This Book HATES Women | House Of Night Book 3 Breakdown

[@Dzyntara]

as a gay person I'd rather the authors just call me a slur instead of continue with whatever Damien is

[@annabeinglazy5580]

For my own Sake i Hope the Cast Ladies never find Out about bi people.... Tho, judging by how this book is going, it's will be along the lines Off: "and she walked away sluttily to be a ho with another Girl. At least she wouldnt steal my Boyfriend... Or would she. You could never know, Not that i Had prejudice. rainbows for all except that ho."

[@TRexRAWWR1]

yeah im begging for it at this point. Just call us slurs and shut up please i cant take any more of this

[@Schylove12]

Don’t worry, they do that too! Alizee just doesn’t say it when she gets to that part.

[@nickywal]

"Homo isn't a slur if we gays say it" which fine a lot of gay men do use that term as a way to reclaim it. But two straight women putting it into the mouth of a gay teenager, but he's not one of those gays you know. Except he's really bitchy and sassy and really into fashion

[@marocat4749]

Like wtf, as her narsicim isnt already horribl enough.

[@mrspreminger]

damien’s character is the straight person version of men writing women

[@justadudewholikestotalk]

Cis women writing gay men to be exact

[@mikeyjamieson4715]

r/straightswritinggays

[@Eyclonus]

"HAVE I MENTIONED I AM GAY TODAY?" - Damien

[@overgrownkudzu]

"... and then he walked down the stairs with a little sway in his hips, because even though he wasn't that stereotypical annoying type of gay, he still was, in fact, gay. downstairs he met Jack, his boyfriend (yes, like as in a couple, they were a gay couple, i don't have anything against that) and they started talking. About shopping of course, because that bit of his gayness still came through." this is how it feels to read this

[@AlexisHiemis]

@@overgrownkudzu As a gay guy, I really love the condescending homophobic 'feminine gays are gross and annoy me' attitude the Cast duo oozes from every pore. They really think they are THAT special that gay guys give a shit about what two straight women think about who of them is the 'good gays'. Not to mention their writing is on the level of a 15 year old writing fanfiction for the first time.

[@LifeOfTheAngels]

The way Aphrodite gets treated in these books is nuts, she objectively has the most interesting backstory with actual external and internal conflict, and actually gets a well rounded character arc gradually over time, meanwhile zoeys consistently the same character and gets everything handed to her like I’m sick to my stomach 😭

[@OfficialROZWBRAZEL]

The Mary Sue injustice of it all 😭😭

[@alaskaiscold_9296]

I agree! It’s incredible how they gave her the arc Zoey so desperate needed. Imagine Zoey learned that she is not the center of the universe and how to go at least a page without judging someone. I would say Aphrodite is my favorite character of the book but honestly, she is the only one with resemblance of a character so..

[@cryptfly]

Aphrodite centered series rewrite when

[@cynister7384]

@@cryptfly Just not by the same writers

[@alaskaiscold_9296]

@@cynister7384 yeah please not by them! Has any of you read the other world series by them? This series just proves that they still have no idea how great Aphrodite is

[@banaanikirahvi]

Aphrodite: literally saves Stevie Rae at the risk of her own life The gang: she is a b*tch and deserves all the bad things she gets what???? please make this make sense. are we really supposed to think that these kids are better people than Aphrodite.

[@smol-one]

Yes. Because of the one rule for me and another for thee. They're the good guys and you know because you're told. And the good guys say she's bad, so she's clearly bad. It's the most black and white level writing.

[@ladyaarion]

Zoey has more chemistry with Aphrodite than with her 3 love interests like their dynamic is so interesting they need to kiss

[@tiryaclearsong421]

Just wait until she meets her next love interest.

[@recoveringintrovert717]

@@tiryaclearsong421 he's not that cool either

[@xomissblonde3426]

@@recoveringintrovert717tbh Stark is the best of them all. Zoey doesn’t even deserve him.

[@DupreeBlosch]

@@xomissblonde3426 Stark is the best tbh

[@fellipepessoa1685]

I like Aphrodite/Steve Rae

[@jestersmith9349]

the disrespect Aphrodite gets at every turn is ridiculous when she objectively is the most helpful character. smh

[@anonomooose]

Aphrodite is protagonist we deserved

[@littlekishmish]

i simply need to emphasize just how incredibly racist her murdering of two black men was. the description of them, zoe‘s instant readiness to kill then, and her „not flinching“ when they died is so unbearably racist and cruel. there was no reason for the authors two write them as black, use those stereotypes, or to have them killed. yet they did all of that. and it barely had an effect on zoe‘s life (which is sadly v realistic in the US). so disgusted by all the anti-black and anti-indigenous racism in these books

[@fuseamii]

Love how they try making Zoe super relatable by being ‘uncomfortable’ wearing 300 quid boots, but a chapter later she’s slagging off the homeless. They can’t catch a break in these books fr

[@MF-R]

That's about 490$cad, which is abit pricey, but not that much for boots. Like my welding boots cost about 300$cad, but they can also withstand being run over by a car and typically last for 3+ years of heavy use. And even fancy boots like knee-highs, especially if leather, are actually pretty hard to make; so 500$ isn't that crazy.

[@abbyz13]

@@MF-R I’m sorry, 300 quid is like $360 US dollars, and that’s an INSANE amount of money for a teenager to spend on shoes. Like an absolutely unnecessary, excessive amount. $100 is a lot, but reasonable if they last for years.

[@fuseamii]

@@MF-R ​ I think you and I have vastly different definitions of ‘pricey’. The boots Zoe’s friends got her were $300USD which is £250GBP and $400CAD. That’s a lot of money to spend on a pair of tacky Christmas stiletto boots, not welding-working boots, for a friend you’ve known two months. I’d sooner chop my feet off. You can get Doc Marten stiletto boots for like £90.

