Review: Captivate (Need #2) by Carrie Jones

Synopsis: 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. Source

 

Review

Plot: I was so excited to finally get back into the world of pixies when I bought Captivate. I was not disappointed when I was instantly dropped back into the war with the pixies. It was refreshing to have new and old characters talk more about the pixies. In Need, Zara and her friends painted the pixies as monsters and that was that. There were no if, ands, or buts about it. Since it is fiction and about myths, Jones can paint the pixies however she wants, so I thought that all pixies in this series are bad because Zara and her friends did. But, in this installment, we see that Zara and her friends are oblivious to the pixie world. They made assumptions about the whole race by what Zara's father did. Astley, a new pixie to Maine, has Zara start to open her eyes and make her rethink everything she believed. I am glad with the new character and can already guess that there will be a love-triangle, however, Astley is interesting and mysterious, so I know it won't be a smooth ride with him. Since we're on the topic of romance, I have to mention Nick and Zara's relationship. I love them together and every time Nick comes along I want to squeal with joy. However, I couldn't take the nicknames or the lovey dovey phrases. I love romance and I can deal with the squishy romance that you can only find in books, but I felt like their's was too much. However, they are such a cute couple and loved every minute they were together.

 

Characters: Zara - Zara is very logical. She likes to think things through and go through all of her options in every situation. It was hard to read sometimes when it was a high-intense situation and we'd hear every thought she had. But, she would speak them too. I'm not sure whether I like that or not. Sometimes, I do want to hear what she was thinking and how she felt, but I also did want them to get down to business. I'll have to see if I'll like this in the long run for her.

 

Nick - Nick is absolutely adorable. I could eat him up. I love how protective and loving he is towards Zara. He isn't perfect, which is what I love, because I can't stand the flawless love interests. Just like Zara, I got fustrated with him sometimes too, but I also wanted to squeel every time he said or did something romantic.

 

Astley - Loving him as the new character. It was hard to keep up with what he wanted, but I loved his personality. Since he is a pixie, he lives a different lifestyle and has better knowledge of the pixie world. I'm hoping I see more of him in Entice.

 

Cover: I love the Need series' covers. They are so simple and elegant with the black background and gold accents to the girl. I view the girrl as Zara since she is mostly human, but has pixie in her. So, the lips and tear are part of her as a pixie, plus giving a hint to the book's plot.

 

Overall Rating: I'm giving this book a three out of four. The plot was a great continuation from the first and a great opener to the third installment. Captivate brings back all the characters we love and adds growth to them while having the war of the pixies continue with even more surprises.

 

Peace and Fangs,

Alisha