Marked

Marked is the first book in the House of Night series, written by mother/daughter team P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. I picked up this series after it was recommended to me by Amazon.com, because I ordered the entire Twilight Saga series. I wanted to let a little bit of time (a couple months) pass after completing the last book in the Twilight Saga before starting to read this series, so I would have a fresh mind. I have to say that I really enjoyed this first book in the series. I'm very excited to read the rest of the series.

Marked is about teen Zoey Redbird who receives the mark of the vampyre while at school. Vampyres (this is the spelling the authors use) are fairly common in society in this story and most humans have managed to live side by side with them, admiring and fearing them at the same time. When Zoey receives the crescent moon mark, she must leave her home and move to the vampyre school, The House of Night. As a fledgling vampyre, she is introduced to a whole new way of living: attending school from 8pm to 4am, participating in the nightly ritual calling for the favor of the Vampyre Goddess Nyx and surviving the typical teenage drama (boys, bullies, popularity, and just trying to “fit in”).

I thought the teenage “voice” of the characters was extremely authentic. Both of the authors are very familiar with the teen “voice”: P.C. is a high school teacher and Kristin is currently in college. I was able to relate to Zoey's experiences as the new student as well. I was always a new student growing up, moving around every 3 years, but there always seemed to be a group of kids at each of my new schools, who opened their circle to me and accepted me. Like me, Zoey is also welcomed by a small group of friends and thus finds a bit of relief in the drama-filled world of high school (even if it is a vampyre high school).

I just started the second book in the series and I'm very excited to read more of Zoey's adventures.