[@happyjellycatsquid]

@@fuseamii Especially with the fcking Christmas tree on it like when are you gonna wear that ish 👁👄👁

[@LifeOfTheAngels]

They simultaneously want her to be super relatable and quirky but seemingly have no self awareness that they just made her come off nasty and unlikable

[@Serenity279]

"She was annoying in life, and even more annoying in death." Need this on my tombstone 🤣

[@mysideacc2770]

this entire series feels like it *should* be a parody, where the "main character" mary sue is subtly criticized and ridiculed by the narration while the one good character (aphrodite) lives her life in the background, and it kills me that this is (as far as i know) 100% sincere

[@geet9830]

hell are we sure it ISNT a parody? i know these trend chasing YA books can get wild but i just cant imagine someone writing this completely seriously

[@astrocytes]

Or where everyone around Zoey mocks her for being self-centered and always having the most urgent drama. Ooohh or Zoey thinks she's the one uncovering all the secrets, and her friends are the ones doing most of the work, because they knew all along and didn't say anything to keep Zoey from giving them away too early. Her friends indulge the delusions of grandeur with shared fondness.

[@yawninglion1677]

These books would have been so much better from Aprhodite's POV, where Zoe is just a cult leader with a ring of followers

[@shalhevetebner2474]

The best character development in this series is watching Alizee figure out how to pronounce Uwetzsageya smoothly.

[@rowenaboat9693]

I have never read these books and have never seen that word typed out and now that I do I fully agree with you

[@Patchouliprince]

The way I worshipped Zoey as a god when I read these books as a tween makes me so mortified- But it also makes me very proud at how well I managed to develop decision making skills when this was my example lmao

[@Danmeilover69]

I did the same thing, so don't feel bad 😂

[@christinamansen8636]

I was a monster in middle school and I always wondered why. Also worshiped the ground beneath Zoeys feet... so glad I stopped reading them for a while "because I just couldnt handle all the clif hangers"

[@Patchouliprince]

@@christinamansen8636 not a single one of us alive wasn’t a monster in middle school tbh, middle school is some dark times 😂

[@Patchouliprince]

@@c.w.8200 I’m gonna complain about whatever I feel like complaining about tho but thanks for ur input friend get well soon xoxo

[@emilybrackpool1535]

"Zoe is drinking a can of unbranded pop ... nature is healing" 😭😭😭 im literally on my hands and knees wheezing with this

[@r.r815]

Wait if Nyx can take vampirism away why doesn't she just do that to Nephrite and save everyone the trouble of having to fight her?

[@the_last_ballad]

She's contractually obligated to allow the series to continue

[@LifeOfTheAngels]

Bc nyx sucks and only Aphrodite is allowed to suffer 🙃

[@recoveringintrovert717]

Something about free will, if I remember correctly. She has to let Neferet use her gift as she sees fit

[@lolaby2]

@@recoveringintrovert717 that undermines our mains specialness though. If ability isn’t based on anything related to the goddess.

[@NyxPoppinz]

@@LifeOfTheAngelsLMFAOOOOOOO

[@Talixaen]

There’s something about being… an hour and 45 minutes into this video.. seeing relatively little time left and assuming that a somewhat comparable amount of book is left.. and really sitting there and thinking, “not much has happened, but Zoe went to Starbucks twice.”

[@chasingdaze]

It occurs to me that if Alizee was transported back about 10 years to the hey dey of this book, she absolutely would've been fancast as Zoey

[@tonichan89]

Even though Zoey is native american? ... actually yeah, I can see a fanbase doing that back then 😟

[@chasingdaze]

@@tonichan89 exactly lmao

[@katrinascarlet5637]

​@@tonichan89 we all had that one very pale friend who was a different minority every year. My snow-white, blonde hair, green-eyed friend was latina one year and native American the next. I never doubted she had a tiny bit of Cherokee in her and as a very pale full blooded Mexican myself I would've taken the latina part just fine but it was the flip flopping that made everyone doubt her. I think she was Irish at one point.

[@katharineeavan9705]

​@@katrinascarlet5637 The claiming teency percentages of Native American blood I can sort of understand given the context of being a comparatively new civilisation built on the genocide of native peoples. Like, that's claiming a kind of belonging, I guess. It's a way to tie yourself to the older culture and heritage of your home. But as a Brit it still sounds super weird when Americans are all like "I'm one 8th Irish!". Like, yeah, okay, and? You're white with multiple generations of white European in you, that's not exactly shocking and unusual. Britain was a big exporter of North American settlers, and even Brits not from Ireland often have Irish blood. Same goes for Scottish blood. (Come to think of it, it's kind of weird that, from what I've seen at least, Welsh blood doesn't seem to be claimed with quite as much enthusiasm amongst Americans. I wonder what that's about) The oddest part is how it seems like the people who are the most "proud to be American" and want to stop immigration to North America are some of the people who do this the most, which has to be some kind of cognitive dissonance

[@AndriaSilvaful]

You know that IS weird! People don’t claim Welsh ancestry very much.

[@jadedoni6447]

I love every time Alizee does the "Damien's gay?!" bit, it never fails to make me snicker

[@trashpanda3544]

When I was in high-school my Spanish teacher said her party trick is being able to guess everybody's zodiac sign. She then proceeded to do the whole class and got everyone's sign within 2 guesses. Then she got to me, I think she must have guessed at least 7 before she got mine but at that point she was just guessing. She genuinely thought I was lying and was just fucking with her until she checked my date of birth. Then she blamed it on my autism lmao

[@abbyz13]

What a weirdo, glad you ruined her idea of herself being magical 😂

[@happyjellycatsquid]

Love blaming everything on kids autism, it’s so appropriate and definitely not hurtful 💀

[@cynister7384]

Astrology people are wild

[@monicacreator3168]

I mean, if she guessed EVERYONE in a class except one.....

