Customer Reviews
amazing - By: S. Cross, 22 Nov 2008 
i absolutely love this book. I'm 15 & i've read alot of vampire books & fantasy books & teenage books & this is like a cool fusion of them all. The world that the author(s) weave gets through amazingly well (i was only up to the 14th chapter when i started explaining it to my friend & realised that after only 125 pages i knew ALOT about the world, the characters life & what was going on - thats good). They manage to mix the vampire world with a world of mystical goddesses beleivably & all of the emotions are very real. AND They somehow manage to keepin touch with the teenage side of things too - the bitchy rivalry, boys & a new school & new friends.
all together its very well put together & a fantastic read that you just cant put down (and i dont have much of a choice - i've already got 5 of my friends asking if they can borrow it!!!)
Whatever! - By: N. Megahey, 13 Aug 2008 
The concept for the House of Night series is not a promising one. Vampyre Finishing School. It just shouldn't work. Apart from being an obvious Harry Potter moneyspinner rip-off, it just feels like there is something basically wrongin the concept. Vampires are solitary creatures of the night, predators, driven by bloodlust, so how many lessons are you going to need to learn how to suck blood from a neck?
Evidently the concept needs a twist & it'sin the fact that we arein an alternate world here where vampyres are if not an acceptable part of society, at least one that dominates the arts, with nearly every prominent musician, movie-star & writer (going right back to Shakespeare) having been chosen to wear the mark of the Vampyre. So when a dead man appears & places the mark of the crescent moon on her head, 16 year-old Zoey Redbird Montgomery almost welcomes the opportunity to escape from an unhappy life with her weak, inattentive mother, religious fundamentalist Step-Loser father, her hateful siblings & her Jock boyfriend - even if she is made to feel like something of a freak.
And that's how Marked works. It's not an original idea - teenagers realising they are creative & different & finding a need to live outside the normal rules of society - but the situations are easy for a teenager to identify with. The snappy pace of the plot & the authenticity of the dialogue (helpfully proofed by the author's daughter Kristin who gets a co-writer credit), also helps, managing to sound real without being forced, getting beneath the surface of a teenager's attitude to the underlying emotions & confusion beneath.
Unfortunately, that's also the drawback of the House of Night series (or at least the first part of itin Marked), since although it's nominally about vampires (and not even then that aspect isn't terribly plausible), there is nothing really all that different here from any other high-school dramas. True, instead of math & geometry they do drama, fencing & horse-riding, but the authors find nothing more interesting or deeperin the vampire twist than combining normal American high-school teen lust with bloodlust, Zoey endlessly drooling over hot movie-stars, hot teachers & hot enigmatic older boys while she tries to keep out of the way of dorks & slutty blonde-girl cliques.
The series is for young adults of course, but it has a very preachy & condescending tone (it's all about controlling your urges until you're mature enough to handle them), which is not helped by the tiresome conversations of limited vocabulary between Zoey & her friends that become like totally irritating, okay? The writing is also lazy, falling back on stereotypical characters & a strong, beautiful central figure who has no real challenges to face, supported as she is by a network of trustworthy friends & an understanding mentor. It might suit an American readership, but with its childish tone I think it's unlikely to be as successful with a more mature British teenager, & its quite frank depiction of sexual situations will make it unsuitable for a younger age-group.
Wow! - By: lives-of-feathers, 11 Feb 2008 I didn't expect much from this book - I picked it up when I really needed something to read. I have tried to read some of P.C. Cast's goddesses series & hated them (her prose just didn't work for me). But this book is different: I haven't finished the last 100 pages yet (I've had an essay to do today!) & I have already ordered the next book Betrayed.
The book starts out very 'Meg Cabot': "Just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse I saw the dead guy standing next to my locker." But it quickly develops a style of its own. Zoey's world really starts to develop once she gets to the academy. N.B. Do not buy this book for you 13 year old cousin - there is some adult content (and I'm not talking about blood sucking). There's romance, mystery, action & theory.
