Product Description
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.
P.C. Cast is an award-winning fantasy and paranormal romance author, as well as an experienced speaker and teacher. Her novels have been awarded the prestigious Prism, Daphne du Maurier, Affaire du Coeur, and other awards. She lives and teaches in Oklahoma.
Kristin Cast has won awards for her poetry and journalism. She attends Northeastern State University, where she is working toward fulfilling her goal of becoming a biology teacher.
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.
“Marked is one of the best coming of age stories to come out of Oklahoma since S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. It teaches about the beauty of being a social outcast, friendship, and finding your own inner spirituality.”—The Beltane Papers
“From the moment I stuck my face in this book it hooked me! Totally awesome new take on vampires! Marked is hot and dark and funny. It rocks!”—Gena Showalter, author of MTV’s Oh My Goth
“Cast reeled me in from paragraph one. I snorted and giggled through the whole thing, and devoured it in one sitting.”—MaryJanice Davidson, New York Times best-selling author of the Undead series
“In 16-year-old Zoey Redbird’s world, vampyres not only exist but are also tolerated by humans. Those whom the creatures ‘mark’ as special enter the House of Night school where they will either become vampyres themselves, or, if their body rejects the change, die. To Zoey, being marked is truly a blessing, though she’s scared at first. She has never fit into the human world and has always felt she is destined for something else. Her grandmother, a descendant of the Cherokee, has always supported her emotionally, and it is she who takes the girl to her new school. But even there the teen stands apart from the others. Her mark from the Goddess Nyx is a special one, showing that her powers are very strong for one so young. At the House of Night, Zoey finds true friendship, loyalty, and romance as well as mistrust and deception. She realizes that all is not right in the vampyre world and that the problems she thought she left behind exist there as well. Readers will identify with many of the characters, especially the protagonist. The story moves quickly (a little too quickly at the end) and purposely leaves many unresolved issues. A good choice for those libraries serving fans of the occult, but be aware that the book contains some suggestive language and sex.”—Donna Rosenblum, School Library Journal
J. Kaufman @ 3:21 pm
Ask this question to yourself: Am I an immature, shallow, whiny, the-whole-world-is-out-to-get-me teenager? If yes, then I strongly encourage you to read this book. If no, then I strongly encourage you to to put it down and walk away.
Is it unfair to rate this book against Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight? Probably. But I found myself doing just that the whole time I was reading Marked. The main character, Zoey Redbird, especially annoyed me.
Zoey (who is the epitome of all that is Mary Sue) is the most under-developed, cliched character I have ever read about. I’ll compose a checklist.
Beautiful: check
Moral: check
Interesting ethnicity (in this case Cherokee): check
Family problems: check
Specially chosen: check
Amazing powers: check
Ah, and let’s not forget that she’s dating the hottest guy at the House of Night and got on the Queen Bee’s bad side.
I have to admit though, that thing that most threw me off about Zoey was her vocabulary. Every time I read the word “poopie” or “boobie” I couldn’t help thinking, How old is she supposed to be? I also hated how whiny Zoey was. The girl could not go a paragraph without finding some sort of fault with her life.
Moving on. I was rooting for the Zoey/Erik pair for a while, but decided to drop it after the reappearance of Zoey’s ex-boyfriend Heath. Zoey and Erik just lacked the chemistry to pull the relationship off with Heath added to the equation.
The plot was mildly interesting, and what caught my attention was that the story takes place in a world exactly like our own, except that vampyres (vampires; the word is spelled differently in this book. The students never seem to have enough energy to say the whole word, and simply abbreviated it to “vamps.” I’ll admit, that bothered me too) are common and well known. This book would’ve been better if it had been written by a different author. Stephenie Meyer would’ve been good, but I think only James Patterson has the style to pull this one off (though it is NOT something he would write about).
On a last note, the only reaon the book was described as “sexy” was because of one scene (which is continually cited in books two and three. Why, I don’t know…) in which Queen Bee Aphrodite was attempting to forcefully administer oral sex to Erik. This scene was absolutely irrelevant to the rest of the plot.
All in all, I would not recommend this book, much less the series; I read books two and three in hopes that is would get better. It didn’t. I hope this review has been helpful to you.
Tamela Mccann @ 5:53 pm
Early on in my reading of Marked, I wasn’t at all sure I would like this young adult novel. The story of Zoey Redbird, a sixteen year old girl who is unhappy at home, becoming “marked” as a fledgling vampyre, just seemed a bit forced. I wanted to feel a part of her story but her angst was overwhelming and I couldn’t really see where the plot was headed. However, about midway through, the book picked up steam and by the last few chapters, I was eagerly turning the pages in order to find out how Zoey’s unusual powers would manifest and where it all would lead.