[@Ivebeenbleak]

...what 💀

[@karla.worldwide]

I read the entire series in middle to high school. Now that I’m older I’m realizing this book may have fucked me up socially and romantically. People don’t act like that lol

[@Jadeeee2323]

Literallllly wtf lol

[@hottiekitty96]

Me @ 99% of YA I READ in middle and junior high because my reading level was too high

[@BoraLinda]

Reading it was so cringe at that time, but I was like MEHHH it’s the only thing mentally stimulating my bland existence, (at the ripe age of 11) this will suffice 🤧🤧 and ofc, the RoMANCe FUCKKKKK, still cringe but it honestly was just so satisfying for my brain, cause like I didn’t have to hardcore daydream about my own fantasy romance type shit, like this just did it for me instead 😆😆😆

[@nyssalynn5216]

I was heavily depressed and escaping into a world where I could pretend I was Zoey. I think that's why this was so popular, a lot of us were sad kids who wanted to feel special, and Zoey is constantly told how special she is. It's just unfortunate that the writing is actually awful

[@AllisonMiller30]

Well, in Spiceworld Emma said she didn’t believe in star signs and ginger said “you’re an Aquarius and Aquarians don’t believe in anything.” And then Emma said “well, I don’t believe that either.”

[@AlizeeYeezy]

I don't but at the same time I am the most Aquarian Aquarius there is

[@SanjaSleipnir]

I’m actually mad at how much and how often Aphrodite gets punished in this book. And for what??? Being a bully? Wow. She also SA’d someone and that is unforgivable but the writers didn’t even realize that themselves, so they literally did all that to her, despite her being the most based and grounded and loyal person in Zoe’s stupid circle. She’s hands down the best character. They accidentally wrote something really good when it comes to her and now they have taken everything from her for no reason at all. For being antagonist towards the perfect little Angel Zoe for 5 chapters? I can’t believe I’m actually mad and invested in this stupid YA vampire mess of a book series.

[@mikeyjamieson4715]

Here's my current theory with the SA moment: the Cast duo realised that Aphrodite was the most interesting/likeable character, much more so than their protagonist, so they tacked on the SA moment as a scapegoat for the readers to rely on.

[@fireferna]

Obviously an aquarius

[@trapadvisor]

She out here moving aquarium

[@rachelppython]

@@trapadvisor what kind of traps do you advise on?

[@trapadvisor]

@@rachelppython any kind you need. I mean the ones you sell drugs out of. Like a bando? If you know what that is.

[@ambergerhamburger]

Lol Capricorn all the way baby 😅 or wait that's just me

[@ericakriner3205]

I think the most frustrating thing about these books is how expertly they skirt around actual interesting conversations and dynamics. The friend group decides to be angry with Zoey because she lied when it's actually much more reasonable for them to be upset that she refused to trust them and let them continue to grieve (presumably, even though we never see it lol) for their dead friend. Heath had to confront Zoey in the weirdest way possible by telling her not to be mean after killing two grown men without a second's thought when it could have been much more interesting to explore the extent of the Imprint's ability to blind him to her flaws/mistakes, OR even better, THAT could have been the thing that broke the Imprint and let Zoey reckon with the fact that she did something so shocking and horrible that it drove away the guy most obsessed with her. (And that would have allowed her some reflection without having to wave away the creepy grooming and make that her downfall) Idk it kills me how interesting and cool these books COULD have been if the plot had been handled by slightly better writers

[@snowgrave4642]

There's so many things that could have been more interesting but also there's so many plot holes these books are broken and would need to be completely redone from scrap imo And it's mainly the fault of the writing At the same time tho, it fits well for young teens/pre-teens, but the worst of it all are the ideas, the slutshaming and mysoginy, and that's really what cannot be excused, the target audience doesn't have the maturity to really step back and realize the problem and they can internalize them very easily

[@ericakriner3205]

@@snowgrave4642 +1 to all of that. I loved these books when I was a kid and revisiting them now with Alizee, I'm shocked at how much of the language seemed not bad or even cool when I was young. 🤢🤢 This series probably single-handedly contributed a lot of internalized misogyny I've had to unlearn, lol. 😰

[@littlekishmish]

great ideas, 100% agreed. but *slightly* better?!! i think they’re so incredibly bad that they’re v far away from smart writing and good plots such as yours

[@the_last_ballad]

The breaking of the imprint with Heath could have also been used to set up the Pedo rape scene that isn't treated like one, because then she would have been in an emotionally vulnerable place having just driven away a long time romantic intrest/friend(depending on what is convenient for the plot). But then that might portray the teacher raping their student in a bad light, so it couldn't fly 🙄

[@abbyz13]

I read this series out of desperation as a teenager because the library had so few options so this absolutely brutal n stunning recap is amazing

[@asherwitney697]

This book series would have been so much more interesting if it was written from Aphrodite’s perspective. Also, Aphrodite and Darius’s relationship is one of the healthiest and cutest in the entire book series!

[@darylesells19]

Why oh why couldn’t she have been the main character from the jump?? Imagine Aphrodite and her friend group coming to terms with the ever changing ways of the school and being knocked down from power while Miss Perfect Zoey does her thing in the BACKGROUND. Talk about great story telling. We’d have really gotten a sense of this deeply flawed character wanting to get back in the good graces of her once beloved Goddess while struggling with many internal and external factors and trying not to cross Neferet in the process. Then as an added bonus we get to see her in a healthy stable relationship with Darius, the one and only boyfriend she’ll have as she realizes in her own time that she is worthy of his love. Plus him becoming her Warrior was such a lovely thing (much better than Stark and Zoey by leaps and bounds) that I wished had gotten explored more whenever the POV switched to her.

