synopsis

The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampires 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 vampire 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 vampire friends.

I had mixed feelings about this book, i liked it but i felt like there was something missing.I like Zoey, you can connect with her like boyfriend problems and wanting to fit in. I was watching some of P.C. and Kristin cast interviews and some of the characters are based off People they know. Zoey Redbird is just hilarious. She seems to be fitting in at the House of night really well, she wants it to be her home. Her love life's just everywhere(believe me it gets worse) Zoey is not like every other fledgling, the Goddess Nyx has a "misson" for her, she dicovers what the"misson" is and has it defeat it while juggling her love squarish relationship. ( )

This book happens to be my favourtie book it is everything and more!!! I love P.C Cast ( )

I thought this book was pretty good. I liked the story and I felt like it was easy to identify with Zoey. I'm really not into the odd spelling of vampire. Is there something extra special about the "y"? It just seems weird. I also felt that it was kind of Harry Potter like. Suddenly she's a "vampyre" and goes to a "vampyre" school where she has a special mark on her forehead etc. Very Harry Potterish. This book leaned a bit more toward the "adult" than the "young" in this genre. I would never write a book with my mother that had the same kind of adult content that this book has. Talk about awkward... I guess P.C. and Kristin have a very open relationship. I'd like to know what happens next in this series so I'll probably continue to read the books. ( )

Readers of the Twilight will enjoy this new and unique vampire story. I love reading supernatural stories but this series has a new vampire plot that I've never read before. Zoey, the main character, gets "Marked" and over the course of four years she will slowly turn into a vampire...if her body doesn't reject the change. However, not only does she need to deal with body changes and a new school, there's a girl who thinks she's boss of everyone-until Zoey shows up.

PC and Kristin Cast have written a wonderful book that's easy to read and always has you wanting more. I definitely recommend this to anyone who likes supernatural novels.

(This review contains spoilers and long-winded overanalyzation!)

I wasn't going to buy Marked at first because I was a bit put off by the summary; to me it sounded like the two authors had gotten together and said, 'So what can we do to cash in on the Twilight AND Harry Potter hype?' But a friend of mine loved it and recommended that I read it. So I went ahead and picked up a copy.

And I have to say that the premise of this book was enjoyable, as was the overall story. There were a few things that bogged it down.

My main problem with the story was the characters: they weren't believable to the extent of bringing the novel to life and making me care. They mostly acted like caricatures carved out of their own personality-defining niches. For example Aphrodite, school bully and queen of her band of hags. She quite seriously says to Zoey (our protagonist, and I'll get to her in just a minute) that the House of Night is cool because she is cool and that Zoey had better kiss her feet if she wants to make it in the social scene. Honestly, who acts like that? It ran like a scene right out of a bad sitcom. (Also, did this remind anyone else of a poor imitation of Harry Potter meeting Draco Malfoy for the first time? There were instances throughout the book where Aphrodite just made me think: DRACO.)

Zoey's group of friends are introduced by way of stereotypes: you have the sweethearted country gal, the sassy black girl, the beautiful blonde, and the out and proud gay guy. There could have been a lot more room for character development amongst this group: Stevie Rae came to life on the page fairly well, but Shaunee and Erin could have done with a lot more characterization. Hopefully, they will get their place in the limelight in books to come. (I would also like to see more individual development and hope that they won't be lumped together as two people with the same personality. That would not be cute--that would be cheap, unrealistic, and lazy.) Damien--though still pretty much a static character at this point--has a lot of potential. I'm just glad there was a bit more to his personality than the token gay guy. His scholarly vocabulary and aptitude for fencing gave him some life. I appreciate that characters might take some time to develop and I hope that in coming books, the Casts will let their characters grow out of their shells. (Including others such as Aphrodite and Neferet, who also have the capacity to be interesting characters.)