I have enjoyed this book alot - I think P.C. Cast & her daughter make a brilliant team & I would buy any future book they write together! The storyline is interesting & new. My taste runs: Meg Cabot, Elizabeth Chandler, L J Smith, R J Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Laurell K Hamilton etc. So if you've read any of these authors - they are my judging standard! This is meant to be a book for adult teenagers, Zoey is only 16in the book, but I'm 19 & really enjoyed it. There were Harry Potter undertones, but onlyin the classroom settings - the context the Casts place the charactersin is completely different - which would be hard to avoid. This book is fresh & new, & the prose invite you to empathize with Zoey. I loved this book, if I hadn't this review would be alot shorter.
Anyway - this is my recommendation: buy this book & read at least the first 100 pages before you judge it (as it is slow to develop into its true shinning potential!). The only reason that this book hasn't received more than 4 stars was it's slow beginning: I predict that all further booksin the series will be 5 stars! Hope this review was helpful!
A good start in a new series, but not to be read as a stand alone - By: slayra, 22 Sep 2007 16-year-old Zoey Montgomery (also known as Zoey Redbird, due to her Indian heritage) never asked to be "Marked". When the creepy "dead guy" (read: vampyre) appeared next to her locker, it changed her whole life: she lost her best friend, her almost-ex-boyfriend Heath & she had to move to vampire school. But even as she starts overin the "House of Night" she realizes that not only isn't everything all rightin the school but also that she is a very special fledgling... her vampire mark & her unnatural lust for blood seem to indicate that she is much more powerful that your average newly born vampire. That is why Zoey is the right person to save the school from the beautiful & mean Aphrodite, the senior that is the leader of the Dark Daughters, a very exclusive & powerful group within the House of Night.
"Marked" is the first of "The House of Night" books, a new supernatural series for teens.
It was, I guess, mildly interesting. I mean, it's a fairly quick read & the story is not all bad. The take of the authors on vampi(y)rism is more out of your regular sci-fi book than fantasy, but hey, at least they were trying for original.
But... the story, it was definitely lacking in... well, lacking. It was a simple plot, that reeked of Harry Potter undertones (but without it's complexity): you have the 'special' kid, who is special even among all the special kids (read: the main female lead, who is the most powerful of all of them, vampyres); the sidekicks (usually outcasts that join the hero(ine) & turn into super-duper-popular people overnight - literally, was we are talking of vampires) ; the evil, blonde bully (*cough* Draco Malfoy *cough*) & a powerful, older figure that supports the hero(ine)'s decisions (kind of like... hummm... Dumbledore?). The storyin itself has little to recommend it. It ends up being about little more than high-school rivalry, with the popular, evil kid/bully being beaten by the hero(ine).
Still, I am giving this book a 4 stars. This because I liked to read the book (it was well written) & because this is the first novelin a series, so I am giving the authors the benefit of the doubt & hoping this is just an introductory book meant for us to know more about the characters. At the end, it is hinted that there are bigger mysteries yet to be revealed, so I'm expecting something good... although I pretty much suspect who the bad guyin this series is going to be, my curiosity is picked. That's why I gave it 4 stars.
Courtesy of Teens Read Too - By: TeensReadToo.com, 02 May 2007 
"Just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse, I saw the dead guy standing next to my locker."
The opening sentence hooks the reader; they will devour the whole book quickly & ask for more.
Zoey's life is about to change forever. She woke up one morning normal & by the end of the day she's been marked. Being marked indicates that she will turn into a vampire. She needs to leave her family & friends behind & start a new life with other marked teens at the House of Night. Zoey's never completely fit in, but now she might have a chance.
After a fight with her mother & stepfather, Zoey goes to her grandmother's house for advice. Before seeing her grandmother, Zoey has a vision of the Goddess Nyx, who states that she is special & names Zoey her personal eyes & earsin the world. Zoey faints, but not before the Goddess replaces her mark with a blue crescent, which is extremely rare.
When Zoey arrives at the House of Night, she finds herself the object of attention because of her crescent. Her roommate & her new acquaintances quickly find their way into Zoey's heart. She finds herself surrounded with friends for the first time, but she also encounters a powerful enemy. As her entire lifestyle changes, Zoey finds peace within herself as she accepts her destiny & steps up to challenge her enemy's misguided judgement.
If you like vampires & enjoy supernatural tales, you don't want to miss this first bookin a great new series.
Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel
