Marked: House of Night Book 1 by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

This was one of those dark novels that I couldn’t put down. The story is a about a human turned vampire with a strange twist making her one of a kind. Humans are marked as teenagers and sent to Hours of Night schools where they spend their time studying and changing into full fledged vampires. I actually enjoyed the story a lot despite the fact I did not find that the characters very likable. They felt like snotty teenagers to me the whole time except maybe Stevie Ray the best friend of the main character.


The story follows Zoey through her change from fledgling into a vampire. Zoey is thrust into a new life after being marked. She has to leave her family and friends to move into the House of Night or die. When she arrives Stevie Ray and her friends accept her into their group.


She also makes enemies as quickly as she makes friends. Zoey and her friends are appalled by the actions of Aphrodite the leader of the Dark Daughters, an extremely important school club. Zoey and Aphrodite become enemies for a variety of reasons you will have to read to find out.


Zoey also struggles with love issues, her human ex-boyfriend won’t leave her alone, and she begins to fall for a fledgling. She also struggles with being different than all other fledglings. There is so much thought put into the story that it just keeps drawing you in and you can’t wait to see what happens next.


I would highly recommend this book for all as I loved the next three books. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. Over all I thought it was a great storyline that is what captivated me and made me feel like I just couldn't stop reading. This book holds plenty of twists and turns in the plot and it moves quickly, and never leaves you feeling like it is getting old.


There are however a lot of things in the book that might be offensive to many people. There was foul language, some mild sexual situations, many things that people relate to witchcraft, and a serious disdain for religious people. I did wish I liked the characters more, and I do now as I have read 3 more books in the series but they kind of have to grow on you.