[@Ellisepha]

Agreed. My idea of saving HON would have been to have Zoey be her canon bitchy self-righteous self at the start, then, as she's becoming more and more vampiric and breaking away from her upbringing, have her go through a character arc. Due to her shitty behaviour, she doesn't make a lot of friends except for Stevie Ray, but the more she uncovers Nefrets conspiracy with Aphrodite after Stevie's death, the more she realizes what an ass she was and they actually recognize each other within the other and change together. Make her earn her fucking powerups!!!! Like Zoey and Aphrodite could be wonderful foils to each other, especially in an enemies to friends plotline. Even their initials mirror each other, A and Z, the first and last letter of the Alphabet, Alpha and Omega, etc Now I'm upset because this story could've legit been something cool.

[@TaurusWitch29]

​@@darylesells19I love this

[@jemmae8909]

I can't remember where I read it, but someone pointed out that PC Cast was a teacher and wrote a grooming teacher/student storyline... bit odd innit.

[@Bee-jq2yi]

Could you imagine her being your teacher and then reading her books? 😅

[@Danmeilover69]

I didn't know that, that makes her feel so gross. Eww

[@ZeldaQueen64]

She was also writing this with her daughter, who Zoey is based on. Fun times, I'm sure.

[@marks.7211]

48:12 I remember reading description of Jack's death. In this scene Jack is singing 'Defying Gravity' from Wicked/Glee while actively being murdered by Neferet or smth and it was presented like it supposed to be heartbreaking and powerful moment and I remember VIVIDLY (one of those Damien words you know) how I audibly gasped "what the fuck". It scarred me for life.

[@bj71000]

Zoey’s entire character is the meme of the guy placing a stick between the wheel of his bicycle

[@kawaiiboushi]

Is this birthmas thing a thing...? I've known multiple people with Christmas-adjascent birthdays and it's literally never crossed my mind to get them Christmas-themed birthday presents. I imagine you might get fewer presents overall or less of an opportunity for a separate birthday party, but...really? Every year, every single person you know always gets you Christmas-themed gifts? My condolences if this does happen to anyone irl but it feels like such a contrived "I'm not like other girls my life SUCKS" plot point

[@kurtisk7973]

in my friend group 4/6 of us have december birthdays and live abroad so we would send 1 gift for birthday and Christmas and call it birthmas but no we never did anything Christimas thened as a gift thats weird even for Christmas imo

[@snowgrave4642]

@@kurtisk7973 Yeah like who buys Christmas themed gifts for Christmas besides maybe clothes it's weird

[@littlekishmish]

my birthday is the 21st of december, but nope i can’t remember a single time this has happened in 22 years

[@thehermit8618]

The whole thing reads as if the cast duo just heard the term "Birthmas" and assume it means not only fusing a birthday and christmas gift together but the celebrations as well. All the people who are born around christmas only ever get either one joint gift or one for birthday and one for christmas. I have never heard anyone ever gifting something christmas-themed for their near-christmas birthday

[@indi2423]

some people i know did half-birthdays. like, theyd celebrate in july or smth, so they could have a birthday party/celebration without it feeling too close to christmas

[@Mecharnie_Dobbs]

39:18 Never tell someone how much a gift cost. You can tell her they're classy. You can say they weren't easy to get hold of. You can refer to them as high-quality, exclusive. But never put a cash value on them.

[@mikeyjamieson4715]

"Staked to the middle of the cross (with a bloody nail) [...] Written (in blood, of course)" Are we sure this wasn't written by Tara Gillespie?

[@kit922]

Move over Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way, there's a new edgy Mary Sue in town

[@bloomp9676]

As a 17-year-old, I am baffled by the behavior of the characters (despite being socially inept myself, observation is enough to know that people ain’t like this). As a queer person, Damien gives me a headache (and, by the way, all of his “fancy vocab” can be used colloquially). Also as a queer person, I am wondering when Zoey and Aphrodite are going to kiss. As someone with interest in neurology, I suggest that the time Zoey tripped on nothing in the first book damaged her frontal lobe and resulted in a smaller-scale version of what happened to Phineas Gage… it’s the only explanation I can think of for some of her decisions.

[@ImaginaryAlchemist]

Damien exemplifies how to *not* write a gay character. It's insulting. His entire personality is just "hahaha I'm sooo gay guys!" and he fits into the "gay best friend" trope a little too well. Gay men don't exist to be props for straight women, but that's how Damien feels. Zoey would totally be the "I'm not homophobic, I have gay friends!" type as well. It honestly makes me wonder if the Casts ever met a real gay person, or they've only seen caricatures in popular media. I've personally never met any gay people who act like that unironically. (Though that could be the result of living in Florida, a fact that's sadly more relevant than ever with the horrid "Don't Say Gay" laws.) I have, of course, met openly gay men who have very feminine mannerisms and interests, but none as over-the-top as Damien. I'm not a gay man myself, but I am LGBTQ so bad representation like this rubs me the wrong way. We *need* representation, but not like this.

[@overgrownkudzu]

i guess the upside of this is that it's not explicitly anti gay and just overall bad, because in this series *everyone* exists solely to be a prop for the main character, they all have one token character trait embody exactly one bad stereotype. Even Zoey herself gets the Cherokee thing that's equally bad.

[@S3cr3t_Qw1rtz]

I'm sorry, what's the "don't say gay" laws? Is that literal or more of a social thing? I'm sorry, I live nowhere near the us, let alone florida

[@fatosirrelevantes]

Imma just say.... if this book was a Sapphic romance between Zoe and Aphrodite it would've been a better read fr

[@ithseem]

When the world needed her most, she came back

[@zongbieapocalypse]

Alizee I love your House of Night series breakdowns! I read them when I was around 15 years old and couldn't finish them because of how bad Zoey is of a character. Looking forward for more of these!

[@mikhailavandermerwe5636]

Sucks that Aphrodite was turned into a human. Although, I have hopes that (because of the Cast duo's weirdness) she will be re-vampired to save the day like the real main character she is.

[@Ellisepha]

iirc, Aphrodite is later called "A new kind of human", but yeah, she deserves SO MUCH BETTER. Poor girl did nothing wrong except being a high school bully, I stand by that.

