Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
‘House of Night’ series Book #1
Reading level: Young Adult – Paperback: 320 pages – Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin; 1st edition (May 1, 2007) – Language: English – ISBN-10: 0312360266 – ISBN-13: 978-0312360269
Back of the Book reads:
Enter the dark, magical world of the House of Night,
a world very much like our own, except here vampyres have always existed. Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird has just been Marked as a fledgling vampyre and joins the House of Night, a school where she will train to become an adult vampyre. That is, if she makes it through the Change – and not all of those who are Marked do. It sucks to begin a new life, especially away from her friends, and on top of that, Zoey is no average fledgling. She has been chosen as special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx. Zoey discovers she has amazing powers, but along with her powers come bloodlust and an unfortunate ability to Imprint her human ex-boyfriend. To add to her stress, she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers: When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school’s most elite group, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny – with a little help from her new vampyre friends.
18-Oct-08 to 19-Oct-08
Review: Nice new spin for the vampire world.
Zoey Redbird, a regular and normal teenager, doesn’t feel like she fits in anywhere. And ever since her mother married Zoey’s now ‘step-loser’, she doesn’t feel like her mother cares a great deal for her anymore. And just when she thought life couldn’t get any worse, a Vampyre arrives at school and ‘marks’ her with the crescent moon, the sign of a ‘soon-to-be’ vampyre.
Upon arriving home, Zoey is in desperate need to talk to her mother, hoping that she could talk about it with her mother, looking for the caring mother she remembered. However, her mother proves differently and with her step-father there, she’s sent and locked in her room. A deeply religious man, her step-father believes that it was Zoey’s wicked ways that put her in her position and the only thing that reverse it would be prayers and a talk with a psychologist. But that wasn’t the answer Zoey was seeking, and slips out of the house to see her grandmother, the only person in her life that has shown her unconditional love. But Zoey becomes even more sick, falls and blacks-out, only to awaken to find herself at the House of Night: a school where the Marked go to learn how to become a vampyre, to learn to harness their new powers.
And just when Zoey thinks that maybe she’ll be able to feel like she finally fits in, Fate would change that. For Zoey has been blessed by the Goddess Nyx herself, and the shape of the crescent moon on her forehead is no longer an outline. It’s completely filled in. Once again, her hopes are dashed.
Meanwhile, even at the House of Night, it seems almost like a regular high school, for the kids still act the same. And the more Aphrodite, the leader of the Dark Daughters, antagonises her, the more she notices something not right about the group and becomes determined to bring Aphrodite down, with the help of her new found friends, believing her no more than a regular snobby bully.
For a young adult novel (and I’m 31), I thought this was pretty good. The different spin on the vampire world was fresh, and I’m always looking for something different from the norm.
Zoey, to me, is like just about any teenager out there. I related a lot to her, either in her regular high school or at the House of Night. I’ve had to deal quite a bit with the snobs and bullies. How they made her feel and think, I’ve felt and thought as well. The dialogue definitely feels ‘teen-ish’ and some readers might not like that.
I thought Zoey handled everything thrown at her quite well, from dealing with Aphrodite and the Dark Daughters, a new school, a roommate, new friends, new subjects to study (which sort of reminded me a bit of Harry Potter), her now ex-best friend and her ex-boyfriend.
I’d recommend it as a light read.
Rating: 
A Bookaholic's Review ... 
[…] and Kristin Cast House of Night Series Goodreads Library Thing A Bookaholic’s Review What to Read After […]