Book Review: Captivate by Carrie Jones

*This review contains some spoilers for the first book in the series, Need.

Zara and her friends knew they hadn't solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king's needs grow deeper every day he's stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets weaker. It's made him vulnerable. And now there's a new king in town.

A turf war is imminent, since the new pixie king, Astley, is moving in quickly. Nick nearly killed him in the woods on day one, but Zara came to his rescue. Astley swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he's one of the good guys. Nick isn't buying it, though Zara isn't as sure -- despite herself, she wants to trust the new king. But it's a lot more than her relationship with Nick that is at stake. It's her life -- and his.


As the second book in the series, I wasn't sure what to expect from Captivate. I enjoyed Need, the first in the series, and I was interested to see how Zara's story would progress now that her pixie king father was trapped in a house surrounded by an iron circle.

One of the first things that I noticed was that each chapter was introduced differently than they had been in the previous book. In Need, each chapter started with a phobia, but in Captivate, each began with a pixie hint/tip, or a definition. In my opinion, this was the best indicator of how much Zara had grown over the course of the two books. She has a group of great friends, and she's become a person who deals with her problems head on. One of the reasons that I like Zara's character so much is because she isn't a damsel in distress. Sure, sometimes this characteristic gets her into trouble, but she isn't going to go home and relax on the couch while her family and friends are out fighting pixies.

This book introduces a new character, Astley. He's another pixie king who has come to Maine, and he has a strange connection to Zara. I think that his character added a bit of romantic tension to the book, and also caused Zara to acknowledge her half-pixie side. I'll be looking forward to seeing whether Astley's true intentions are revealed in the next book, because I'm not sure I completely trust his character.

I think I actually enjoyed reading Captivate more than I enjoyed Need. This is rare, because usually sequels don't live up to the high expectations I have. The action picked right back up, however, and it sucked me back in. Not only was it action packed, but it was fairly emotionally charged, too. Without giving too much away, toward the end of the book my heart broke for Zara. The only issue that I had with Captivate, is that the book ends with a big cliffhanger. I've found that cliffhangers are something that readers either love or hate (or a bit of both), so that's just a warning. I do think that the cliffhanger fit well with the story, though. Overall, I'll be eagerly anticipating the next book.

I also love the cover, and I thought I should give some bonus points for that.

Check out the author's website here: http://www.needpixies.com/

Captivate
By Carrie Jones
Published by Bloomsbury USA
273 Pages
Rating: B+

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for an interview with the author!