| | |  | Amazon Kindle | Home » » » Marked (House of Night, Book 1) | | | | | | | Description: | | The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres 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 vampyre 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 vampyre friends.
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111 of 119 found the following review helpful:
 Marking a Turning PointMar 22, 2008
By Tamela Mccann
"taminator40"
Early on in my reading of Marked, I wasn't at all sure I would like this young adult novel. The story of Zoey Redbird, a sixteen year old girl who is unhappy at home, becoming "marked" as a fledgling vampyre, just seemed a bit forced. I wanted to feel a part of her story but her angst was overwhelming and I couldn't really see where the plot was headed. However, about midway through, the book picked up steam and by the last few chapters, I was eagerly turning the pages in order to find out how Zoey's unusual powers would manifest and where it all would lead.
Marked is an imaginative take on vampyres, weaving "old" pagan religious themes throughout and incorporating ancient history into its background. I liked the idea of a society where vampyrism is openly known and accepted, and I liked the School of Night where fledgling vampyres are taken for further training. I loved Zoey's learning to accept herself and step up as a leader at the school, and even the cursing seems realistic. What I didn't like was the obvious prejudice against traditional religion, and the "mini-sermons" we receive early on against drugs, drinking, and oral sex from Zoey's point of view. I liked Zoey's friends but felt that her acceptance into such a tight group so immediately didn't ring true, and I had to wonder at just why Erik, the hot young vampyre, was so attracted so quickly to Zoey. There are also some very lucky coincidences, such as Zoey's Native American grandmother having taught her purification rites which come in very handy. Thankfully these annoyances were overcome by the general storytelling and the excitement of the last half of the book.
Marked is the first in the series and I'll definitely be looking for the next two. I am captured by Zoey's world and want to see how her special spiritualism develops over time. This book also left enough unanswered questions that I'm drawn to find out more. With a caution that this book would probably be better for more mature readers with its incidents of sexual tension and cursing, I can say I'm intrigued enough to recommend this one.
338 of 379 found the following review helpful:
 Before you read thisMar 12, 2008
By J. Kaufman
"Booknerd"
Ask this question to yourself: Am I an immature, shallow, whiny, the-whole-world-is-out-to-get-me teenager? If yes, then I strongly encourage you to read this book. If no, then I strongly encourage you to to put it down and walk away.
Is it unfair to rate this book against Stephenie Meyer's Twilight? Probably. But I found myself doing just that the whole time I was reading Marked. The main character, Zoey Redbird, especially annoyed me.
Zoey (who is the epitome of all that is Mary Sue) is the most under-developed, cliched character I have ever read about. I'll compose a checklist.
Beautiful: check
Moral: check
Interesting ethnicity (in this case Cherokee): check
Family problems: check
Specially chosen: check
Amazing powers: check
Ah, and let's not forget that she's dating the hottest guy at the House of Night and got on the Queen Bee's bad side.
I have to admit though, that thing that most threw me off about Zoey was her vocabulary. Every time I read the word "poopie" or "boobie" I couldn't help thinking, How old is she supposed to be? I also hated how whiny Zoey was. The girl could not go a paragraph without finding some sort of fault with her life.
Moving on. I was rooting for the Zoey/Erik pair for a while, but decided to drop it after the reappearance of Zoey's ex-boyfriend Heath. Zoey and Erik just lacked the chemistry to pull the relationship off with Heath added to the equation.
The plot was mildly interesting, and what caught my attention was that the story takes place in a world exactly like our own, except that vampyres (vampires; the word is spelled differently in this book. The students never seem to have enough energy to say the whole word, and simply abbreviated it to "vamps." I'll admit, that bothered me too) are common and well known. This book would've been better if it had been written by a different author. Stephenie Meyer would've been good, but I think only James Patterson has the style to pull this one off (though it is NOT something he would write about).
On a last note, the only reaon the book was described as "sexy" was because of one scene (which is continually cited in books two and three. Why, I don't know...) in which Queen Bee Aphrodite was attempting to forcefully administer oral sex to Erik. This scene was absolutely irrelevant to the rest of the plot.
All in all, I would not recommend this book, much less the series; I read books two and three in hopes that is would get better. It didn't. I hope this review has been helpful to you.
30 of 32 found the following review helpful:
 Not Impressed...Feb 22, 2010
By SassySister1000
Oh look! A series about a teenager that has been specially marked and designated The Chosen One, with unknown cool powers who will someday save the world! What an original idea! In case my sarcasm isn't apparent, I wasn't exactly thrilled with this book (and it's unoriginality is the least of my criticisms). It comes up short in almost every category. Allow me to ennumerate:
- The characters were all one-dimensional and can be summed up in 1-2 words each. Her best friend Stevie Ray is a hick (a fact Zoey reminds us of by repeatedly describing her "Okie twang") and friendly. Her two other girlfriends are shallow and ....shallow. The only guy friend is smart and gay. Zoey's mentor is wise, and the antagonist (another student) is evil. Comically so. In fact, she utters lines like "This school is cool because I'm here. So stay out of my way" within the first 2 pages of meeting her. What?? Who even talks like that? Which leads me to my next point...
