Book Review: Marked by PC and Kristen Cast

Title: Marked

Author: PC and Kristen Cast

Release Date (England): May 2007

Publisher (English): ATOM

Price (UK pounds): £6.99

Genre: YA- Fantasy

Series: House of Night- Book 1

No. Pages: 368

(Synopsis According to Waterstones one of my local bookstores)

When sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird gets Marked as a fledgling vampire she must join the House of Night school where she will train to become an adult vampire. That is, if she makes it through the Change. But Zoe is no ordinary fledgling. She has been chosen as special by the Goddess Nyx and discovers her amazing new power to conjure the elements: earth, air, fire, water and spirit. When Zoey discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite group, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look within herself to embrace her destiny - with a little help from her new vampire friends.

I started Marked over a year and a half ago, this was one of the first books I read during the beginning of my book craze, I didn’t know what to expect, it was the cover which drew me to it, aswell as the blurb.

Before reading it myself I lent it to a friend, who did really like it so I started it myself.

But I did not enjoy it, like many beginning of the series books it wasn’t that good, it was to factual in a way and was introducing everything.

Within the first 75 pages I gave up, and went back to it July time, where the book began to get a bit better. So I didn’t really enjoy the book.

The worst point in the book had to be, once Zoey is at the House of Night School one of the first things she witnesses is Aphrodite giving oral sex to Erik, which honestly doesn’t phase me reading about, its just the fact this is kind of the first things about the school even for the reader, and not a nice way to introduce it.
Also there is alot of rituals, when the same words are being said, and even within the first ritual i was bored, but after the second and the third i was once again ready to give up reading the books.

I guess I will say that I also like the characters, there not the best I have came across, but still good well developed characters. My favourite, for the majority of the series would have to be Stevie Rae, I couldn’t exactly say what I liked most about her but I just liked her, basically everything about her is likable.

Also you have your common cliché characters, but in a good way as I don’t think you could have a story set in a school without your two main cliché’s. The cliché’s would have to be popular rich and fake Aphrodite and her boyfriend, popular, described as drop dead gorgeous Eric.

I guess it is good to have another Harry Potter boarding school type book, and I can promise that the series does get better.

I give this book