Book Review: Entice by Carrie Jones

**Warning**

This is the 3rd book in a series. The summary below and my review contain spoilers for those folks that haven't read books 1 and 2

Publication Date: Today! December 14, 2010
Pages: 272

Series: 3rd in a series
Acquisition: received an ARC for review

Summary:

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. (from Goodreads)

My thoughts:
I was very pleasantly surprised by Entice. Sorry to say, I didn't love the first two books in the series. I have issues with the characters and the setting. I still have those issues but overall, Entice was a much better read for me.

One of the main reasons I'm not a huge fan is Zara. I still haven't warmed up to her. She comes off rather dull and somewhat unintelligent. She's dealing with some pretty huge problems. Problems that force her to turn pixie. Does she face these problems head on? She does. But at the end of the day we get a little too much 'bad Zara - now go to your room young lady' from her mother and grandmother. I didn't feel like Zara was allowed to develop as a character and she defiantly didn't develop her pixie side to it's fullest.

What saved Entice for me was Astley. I'd sign up to be pixie kissed by him any day! The way he cares about his fellow pixies and the way he tries to take care of Zara despite what her friends and family think of him,  really made my heart melt a little. He really cares for her. Very different from Zara's relationship with Nick, which I always felt was a little fake.

So yeah, Nick...Nick I never really liked. He reminds me of Edward from Twilight - which might do it for some but not for me. I didn't mind him so much in Entice because, well, he wasn't really in it :) We do get to see how much his friends really care about him and that I did like. And when he does show up on the scene? A bit predictable but I'm thinking his time away as changed him in ways that will make book 4 really interesting.

Oh, and I'm just assuming there is a book 4. There better be a book 4!

Final verdict:
A must read if you have already read books 1 and 2. If you haven't picked up this series, despite what my review ratings might show, I would actually recommend these books to fantasy YA fans.

I gave Need a 2.5 out of 5 Star rating. Captive got a 3 and Entice is getting a 3.5. Even if Zara still bugs me, I'm warming up to the series as a whole.

Entice has a pretty good ending but there is a lot more of Zara, Nick and Astley's story to be told. I still love the fantasy world Jones has created and I can see this series going far.

Overall Rating:

3.5 / 5 Stars

Books in the Need Series:
Need
Captivate
Entice
Book 4 ?

Linkage Love:
Bloomsbury
Author's Website
Goodreads