Marked (P. C. Cast + Kristin Cast) | Book Review #6

[ House of Night #1 ]

I found this series almost ten years ago, while my high school friends were obsessing over the Twilight books and the Vampire Diaries TV series. Not knowing they were about "vampyres", I talked my mom into buying the first three or so for me.

This was our second adventure for our Bestie Book Club. It was a first for Kendall, but I originally read this book, as well as some of the sequels, while I was in high school. However, that was nearly 9 years ago, so I'd forgotten much of the series.

Book: Marked (House of Night #1) by P. C. Cast + Kristin Cast

29 chapters, 306 pgs.

Started: September 29, 2020

Finished: October 9, 2020

The Description

Enter the dark, magical world of the House of Night, a world very much like our own, except here vampyres have always existed.

One minute, 16-year-old Zoey Redbird is a normal teenager dealing with everyday high school stress: her cute boyfriend, Heath, the school's star quarterback who suddenly seems more interested in partying than playing ball; her nosy frenemy, Kayla, who's way too concerned with how things are going with Heath; her uber-tough geometry test tomorrow.

The next, she's Marked as a fledgling vampyre, forcing her to leave her ordinary life behind and join the House of Night, a boarding school where she will train to become an adult vampyre. 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. Along with her amazing new powers come bloodlust and an unfortunate ability to Imprint with Heath, who just doesn't know how to take no for an answer.

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.

The Review

When I originally got hooked on this series, it created a wall between me and several of my friends. Those were the days, right? We were divided by which vamps were better; Twilight, TVD or House of Night. I did manage to convince two of them to read them and board my train of obsession.

The thing that drew me in most about this series is that it isn't like any other vampire series that I've come across. I really loved that. When Zoey is Marked to become a vampyre in the beginning, I was instantly snatched.

Almost immediately in our venture, Kendall and I discussed several issues that were having with this first book in the series. Back then, during my first read, I must have glossed over them because… Oh my!

Instantly, the writing stands out. Both P.C. Cast and her daughter went to school for writing. P.C. was even a high school English teacher. This knowledge wasn’t as important to me ten years ago as it is now. The writing is amateur at best. It was definitely not what I would expect from someone who taught English for 15 years.

Secondly, Kendall and I follow different paths of faith. Kendall is a Christian, and I am a Wiccan practicioner. With that said, we both agreed that the portrayal of the People of Faith (obvious a jumble of different Christian-like religions) was incredibly rude and offensive. Not as much in the first book, but it worsens as the series continues.

Also, the use of stereotypical critiques was blatantly disrespectful and made me all too uncomfortable for having once considered this my favorite book series.

Aside from all of that, the main POV character (Zoey) constantly rips on anyone who is different than her or her new friends. I mean, her friends do nearly the exact same thing. Being gay myself, if I were in Damien's shoes, I wouldn't have been friends with any of the girls.

Final Thoughts

After a chapter or two, Zoey's inner monologue was enough to make me want to quit reading. I’ll stop the review here because it doesn’t get much better. I mean, I loved this series all those years ago. I just was not prepared for my opinions to change so drastically during this re-read. I guess that old saying is true… “With age comes wisdom.”

Kendall and I continued on and read the next three books along with this one, but I won’t be reviewing the others.

Rating and Recommendation

1 out of 5 stars

There was a time where I recommended this book to several of my friends as soon as I finished it. I have been quite harsh during this review, and for that, I apologize.

I didn’t even get a chance to dive into the interesting plot points of the House of Night series. It is enough to snatch the reader and distract from the annoying parts that I did pick at.

I mean, if you're a fan of vampi(y)res and your curiosity peaked just by the cover of the book, give it a read!

Buy "Marked" by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast on Amazon, here.