Marked

Marked (House of Night, Book 1)

by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

 

Book Summary (from Amazon)

“Enter the dark, magical world of the House of Night, a world very much like our own, except here vampyres have always existed.”

One minute, sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird is a normal teenager dealing with everyday high school stress: her cute boyfriend Heath, the school’s star quarterback who suddenly seems more interested in partying than playing ball; her nosy frenemy Kayla, who’s way too concerned with how things are going with Heath; her uber-tough geometry test tomorrow. The next, she’s Marked as a fledgling vampyre, forcing her to leave her ordinary life behind and join the House of Night, a boarding 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 with Heath, who just doesn’t know how to take “no” for an answer. 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.

Britney’s Book Review

I was hesitant to read another vampyre novel, but this had been recommended to me by my sister and The Novel Affair (thenovelaffair.blogspot.com). I figured I’d give it a try, after hearing pretty good reviews about it.

For the most part, I really enjoyed it. I like how both P.C. and Kristin Cast pull you right into the novel from the first page. The action started immediately, which kept me intrigued to read more. For the most part, Zoey acted like a typical teenager. I feel like some things she thought or said was a little bit over the top, but she was a really unique and funny protagonist.

I also liked her friends and the descriptions of the House of Night. The history and plot seemed very well developed and researched. I kept wanting to know about Aphrodite, the enemy, and what was going to happen between her and Zoey. Not to mention the super hott vampyre, Erik, who poses as her love interest. Even though everyone at the House of Night is going through “the Change” of becoming a adult vampyre, the novel reads like a typical high school – which I enjoyed. There are problems with the in-crowd and classes, but with a whole new twist.

I sort of felt like Erik fell too easily for Zoey. There wasn’t much build up. I want to say I like him, but I also want to know more about him. For me, it was pretty unconvincing. I think romance is a huge part of most paranormal fiction. Hopefully there will be more to come in the next books. I’ve already started reading, Betrayed.

In all, I’d recommend this as a fun, paranormal read. Zoey is witty, funny, and a little bit of a dork, but she keeps the book very entertaining.