-The dialogue DOES NOT SOUND LIKE TEENAGERS. I may be mistaken, but I thought the job of the younger of the Cast authors was to make the teenagers sound like teenagers. SHE FAILED. MISERABLY. The conversations reminds one of grade-school kids, not high-schoolers. The writing in general was also sub-par.
- The monologues were a bit disconcerting and annoying. Yes, monologues. Zoey randomly goes off on monologues with herself about the dumbest thing, and she often does it in the middle of a conversation with somebody else. This happens at least once with everybody she talks to, and nobody finds it in the least bit odd.
-The plot was unpredictable insofar that I couldn't guess how Zoey would manifest her powers, but manifest them she would. Besides, we readers might not have taken the hint that Zoey is really cool and special, so the climax includes her using said powers to show just how much the vampire goddess (yes, you read that right) favors her.
- Oh ya, and the authors want you to know that discriminating against homosexual people is bad, but doing so against Christians is ok. The one Christian we meet is her step-dad, who is an egotistical, overbearing jerk. Ok, we get they aren't Jesus Freaks, but the Casts need to get out more if this is their view of every single Christian on the planet. Ironically enough, the vampires' view of the vampire goddess is very similar to that of Christians.
- I found all these elements annoying, but my main gripe with the book was its sheer...unrelatable-ness. I mean, what teenager can honestly relate to a 16 year old girl who is destined to be The Almighty Chosen One, has 3 gorgeous guys chasing after her, has "this is right feelings" about random things that do not fall under the conscience category (such as, I decided to take the long way to class today, and I JUST KNEW that it was the right thing to do), has 4 friends who are not really friends but more like starry-eyed adorers of her awesomeness, and who moralizes about everything from sex (girls who have sex in high school are losers!) to smoking (smokers are losers!) to goofing off in class (people who don't pay attention in class are losers!). I actually agree with these ideas, but the manner in which the authors presented them could have been handled more tactfully (i.e. I would have appreciated NOT being beat over the head with them)
83 of 97 found the following review helpful:
 self-indulgent and uncomplicatedFeb 25, 2008
By mlle. x
I liked MARKED. It was light, fast, easy, and fun. It didn't make me think or worry, and it was predictable.
The heroine, Zoey, is a good girl - smart, hardworking, moral. As I read I wondered how the mother/daughter author team affected the overall tone, and I think that Zoey's self-conscious moralizing is the most obvious result. This is a book for teens, so it's nice to see some sensible messages mixed in with all the bloodlust, but Zoey goes out of her way to condemn alcohol, drugs, and casual sex at every possible opportunity. It sounded like most kids do when they try to convince a parent that, seriously, all these forbidden things are totally uncool they would never, ever try them. Which is to say - insincere.
There are "conflicts" and "problems" in the novel - sort of. It turns out that Zoey is a very powerful vampire, that the hottest guy in school has a crush on her, that she's got to choose between an open invitation to join the Cool Clique or the Nice Clique. Yeah, it's a tough life.
We meet the villain very early on, and she goes out of her way to be the most cartoonishly nasty Mean Girl that any fiction writer has ever imagined. She's a beautiful blonde bully with a fantastic manicure and no conscience. She hasn't an ounce of subtlety in her body and the first words she says to Zoey are, more or less, "I'm in charge here, get in my way and I will hurt you."
I would bet money that I can predict exactly what will happen in the next book, thanks to the clue in the title, BETRAYED - but I will probably read it anyhow. Hopefully it will be just as enjoyably vapid as MARKED.
59 of 68 found the following review helpful:
Trite, Ridiculous, Extremely IrritatingNov 13, 2009
By Kait
This is probably the worst book I have ever read. The characters are superficial and cliched, the plot predictable and silly, and the narration is whiny and irritating. Case in point, the main character makes some sort of stupid, childish statement followed by the phrase "hee hee" at least once in each chapter. One chapter ends with a discussion of "poopie" and female body parts are repeatedly referred to as "boobies." I understand that the writers are trying to emulate the thought patterns of a teenager, but even most teenagers aren't this inane and childish. "Poopie" is the phraseology and humor of a 2nd-grader, not a sixteen-year-old.
I rarely write book reviews, even of those books I don't particularly enjoy (which is quite rare, actually), but I was so angry that I wasted precious hours of my life reading this ridiculous tripe that I was motivated to try to save others from the same fate. I cannot recommend strongly enough to avoid this irritating book.
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