[@Fimbulvetrstar]

she does get re-vampyred, but not until the secondary spinoff series they decided to do during these last few years. she gets a new power w/ it too, but w/ the caveat that it has limited uses, and when they're all used up she'll turn back into a human again for the rest of her life (which nyx basically confirms will happen to her, it's still very weird tbh lmao)

[@CatChaos369]

@@Fimbulvetrstaroh ffs Aphrodite deserves to be re vamped purely for healing stevie Rae let alone everything else she does! Nyx can give a raven mocker a human form despite being a self admitted rapist but ooo school bully having minor power trip impossible!

[@VictoriaRoyce]

"The hospital is just down the road, I'm sure they'll be fine. However, I realized at this point that Zoey Redbird lives in America...If they are alive, you've just bankrupted them for life" 😂😂 Hilarious. This is my favorite video so far talking about this story. Ironically, this was my favorite book in the series, even though I hated this damn book series as a teenager, but it had the most action going for it. The rest only got more and more annoying and frustrating. I gave up at book 10 when I realized that for some reason they were still dragging it out for more books. I was so mad.

[@tonichan89]

T-... TEN?! THERE ARE TEN--

[@VictoriaRoyce]

@@tonichan89 there’s actually 12 to end this god forsaken saga. I just gave up at 10 and refused to continue. I hated Zoey (I’mSoSpecial) Redbird so fricken much

[@Danmeilover69]

The ambulance ride alone will bankrupt them, ahh how I love living in America. 😂

[@armythecat]

These books with Zoey's tattoos remind me of those fairy Barbie movies where every single one of them she would get new wings because idfk why

[@goodnight-moon564]

Hey, don’t you dare disrespect Barbie like that! Those movies were a masterpiece! At least compared to … whatever this book series is.

[@greenstarlover1]

​@@goodnight-moon564I second that. At least Elina did _something_ to deserve them.

[@freya987]

It almost feels intentional that Aphrodite is the best character. But at the same time authors like this for some reason love when they can have one character who they can bully because they think everyone else have the same sense of “justice is served” thats so petty

[@oops383]

So this is unrelated to this, but on the wiki it says Zoey's favorite show is Dr. Phil. That really shows a lot about her character, her narration is just like the judgmental audience in the show

[@Jules25619]

I’m so obsessed with someone answering all the least important questions about her as a character lmao

[@CatChaos369]

Also given the twins favourite tv show was America’s next top model makes alot of sense yikes!

[@becatron2000]

I’ve always been so confused with the Christmas birthday thing. I’ve almost never gotten Christmas themed gifts myself on Christmas. It was always something you wanted and/or could use year round. So the Christmas thing always seemed far fetched to me and only added for drama’s sake.

[@Bee-jq2yi]

Fr tho and the ppl that are saying “oh I get where she’s coming from with the Christmas thing because my birthday is around Christmas too” I’m like who tf is getting people Christmas themed gifts for Christmas even let alone a birthday 🤦‍♀️never seemed realistic to me. Ppl with birthdays close to Christmas have always told me they actually love it bc it’s like getting double presents.

[@abhainn35]

@@Bee-jq2yi My birthday is December 22, and I've never been given Christmas items for presents. They're just like anyone else's. At most, sometimes I decorate my cake with winter designs. It's obvious the authors have never met someone with a birthday a week away from Christmas. (And yep, it's like getting double presents.)

[@porcirain9143]

@@Bee-jq2yi I know people who don't like having a birthday near Christmas due to the family's expendable income being strung out already do they get less presents making it seem like they got less presents then their siblings for both occasions

[@alisaurus4224]

Combined presents, as in only getting one-yes. Christmas-THEMED presents-no

[@jacobbesler3214]

Zoey is still awful, but I can't help feeling pity over the thing with Loren. Her thoughts and feelings read like they came from a textbook on the psychology of grooming victims

[@Dia.Ghoul8]

this book was the reason I stopped reading the series. I hated zoey so much after this. I didn't see it as grooming at the time but tween me was like "he's clearly using you, and erik loves you!!". I love you going through these bc I am curious about what happens but its so fun hearing you tear them apart. excited for book 4!

[@Lo0serx3]

please do more of these, I don't want to read the series myself to find out what happens but I'm weirdly invested

[@kurtisk7973]

mood. its like the 8 hour victorious video, im in it to win it now

[@jennycomelately]

This brought back vivid memories of me reading this at 11 years old. I really started hating Zoey in this book and deciding I was going to keep reading only for Stevie Rae and Aphrodite…. Eventually started shipping them tbh😔

[@maxhasproblems4885]

based asf

[@Danmeilover69]

I kinda ship Stevie Rae, Aphrodite, and Zoe together. Like a less shitty version of Zoe 😂

[@katharineeavan9705]

@@Danmeilover69 like if Zoe was Ebony from the webseries rather than the OG My Immortal

[@darylesells19]

Zoey : Nala summed up my life perfectly, kinda funny, gross, and messy. Lol, amirite? The readers: You... still killed two men. Guess we're gonna act like that didn't happen, eh?

[@asthmaticbee]

44:04 HOLY SHIT that bit with Loren had me audibly gasp that was some serious groomer talk, fuck.

[@MsZelazny]

I couldn't afford new books so I relied on what I could get from the very small libary, used bookstores, and yard sales so I was the kid that started series wherever and appreciated the quick rundowns at the beginning of books. I read whatever I could get my hands on. Now I can read whole series on my phone and I love living in the future but not too long ago that was way harder for a preteen in the middle of nowhere.

