead of the usual fear and intrigue of Neferet, this novella takes readers on a different journey but still leads us to the eventual same path of terror. Seeing how she became the way she is, and that is all one could ever want from an origin story. I was unable to put this novella down and felt my heart shatter on many occasions. In short, this was definitely a wild and emotional ride. Completely essential when it comes to the House of Night series and I'm so annoyed that I hadn't read it sooner.