Title: Marked (House of Night #1)
Author: P.C and Kristin Cast
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Contemporary, Vampires
Publisher: Atom also St Martins. Press (an imprint of Macmillan)
Publication Date: May 2007
Pages: 306
Rating: 2 stars
Synopsis (from goodreads):
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.
My Review:
I’d been meaning to read this book for a while. It has all the things that I’d love in a book – boarding schools, vampires, cats. What’s not to love?
If I wasn’t the type of person who HATES to give up on a book, I think I may have thrown in the towel after the first chapter. The dialogue really irked me. But after giving Marked a chance, I got drawn into the story and I stopped noticing the things that bugged me from the first pages.
Zoey Redbird is a character that I grew to admire. She has a lot thrown at her – being a Vampyre with a special mark gifted to her directly from the goddess, Nyx; facing the reality that not all fledglings make it to adulthood; secret societies with evil cheerleader-esque leaders and the most handsome boy in school trying to get her attention. I liked how she didn’t let it all get on top of her. She managed to hold her own and stand up not just for herself but for her friends too.
That’s not to say that she does everything well. I don’t think it’s a recommended idea to imprint on your ex-boyfriend and have him follow you around like a lost and overly affectionate puppy.
The supporting cast of characters are a bit of a motley crew but I found them rather entertaining. The Twins amused me greatly – I love the idea of physical opposites with completely different upbringings but having a similar soul. And Stevie Ray is somewhat adorable with her southern drawl and obsession with country music.
I do have a copy of Betrayed (House of Night #2) after I managed to pick it up for $2 at a second-hand book sale but I’m not sure this is a series that I’m going to stick with.
I am glad that I finished the book and I was quite enjoying myself by the end but it took me a little too long to get there.
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I felt the same way about this book Kate. The dialogue is a little difficult to swallow, but once the book gets into the flow it’s quite an enjoyable read. I got up to book 6 i think and now i’m pretty over the series. I did really like the first couple of books though, so hopefully you will enjoy Betrayed as well 🙂
I felt the same way. The book started slow the first couple of chapters, but once the story line picked up, I couldn’t put it down. However, I stopped reading the series after book 7. I can’t believe they are writing 12 books.
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