Marked (House of Night, #1)
by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Pages: 306
After a Vampire Tracker Marks her with a crescent moon on her forehead, 16-year-old Zoey Redbird enters the House of Night and learns that she is no average fledgling. She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx and has affinities for all five elements: Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit. 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 (or Nerd Herd, as Aphrodite calls them).
Marked is the first book in the House of Night series. It’s another teenage vampire novel with a little love and a little betrayal thrown in.
Zoey Redbird is your average 16 year old girl, until she gets marked by a vampyre tracker. From that point, her life begins to change. Her friends shy away from her because of the new crescent moon mark on her forehead, and more because of what it symbolizes: she’s turning into a vampyre. Hoping to find refuge and understanding at home, she pleads for her mother and stepfather to understand. Instead of taking the mark for what it is, they believe that the new occurrences are a result of her teenage rebellion and sin. They invoke a prayer chain. Zoey decides to run away to the only person who will understand: her grandmother.
Zoey’s grandmother knows that the only way for her to be safe is to go to The House of Night, a vampyre training school in Tulsa. When Zoey arrives, she feels comforted by her new roommates and friends, but she is unsettled by the new powers she seems to possess.
I had a hard time getting into this novel at first. The beginning seemed incredibly cheesy and weakly written to me. Before I began reading, I had no idea of the novel’s setting, so I was surprised to find out that it takes place a mere hour from my home.
Like Stephanie Meyer, the author creates a much different vampire world than we are used to. No fangs, no garlic, no coffins. I did see several instances that felt a bit like the two novels merged. I personally really enjoyed the Twilight series, but there’s something about changing the whole vampire lore that upsets me. I guess I just don’t feel that anyone has been spectacularly successful with making the changes. Stephanie Meyer, was of course, successful with her series, but she leaves some major questions unanswered (that’s a whole different blog topic entirely).
Overall, I found this book to be enjoyable, albeit cheesy. Several of the characters held my interest, and I’m curious to see where they go. If you liked Twilight, there’s a good possibility that you may enjoy this. I don’t see a group of crazed fans in the future of this series, as with Twilight, but I think it is still enjoyable.