Marked: A House of Night Novel

Marked: A House of Night Novel


By: P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Reviewed by: gothiclolitamaiden, 15
Rating: It was alright...


"Vampires have always existed. Zoey Redbird 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, and not all fledgling vampires 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 vampire Goddess. But she is not the only fledgling with special powers. When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite club, is misusing her gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny--with a little help from her new vampire friends."

Phew, long summary, but it's necessary that I include it, if I want this review to make sense. Is it just me, or are there too many authors jumping on the vampire bandwagon nowadays? (*cough* It's all Stephenie Meyer's fault *cough*).

House of Night is a fairly new series, Marked, the first book, was only published in 2007 and there are already five books out with a sixth is in development. I question the Casts' writing process if they can crank out five books in less than two years, but I'll put my suspicions about sloppy work to the side for now. Basically, that whole summary paragraph can be summed up in one sentence: An ordinary girl goes to a vampire boarding school that is sort of like Hogwarts, but with vampires. That was the impression I got off of the series. Marked tried to become a mature, vampire version of Harry Potter aimed at a teen audience, but fell short because the story was not very mature. There is mature content, violence, language, drugs and...well...other stuff you wouldn't see in Harry Potter. The series may contain mature content, but it is not mature (in the sophisticated way, like Harry Potter), it is annoying. I hope that my wordplay makes sense. Most of the characters curse like middle school students who think it is cool to add an expletive into every sentence, not all of the time, but a good percentage of the book.

The take on vampires is kind of weird. Vampires can do magic, and they don't have fangs. I like that humans know about vampires in House of Night, it adds a nice twist, but I can't forgive the whole magic thing, I'm afraid. Save that for Harry.

Some characters in House of Night were really annoying. They all talk too much like stereotypical teens (we don't talk like that!). Zoey is inconsistent as a narrator, switching between slightly whiny teenager to sounding like the author. It is obvious that the authors themselves do not really know Zoey, so the readers do not either. Some characters are developed, but usually they are given just one defining personality trait. There were two stereotypical characters that really stood out, Aphrodite and Erik. Aprhodite is like one of those mean girls on Disney Channel, (you remember, right?) spoiled, always gets her way, gets whichever boy she wants, etc., except for the fact that some of her behavior isn't suitable for daytime television. Erik is Mr. Perfect, need I say more? The physical descriptions of characters are pretty good, you can imagine them in your head, but I started to get all of the various blond girls mixed up.

Despite my complaints, there are some pretty funny moments, and the plot moves along quickly, enough to make you forget about all of the annoying characters and enough to make you want to find out what happens next.

Certain groups of people may find this book lacking taste or even offensive. The teenaged narrator insults Goths and Emos on the same page, which bugged me a bit because it was almost as if she was insulting anyone who dresses a little different than normally. On a positive note, there is one male character who is homosexual, and he is portrayed in a positive light.

Overall, it's worth picking up, but nothing to rave about.


Recommended to: Some vampire fans, anyone looking for a page turner. 14+