Book: Marked

PC Cast
Young Adult
St Martin’s Griffin / 2007
Quality Paperback / 306 Pages
Series House of Night #1

The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres have always existed. In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire--that is, if she makes it through the Change. Not all of those who are chosen do. It’s tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling. She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx. But 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 club, 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.

I picked this book up because it was on sale & I liked the one adult novel I read by PC Cast



What I liked the Most? The well written rituals



What I liked the Least? The unanswered questions and of VAMPYRE (really?)



Review: Okay I get it – Zoey has a crappy home life, an almost-boyfriend who should be an ex who drinks too way too much & hits on her best friend, a best friend who's too shallow for words, a religious step monster for a dad, a slut for a sister, a damsel in distress for a mother, and a geometry test tomorrow – but all this is becomes null when she is marked to be a vampyre and must move to the House of Night school. And the worst part she needs to get there today or die as her body rejects the vampire mark.

This is a new and novel take on the whole vampire legends – it mixes matriarchy and goddess-worship for a really good story line. Zoey’s mark is special - the Goddess Nyx has chosen to give her certain gifts, which she'll need, because something's not right at the House of Night, and it’s up to her to make it right.

As an adult reading the series I was a little concerned with some of the relevant issues covered in this book – drinking, drugs, anorexia, sex, homosexuality, bullying, etc. It almost felt like the authors were trying to make their character a holier-than-thou vampyre. This book is also dark, funny, and the inclusion of rituals invoking the five elements of air, water, fire, earth and spirit add a new, beautiful element that I really liked.



Recommended to: Before I recommend this to anyone else - I plan to read the next in the series, not because the story was terribly alluring, or the characters very interesting, but because I'd like to see if the author evolves as a writer.



Best Quote: "Hey! That's my happy thought, too, Peter Pan with me!”