Review: Entice by Carrie Jones

Entice

Author: Carrie Jones

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Series: Need #3

Pages: 264

Genre: Paranormal

Release Date: December 14, 2010

How Received: Publisher

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.

My Thoughts:

I was almost tempted to quit the series after how disappointed I was with the second book, Captivate. But I am so glad I decided to stick with it. Entice’s saving point was its plot. Zara is trying to save Nick, but at the same time also has to transition from turning into a pixie.

One thing Entice did that Need and Captivate did not was keep me hooked. In Need and Captivate, I had to put the book down several times to fume or just go do something else. I only did that once for Entice, at the end when Zara reunites with Nick. Is it a coincidence that the only time I disliked Entice was when Nick was around? I think not. Anyway, back to the being hooked thing... I was surprised to be really absorbed into the story. I kept wondering what was going to happen, and turned the pages fervently, and the next thing I knew I was done!

Zara, as with the rest of the books, pissed me off again. I go into reading these books knowing I’ll be pissed off whenever Zara or Devyn are talking. However, I was able to stomach Zara this time, which I couldn’t in Need or Captivate. She made some sound decisions and she didn’t completely piss me off. That made me wonder... perhaps she is changing right before my eyes. Maturing. I mean, I naturally can’t see it because she still does a lot of stupid things, but the number of stupid things she’s done has dwindled a lot. One thing, though, was that I hated her one-track mind with saving Nick. I understood that it was important to her, but at what cost?! I had to agree with her mother, when she said, “No boy is worth this,” in regards to all of the people that died trying to get one person back.

Astley was a huge reason that I loved this book so much. He went from being an extra to being a forerunner as one of the leading secondary characters. He’s so charming and sweet. The best thing about Astley? He is not one dimensional. He has depths to him – he can put up a strong, sweet, caring front, but inside he’s also very sorrowful. He has a history of sadness and knows what it feels like to lose someone. But he doesn’t let it get him down. While he can easily break down, there’s another part of him that will just as easily rush to protect everything he believes in.

Not only does Astley bring life to the book, but he also delivers the standard love-triangle in paranormal romance. Zara is tied – bound – to Astley, because she is his Queen. Yet she loves Nick. But she also has conflicting feelings about Astley. I hate love triangles – I despise them – but this was one that I could handle. This is a triangle that both frustrates and excites me. It frustrates me because Zara is so set on Nick, yet it excites me because Astley has a chance. Nick and Zara can’t be together, not completely, anymore because Zara is a queen, and she needs a king.

Lastly, I think it’s safe to say I’m Team Astley. I have been since Captivate, and will probably remain so for the remainder of the series. Screw Nick. :P I said it before, and I’ll say it again: Astley is probably the reason why I wasn’t so annoyed with this book/why I loved it so much.

Cover Musings: Soooo... I think we’ve already established that all of the covers for the Need series are absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking and can grab attention while on the shelf from a mile away.

Memorable Quotes:

He swoops me into his arms before I finish my sentence. He dances formally, gracefully, not like a high school guy at all, but I guess that’s the pixie king in him. He’s more like a professional dancer on one of those dance competition reality shows. His posture is straight and his movements are fluid. He is nothing like Nick, who dances like a big goofy dog, really. Dancing with Astley is easy. It feels like I’ve been doing it forever. (pg. 14)

We stand there a moment, staring down each other as the rest of the people in the cafeteria swirl and swoon and fall in love. We are at a stalemate. His eyes soften. He lets me go, dropping his arms away, and I feel suddenly, terribly alone. I almost kind of want to dance with him again, which is so wrong, I know. (pg. 15)

We are all silent. We drive through the darkness on crazy roads, bumping from potholes and frost heaves. Roads are meant to be smooth paths, straight lanes to destinations, but they aren’t like that at all, are they? Life isn’t like that either. (pg. 28)

He continues talking. “Do you know how hard it is to be king? To always have to try to be good, to be perfect? Do you have any idea how hard it is to help you go after your stupid idiot of a were, all the while thinking you should just be satisfied with me, because that is how it is supposed to—” (pg. 52)

“I will find your wolf. I want you to want me because you want me, not because of grief, not because he is not here. I want you to love me for me. I want you to kiss me first and not because you need me to help you, but because you need to kiss me.” He lifts he eyebrows just a little bit and his lips open. I drop my head, reach for him, but he steps back and whisks away, dodging behind cars before I have a chance to say that I don’t want to lose him too. (pg. 201)

“I have arranged a meeting of our pixies so that—”

“In the graveyard again?” I interrupt.

“No. I think that was a bit—”

“Emo? Melodramatic?” I suggest.

Tilting his head, he smirks at me and makes eye contact. “As a species we have a weakness for drama. Thank you for reminding me,” he teases. (pg. 201)

Overall Thoughts/Final Comments: Out of all the books so far in this series, I have loved Entice the most. It was infinitely better than the previous two novels. I think its saving grace was the newest addition to our cast of characters, Astley. Astley took a major role in this book and that really made listening to Zara and her human friends a lot better. He added more depth to the novel than any of the other characters. And while I disliked the plot to save Nick (I seriously think he should be killed off and done with, but that’s just me being bitter), I appreciated it because it spoke volumes for Astley’s character. How many guys do you know that will go to such lengths to save the “other guy” in a love triangle? I have so much Astley love that it hurts. :P

Rating: 4/5

**I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange of an honest review! 

Want to see what I thought about the first two books in the Need series? Check out my reviews of Need and Captivate.

Extras:

Carrie's Website
Carrie's Twitter
Entice's Book Trailer: I'm seriously digging on the song in the background. What IS it?