[@Picking.a.name.is.hard1]

1:14:40 Darius has said ONE line and he's already my favourite. It's giving weird guard, it's giving fantasy knight. I hope he doesn't do anything weird, because I love him already

[@missliss2581able]

I read this series when I was in my 20s (I didn’t have cable or internet and was very bored). Strap in kids, shit hasn’t even gotten weird yet 😂😂😂 i think this was the first series that I had to finish because it was so damn wild. It’s like the 12 car pile up of book series

[@Danmeilover69]

I completely agree, I actually read these books as a young teenager and adored them. Now I look back and wonder what was wrong with young me. As I read them the first time I figured out they were utter garbage and kept reading because I found how bad they were to be hilarious. I just had to see how it ended.

[@coreybaldwin2500]

I never actually finished the series so I'm really looking forward to the last review on it so I can see how it all shakes out 😆 I don't think I can put myself through the books again

[@Danmeilover69]

It gets beyond wild, which is why I kinda ironically love it because I find it so hilarious.

[@nightmarefanatic1819]

I probably would have actually been able to like this ironically if it weren't for the making rape victims evil and rapists heroes thing. And for those not in the know, I mean actual, in universe rapists, none of this "Aphrodite is a sexual predator but it's never seen as such but the characters" shit.

[@SoRePeSi]

I have barely started watching this but the birthday thing reminds me of Blue Exorcist, where Rin and Yukio were born around Christmas as well, so they're baffled when they make someone a Christmas cake and someone tells them it's not the same as a birthday cake.

[@TRexRAWWR1]

I remember that! That was a good episode, I wish the fandom wasnt dead

[@averyfields8183]

​@@TRexRAWWR1THE NEW SEASON IS COMING OUT BUD.

[@Ingemaja]

Alizee telling the duo to grab some food unlocked a buried memory 😅😂 I was somewhere around 14 or 15, and I was writing stories online. My readers could comment beneath each chapter I released, and some of my commenters were there for every chapter of every story. I think it was the fourth story I wrote, where I was writing just after having been sick (throat infection that made it near impossible to swallow anything but soup). So I wrote a chapter with a kind of side plot, with the main character just running around and being useless while looking at things and trying to cheer herself up. One my regular commenters posted something close to this: “What happened here, LOL xD You’re usually quite coherent, and every side plot and subplot seems to have a purpose, but this just reads like hunger, LOL (oops, I don’t mean to be rude or anything). Are you okay? I want to make you sandwich. Are you hungry? Xoxo” I’m 25 now (turning 26 in a 2 months time), and the memory of reading that response made me laugh a little and feel slightly embarrassed 😅

[@katharineeavan9705]

My MA dissertation piece was a screenplay. You don't want to know how much of my editing was just removing scenes of and references to making and drinking coffee. For the first third of the story she was repeating everything she did over and over, and that bitch still put the kettle on more than she did literally anything else

[@greenstarlover1]

Oh my god, imagine being called out like that 😂. I feel ya.

[@claudiecow]

Obsessed with how they end on the adorkable note of hey, that’s my life for ya! Kinda gross, kinda messy! Instead of, u know Choosing violence at every step and being the worst person in the world

[@ziab1400]

Gods I just wish this book would be turned into a TV series with most of the main characters have personality changed, the twins could be soul mates (as in not romantic, just that their souls are connected somehow), Nyx not being the only god out there and the reason the stepdad is hostile is because he's secretly serving a god that hates Nyx's guts

[@Stargazer_Ley]

To be fair the step father in the original version technically "serves a god that hates Nyx." lol. But listening to these vids, I'm tempted to rewrite this series. lol. The twins being in a qpr and having an actual bond (which I believe in the actual series the Twins drift apart) would be neat. Damien has a personality beyond "gay" idk what to do with him and Jack for that matter.

[@Icantbelivethat]

I’m OBSESSED with this series. I had a massive vampire phase as a tween so I read all of these. I remember thinking Aphrodite got a bad rap. You should do the Undead and Unwed series next. It’s the only vampire paperback more wild than this one that I’ve found.

[@LaFlor718]

Omg i love that series!!! It’s so funny

[@blueriverbane69]

Aphrodite is a tsundere in a world that doesn't appreciate tsunderes

[@anaionescu8913]

I had never heard of this series before Alizee started reviewing them and I FUCKING LOVE THEM! Not because they're good books, but because I love Ali's videos

[@abee1624]

I recently visited my parents house and found my completed collection of this book series, mind you I was reading these in real time as they were published all throughout my middle/high school years. Every time I ponder why a small 11 year old was allowed to read this series, I think about how you have willingly subjected yourself to reading these I am shocked that you continue to the next one. Can't wait for the next 9 videos of painful nostalgia

[@AlizeeYeezy]

I never finished this series as a teen, I think I got up to book...9? Idk the raven god man appeared and then Zoey goes to live on an island? So I'm legit looking forward to seeing how the final 3 books end lol

[@trashferret]

@Alizee this is where I stopped as well. I'm so excited to know how this shit show actually wraps up

[@michanone]

@@trashferret I read it until the last book came out. I have this idea that I should end books if I start them. The last book I basically skipped through and read only the last 30-40 pages. Let's say: You'll loose even more braincells. 😆 (And I really want the special stories, too. At least Neferets was better!)

[@DupreeBlosch]

@@AlizeeYeezy that’s where I stopped too 😂

[@kat.w.RBF444]

I love listening to your scathing reviews of YA fiction (especially about vampires). Had to comment not only for the engagement as I listen and work, but also to say that 1:05:25 to 1:05:28 warmed my cold dead heart. So cute.

[@brandig7759]

These books make me feel better about my own writing, especially when I feel like it seems too juvenile. I never actually read these books when I was a teen because they just RADIATED bad vibes for some reason that I couldn't explain back then. Thanks for the confidence boost!

[@mitchellhouser1572]

Have not watched the video yet but just wanted to say I have been excitedly awaiting the next part of this series!! Thank you glorious Alizee Yeezy!

[@AlizeeYeezy]

Hope you enjoy!!

[@mitchellhouser1572]

@@AlizeeYeezyhave now watched it and it was great! I can’t wait for part 4!

