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
Title: Marked
Published: May 1st 2007 by St. Martin's Griffin
I'm going to assume the last time I had read this book I was younger and much less critical about books. Also, the last time I had read this book, I had given it five stars, but now it barely reaches three. In my opinion, the book tried too hard to relate to the audience. Sometimes so much it offended me an adult would think we talk like that. Really, because P.C. Cast had the help of her daughter Kristin Cast, you wouldn't think relating to the audience would be a problem. Another reason the book didn't meet my expectations was because of the confusing language. Teenagers don't use words like "poopie." Again, another fail on the part of relating to the audience. This book annoyed me to no end on the part of stereotypes. New girl (Zoey) comes to school and is labeled "freak," her best friend (Stevie-Rae) is the height of the country-girl stereotype, her arch-nemesis is the Queen Bee (Aphrodite) of the school...oh, and she falls in love with the Queen Bee's ex (Erik) after he reads a monologue from Shakespeare. Zoey also never stopped complaining about her life. She complained that she wanted to break up with her boyfriend who was on drugs, but then when she sees her ex-best friend with him, Zoey decides they hadn't really broken up. She also complained her mark was filled in, which she knew was from the goddess, Nyx, herself. Hmm, the goddess decides you're important enough to talk to and you take more than half the book to realize there's something special about you?
I did enjoy the fact the author attempted to make this series different from other vampire novels. For one, vampyres aren't a huge secret to society. Instead, most singers and actors...the famous, are all vampyres. Also, the fact the fledglings (new vampyres) had to survive the Change into becoming an adult vampyre interested me. Overall, I'm happy with the plot of the story, though I'm not as happy as I was when I read the series years ago. This series is one of those read it once kind of books. I'm not entirely sure if I'll be reviewing the rest of the series, re-reading the first book was boring enough.
Book Nerd and Proud,
C.J.
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