Marked is an imaginative take on vampyres, weaving “old” pagan religious themes throughout and incorporating ancient history into its background. I liked the idea of a society where vampyrism is openly known and accepted, and I liked the School of Night where fledgling vampyres are taken for further training. I loved Zoey’s learning to accept herself and step up as a leader at the school, and even the cursing seems realistic. What I didn’t like was the obvious prejudice against traditional religion, and the “mini-sermons” we receive early on against drugs, drinking, and oral sex from Zoey’s point of view. I liked Zoey’s friends but felt that her acceptance into such a tight group so immediately didn’t ring true, and I had to wonder at just why Erik, the hot young vampyre, was so attracted so quickly to Zoey. There are also some very lucky coincidences, such as Zoey’s Native American grandmother having taught her purification rites which come in very handy. Thankfully these annoyances were overcome by the general storytelling and the excitement of the last half of the book.
Marked is the first in the series and I’ll definitely be looking for the next two. I am captured by Zoey’s world and want to see how her special spiritualism develops over time. This book also left enough unanswered questions that I’m drawn to find out more. With a caution that this book would probably be better for more mature readers with its incidents of sexual tension and cursing, I can say I’m intrigued enough to recommend this one.
mlle. x @ 7:59 pm
I liked MARKED. It was light, fast, easy, and fun. It didn’t make me think or worry, and it was predictable.
The heroine, Zoey, is a good girl – smart, hardworking, moral. As I read I wondered how the mother/daughter author team affected the overall tone, and I think that Zoey’s self-conscious moralizing is the most obvious result. This is a book for teens, so it’s nice to see some sensible messages mixed in with all the bloodlust, but Zoey goes out of her way to condemn alcohol, drugs, and casual sex at every possible opportunity. It sounded like most kids do when they try to convince a parent that, seriously, all these forbidden things are totally uncool they would never, ever try them. Which is to say – insincere.
There are “conflicts” and “problems” in the novel – sort of. It turns out that Zoey is a very powerful vampire, that the hottest guy in school has a crush on her, that she’s got to choose between an open invitation to join the Cool Clique or the Nice Clique. Yeah, it’s a tough life.
We meet the villain very early on, and she goes out of her way to be the most cartoonishly nasty Mean Girl that any fiction writer has ever imagined. She’s a beautiful blonde bully with a fantastic manicure and no conscience. She hasn’t an ounce of subtlety in her body and the first words she says to Zoey are, more or less, “I’m in charge here, get in my way and I will hurt you.”
I would bet money that I can predict exactly what will happen in the next book, thanks to the clue in the title, BETRAYED – but I will probably read it anyhow. Hopefully it will be just as enjoyably vapid as MARKED.
Kait @ 9:32 pm
This is probably the worst book I have ever read. The characters are superficial and cliched, the plot predictable and silly, and the narration is whiny and irritating. Case in point, the main character makes some sort of stupid, childish statement followed by the phrase “hee hee” at least once in each chapter. One chapter ends with a discussion of “poopie” and female body parts are repeatedly referred to as “boobies.” I understand that the writers are trying to emulate the thought patterns of a teenager, but even most teenagers aren’t this inane and childish. “Poopie” is the phraseology and humor of a 2nd-grader, not a sixteen-year-old.
I rarely write book reviews, even of those books I don’t particularly enjoy (which is quite rare, actually), but I was so angry that I wasted precious hours of my life reading this ridiculous tripe that I was motivated to try to save others from the same fate. I cannot recommend strongly enough to avoid this irritating book.
Darren MacLennan @ 10:19 pm
I wrote a review, and yet Amazon somehow ate it, so let’s try again.
The novel is okay – it’s well written enough. The main character has some interesting ways of describing things. But it’s not as good as it could be. Specifically:
- The main character is a Mary Sue. From the beginning, she’s special, special, special – she’s part Cherokee, she’s beautiful, everybody loves her, she’s got an awesome facial tattoo that fills itself in by magic, and she doesn’t have a single negative trait that would spoil the impression that she’s anything but perfect. She’s also got a magic cat.
- Her friends are essentially the cast of the first season Real World. There’s the Black Girl, the Gay Guy, and even the Okie Girl. They have no traits, but chirp at each other amusingly in order to seem like the world’s most wonderful friends.
- There’s some religious bigotry in that all of the pagans are absolutely perfect, handsome, Byron-spouting Goths – more of that wish fulfillment – and all of the people who belong to the Old Religion are a bunch of hypocritical, patriarchal jerks. This is the kind of simpleminded thinking that most writers outgrow around the age of sixteen or so; not so much here.
- The antagonists are simply evil without having any other personality traits. There’s some vague mutterings about how the evil girl is “set up” towards the end, but nothing that makes her more a cartoon.
You could find better pagan fiction, better vampire fiction, better high school fiction – the writing is technically good, but I would say that the series needs to get seriously deep or it’ll remain a layer of wish-fulfillment frosting over an empty cake.