[@EL-jq1sq]

20:36 Honestly sounds like she was trying to guilt them. Like "remember my bff just died so you can't be mad at me!"

[@SinsOfScience]

"If they murder just one more of our sisters or brothers, I will declare a state of war against them." So... the murders up to that point were okay?

[@shy2infinity]

43:57 DID SHE UNIRONICALLY GO "Age is just a number" IN THIS BOOK??? Nah man, I forgot ALL about that :']

[@Leriehane]

oh god this is it this is the book I randomly found as a poor unsuspecting teen, and read. At the time I didn't even know there were books before this so I literally just started, tried a couple books after this, and then dropped because I was SO BORED.

[@alisdraws]

I know this seems weird to say and all, but I find this book better than the last two. This one has a plot and it isn't just reiterating how special she is over and over (it still does this, but it isn't all it's doing) I think. I think they did improve.

[@moanystrom3531]

Let's pretend that I'm exaggerating when I tell you that I've been STALKING your page for the next video in the House of Night series. This is gold.

[@scalehex]

Good God in freaking heaven. As an aspiring (and currently in school for...) writer, I genuinely want to interview P.C. Cast and her daughter and grill them about all the books. How do they expect a good show to come out of this? Not in -current year-, it's not going to happen. What went through their minds? This is why I ask my friends and family who read my stories to give me honest feedback and tell me my mistakes. I can't grow and get better if all I get is "They're great honey!" Lol. Should I try to contact them and ask for an interview? like, see if I can get extra credit for school or something XD?

[@amazingmoustaches]

i am once again tuning in to see your breakdown of a YA novel series that i have never read, what a lovely Sunday

[@woweeitsali]

I rewatched the first two videos yesterday for a bit of fun; how appropriately timed! Can't wait to hear about the shenanigans in the third book of Mary Sue vampyres

[@LolaLink]

Funnily enough, my mom bought me this book after I read Twilight in high school. I had no idea it wasn't the first book in the series because everything was over-explained. And I never tried to read the other books because I thought it was terrible lol.

[@astraynaught9343]

"(softly) you absolute slag 😳" literally floored me I had to pause bc I was laughing to much

[@victoriat5103]

Bless you for continued work on this series. I appreciate the sacrifice of your brain cells reading this books.

[@paigelam6913]

I once had a coworker tell me I'm too much of a misanthrope to be an Aquarius and I responded "Yeah, it's almost as if that star signs stuff is all just bullshit." :)

[@cigaretteparfum]

the rise of people taking astrology as applied to humans seriously and unironically is extremely disturbing tbh. even more so the fact that a lot of astrology enthusiast's line of defence is that it's "an old spiritual/religious practice still done in many places", often implying or even explicitly alluding you to be some kind of a racist or a xenophobe for criticising them. meanwhile most people who actually live in places where such practice is done at a large or even middling scale, such as asia (with india being one of the worst, iirc) are suffering real life harm from it. even in my country, indonesia, it really isn't a secret that a good chunk of employers would take your star sign into consideration before processing your application. it's mad fucked.

[@corrienoel]

Ok but as someone with a Christmas birthday, I get Zoey complaining about mash-up gifts. It does suck sometimes 🤣

[@TRexRAWWR1]

honestly id hate that. It seems more like zoeys mad because the gifts are ugly tho and thats not what id e unhappy about. Id be kinda sad because it feels like the gift have no thought behind them, like theyve were from a secret santa at a work party rather than a friend

[@mitchellhouser1572]

I don’t even get why someone would buy those gifts for anyone? It’s not like people only give Christmas-themed gifts at Christmas… I couldn’t imagine anyone buying them and giving them to someone for their birthday or Christmas.

[@happyjellycatsquid]

@@mitchellhouser1572 Especially teens ? Like I remember as a teen how no one in my friend group could be arsed about Christmas lol

[@TRexRAWWR1]

@@mitchellhouser1572 fr I can only see people buying that stuff for people they dont actually know that well like coworkers or classmates

[@ZeldaQueen64]

@@mitchellhouser1572 That's my thought. My brother has a birthday close to Christmas. Our family chose to give most of his presents at Christmas, so he didn't get as many gifts for his birthday. I can't remember anyone ever giving him winter stuff, though.

[@SS-xr7jf]

I know it’s the epitome of “first world problems”, but if I always got Christmas themed gifts for my birthday just because of where the date lies, I would probably rage and be bitter and ungrateful too.

[@Graycata]

I know a couple of people born close to Christmas. They make it known they are not happy about getting Christmas stuff for their birthday

[@xLiLlyx98]

Hell, I wouldn't even want Christmas themed stuff for Christmas.

[@recoveringintrovert717]

My birthday is Halloween. I get Halloween themed gifts every year. It's no big deal, and no one HAS to get you anything, so be grateful.

[@SS-xr7jf]

@@recoveringintrovert717 Halloween stuff is infinitely cooler than Christmas stuff. And if your friends and family insist on getting you Christmas stuff every year even after you express that you don’t really like getting Christmas stuff, then they probably don’t care enough about you to actually consider your feelings. There’s no reason to be grateful to them for revealing that every year.

[@xLiLlyx98]

@@recoveringintrovert717 ooh I'd love that. I'd love a Halloween birthday. 🎃

[@justanotherlighthouse]

"What are you, the Vatican" absolute comedic GENIUS

[@Kevtastical]

I've been watching your videos for books one and two over and over because I find em hilarious! So pumped to have this in my sub box today!

[@Jadeeee2323]

Saaaaame. I just rewatch them lol, so when there's a new one i get sooooo pumped. For some reason her jokes mixed with the nostalgic book is so fun to hear while i do chores and work and stuff. I also rewatch the twilight ones over and over while i do stuff for the same reason.

[@WhatsGnat]

Alizee I started getting house of night tik toks on my fyp now and they all are consistently tagging Netflix and Hulu and such to pick up the series for a show 😭 feels like an alternate dimension

[@maybe8985]

I still can’t believe she would be so attached to stevie ray THEY KNEW EACH OTHER FOR BARELY A MONTH.

