Marked – review (YA)

 

Here is the summary on the back of the book:

“Enter the dark, magical world of The House of Night, a world very much like our own, except here vampyres have always existed. Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird has just been Marked as a fledgling vampyre and joins the House of Night, a 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 her human ex boy-friend. To add to he stress, she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers: When she discovers the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school’s most elite group, is misusing her Godess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep with in herself for the courage to embrace her destiny – with a little help from her new vampyre friends.”

Marked, by P.C. Cast and Kristin cast, is the first book in the House of night series. The two authors are mother and daughter. It is remarkable how they maintain the same voice throughout the book. I like the tone of the book. It keeps you reading. There’s some teen drama, but there are some underlying complexities that make this book a very interesting read. The plot is cleverly woven and the characters are engaging.

In this book, the conventional role of vampires is changed up a bit. The vampires (called vampyres in this book) are chosen by the their Goddess, but it is theorized scientifically that there is also something in their genes that triggers the Change. The Goddess is based off of the Greek personification of Night.  When the time is right Trackers find the new fledgling, say a few words, and Mark them with a crescent moon on their forehead. After this, they have to be around adult vampyres while they are going through the Change and they also have to learn about what they are becoming, so they move to the House of Night. They start a whole new life. The life there is very interesting. Most of the myths about vampires still exist in the story, though they are linked to a Goddess and a religion, no longer damned and dead. Some of the traditional vampire lore stays the same, though, such as needing to drink blood and not being able to go out in light. There is also a bit of Native American culture woven into it. I enjoyed this aspect.

My over all opinion is that this book is worth a read. I loved it.