Marked by P.C. Cast

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: May 1, 2007
Language: English
Source: Borrowed from a friend

Synopsis: 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 vampire. 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-boyfriend. To add to her stress, 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 group, 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.

I went through hell to get this book. It took me literally more than a week before I could finally grasp it in my hands. Long story short, I finally got ahold of it this past Friday and I just finished reading it this morning. I was kinda in a race to read it before my friend did... and I won! Hah! Anyways.... onto my review: I have heard both good and bad things about this book. One of my friends absolutely loved it while another one wanted to burn it. Curious as to what I would think, I began reading it. It wasn't amazing...but it wasn't horrendous. I liked some of the characters-especially Zoey's friends. They were a nice group who totally supported her. But Zoey was a character that I felt ambivelant towards. She was kind of childish (I can't count how many times the girl said "poopie"-who says that anymore?!) but whenever she had to be serious, she'd do a 180 and be mature about whatever situation she was in (and handle things very well). THAT was when I liked her. What I loved most was how she comes from a Cherokee background. It was cool to see how the author incorporated certain religious traditions ranging from Cherokee practices to Wicca and a little bit of Egyptian mythology. I can't find any terrible faults with this book; my only complaint was that some of the characters weren't developed enough. They were mostly one-sided; they were either really nice and friendly towards Zoey or mean and wanted Zoey to fry. I would've liked to see a little more depth. But maybe as the series progresses, the characters will get more interesting. Still, I think that the plot is good and that's what's making me check into this series. Not a fascinating read, but entertaining nonetheless.

rating: 3.5