[@heatherkawaguchi9204]

I have a birthday 2 days after Christmas and I’ve never gotten any cool birthmas gifts. People usually just forget. I read these when I was young and reliving them now is hilarious.

[@Jeannjay]

Fun fact no one asked for: in the danish translations they changed a bunch of names. For example, Damien is called Daniel, Heath is Jonathan, and Stevie Ray is Mary Ann

[@бронза.вафля.конус]

Much better names except Daniel

[@mathildefroelund5933]

brun læskedrik? or what is brown pop?

[@BlackIsALightShade]

who reads/likes this series? my really crummy pick me girl ex best friend who had some serious internalized misogyny issues was OBSESSED with these books back in the 6th grade lol. she literally talked about other girls like zoey does, which was part of what pushed me away from our friendship. makes me wonder if these books influenced her, because she was not like that when we were younger.

[@darylesells19]

I read these from middle school into high school as they came out and have since grown older and developed much better tastes in literature. I have all 12 books to this day in fact, though I’d like to give them away. My soft spot for this bad bad series hasn’t gone away. Though that’s mainly due to Aphrodite being her awesome self as well as a few other memorable side characters that desperately needed more screen time and a world that had the potential to be well fleshed out in the hands of competent writers. So yeah, to answer your rhetorical question, I have both read and in a way still like this series.

[@BlackIsALightShade]

@@darylesells19 the first sentence in my comment was actually me quoting alizee, while the rest of my comment was me responding to alizee’s question about who reads these books. i didn’t make that particularly clear tho, so i definitely understand you interpreting it as me asking the question myself. i think we all indulge in guilty pleasures re: media. like those books or tv shows that we know are objectively awful, yet we still enjoy them regardless. for me, it’s south park. it was actually nice to hear your perspective, since the only other fan i have ever encountered was not a particularly great person. you seem to have a good head on your shoulders since you can acknowledge the problems with these books. i’m not going to judge you for keeping your house of night books or for liking them, since you don’t hold the books up on a pedestal as the epitome of ya fiction perfection. aphrodite is best character 💯

[@ladyaarion]

Very interesting how the men that wanted to assault Zoey were specified to be black in a series with very few black characters. Perpetuates the stereotype of dangerous/violent black men,,,,

[@darylesells19]

Caught that reading it as a black teen girl myself and didn’t think much of it. Then they put in a black girl that spoke in nothing but Ebonics and man did it show that she was written by non black people doing their best impersonation of how they think it sounds. Very uncomfortable stuff, if I remember right she kind of had a personality, but that was easily forgotten because of how much of a walking stereotype she was! They took so much time to explain that she was dressed with different wigs on just about every time they saw her. And of course her name was ghetto too. Kramisha if I remember correctly? Made me motivated to write so I could at least create better black characters with actual depth to them.

[@nightmarefanatic1819]

For real, they are so minor there was absolutely no reason to even describe them at all, but nice to see these authors that desperately want their progressive cookies pulling this shit.

[@nikoblack1272]

​@@darylesells19i think Kramisha is a perfectly lovely name but that two white women gave it to her is bothersome

[@yasminemixon9340]

​@@darylesells19what's really fucked up is that Kristen cast is half black. P.C. Cast wrote this nonsense even though she had a child with a black man

[@milenalm5288]

@@yasminemixon9340really? Then perhaps she knows something about the issue and that’s why she wrote it the way she did……

[@agroxneko]

Yessss another House of Night book, I listened to all of this as I was getting ready for work, also I love hearing Alizee rant about Aphrodite's horrible treatment it gives me life.

[@sauleiwanderapfelstrudel]

the craziest thing about the repetitions is that these books came out like twice a year

[@SaMira-gb6vg]

17:45 a question that keeps me up all night for years : are the pearls shaped like a snowman, or do they all form together one big snowman ?

[@midgematic8659]

I genuinely dont remember what happened in the last two books but if we’re being honest you could probably listen to these three videos randomly and the plot would make just about as much sense 🤣

[@sophie265]

Now I ate this all up as a pre-teen/in my early teens, BUT I'm giving kudos to 12 year old me for recognizing that the teacher-thing was creep and inappropriate

[@Limonenmixgetraenk]

OMG, the racoon line! I still have it in mind everytime I do eyeliner. Isn't there one part where she says that she puts on eyeliner and then smudges it with her finger or a Q-Tip? Was that in the first book?

[@LadyBatCat]

I'm dying for the next part. Will you be going through the torture of doing the whole series? As a silly teen who loved anything vampire I shamefully loved this series but didn't finish it so I would love to see what happens at the end with your sarcastic commentary

[@wuschelfloke7690]

I literally gasped when I saw this video is up. You spoil us.

[@owlintrenchcoat]

I love so much that this takes place in a universe where the only kind of Christmas presents anyone can give have to be explicitly Christmas themed.

[@Memequeen89]

I’ve been waiting for this video!!! Also I read these books back in high school and I know Alizees joking about how progressive the cast duo think they are but it kinda was at the time (or at least it felt like it). I loved these books as a teen. Obviously I know it’s hella cringe now but yeah. Kinda says a lot about how growing up can affect your perspective on things

[@blehbleh4531]

i needed a good video to listen to while taking my bath, ty for uploading this queen 😊😊

[@lacurievalley8970]

I really needed an escape from life today and this is perfect to listen to while doing that. Thanks Alizee!

[@screechwhisper]

new drinking game- take a drink every time "U-we-tis-a-ge-ya. The Cherokee word for daughter."

[@colorsaremyfrends]

These videos are the highlight of my month. I hope they continue to bring you as much joy as they bring me

[@sophiet.3426]

i should not be this exited when i see your house of nights uploads, but i do lmao. making my life a bit better one day at a time.