Now let's get to Zoey. Whatever potential there was in any of the other characters was NOT present in Zoey. Having to be inside this girls head for the entirety of the book cost this novel a few stars. Let me start off with her voice in general: in one word, vapid. She emphasizes most of her descriptions with words like 'totally', 'definitely' or 'seriously'. As in: 'The school was totally cool' or 'He was definitely hot'. (These weren't in the book, they are just generalizations.) And not only is this annoying, it's a sign of weak writing. Zoey comes across as an incredibly stupid person. There are even instances within the book that she has to make excuses for being knowledgeable, lest she come across as a geek. (For example, the scene where she's reluctant to answer a question in Lit class even though she knows the answer is the Titanic. But wait! She's doesn't know the answer because she's a geek--she knows the answer because she had a crush on Leonardo DiCaprio which is prefectly acceptable for a teenage girl.) There are also a few idiotic interjections she makes throughout the book. One that was particularly grating for me was when Erik used the word 'entranced' in a sentence and she interjected with (by way of parenthesis) 'entranced--hee hee--he actually said entranced.' Was that supposed to be funny? Because I'm not getting it.

Another of my problems with Zoey was her attitude toward just about everything. She goes out of her way to denounce sex, drugs, drinking, cheerleaders, girls who wear a lot of eyeliner, and a plethora of other things. Some of it was just uncalled for. (See: cheerleaders and girls who wear a lot of eyeliner. There were other examples of this but these were the first that came to mind.) And then there were the things that didn't seem to convey moral values as much as they said, 'Look at me, I'm such a good girl'. (See: sex, drugs, and drinking.) I don't have a problem with characters that display the traditional 'good girl' values, but Zoey makes a HUGE point of telling her audience that these things are bad and she would NEVER do them. In fact, the entire blowjob scene didn't seem to have any other purpose than to give Zoey a chance to condemn blowjobs.

And finally, my final complaint with Zoey is that she is a Sue of epic proportions. This girl is special beyond all belief and there is no explanation for it at all. She's only a few day old fledgling and her mark has already been filled in; she can feel all of the elements during a ritual (something completely unheard of, even in a High Priestess); she spoke to Nyx when she was unconscious; Neferet is her mentor even though she's only a third former; and apparently she can see ghosts. This, combined with everything else, made her impossible to relate to. Had the Casts done more work on making their protagonist likable this book might have garnered a couple more stars.

And then there was Erik. If there was one thing in this book I did not understand, it was his attraction to Zoey. He says at one point that his feelings for Aphrodite were purely physical but his feelings for Zoey come from the heart. How does that work when he hardly knows the first thing about her? It's first mentioned that he might be attracted to her during a scene in drama class--he's reading Othello and giving her some ohmygodhawt looks. Until then, the entirety of their interaction consisted of Zoey watching as Aphrodite try to give him a blowjob by force. All subsequent conversations between the two consist primarily of heavyhanded flirtation during which Erik learns close to nothing about Zoey and vice versa. And then they're making out in the hallways and Erik is proclaiming his love to her. Huh? Sorry, but the authors didn't sell me on this one.

Besides the characters, the one thing that put me off this book was the stereotypes. Particularly 'the People of Faith'. Obviously, this was a thinly veiled new name for Christianity. I'm fine with people incorporating their opinions into their work (I don't even mind a little bit of agenda pushing if it doesn't detract too much from the story) but the blanket statement that Christians are all hypocritical, self-serving, and unaccepting put me off. Are some Christians like this? Sure. That's true for any denomination of people. But the portrayal in Marked just came down to simple prejudice. And why alienate a portion of your fans like that?

Speaking of prejudice, there were other stereotypes in the book that bothered me, though admittedly to a lesser extent. Apparently, one of the 'teen' aspects of the novel was the use of the labels and stereotypes. This is evident in the first chapter when Zoey wonders if vampires come in emo or goth or nerd flavor. Yes, I know that labeling is very popular amongst teenagers right now. (I know it all too well--I have to heard about it every day at school.) But seeing it, especially in a published novel, grated on me. Had this been the only problem, it probably wouldn't have cost the book a star; I just had to give this particular annoyance its credit.

All in all, two and a half stars for potential. Given the opportunity, the characters have definite potential to blossom, and though Zoey dragged this book down for me, there were parts that I did enjoy. (The rituals, I thought, were quite interesting.) I'll be buying Betrayed in the hopes that this a series that only improves. ( )