Marked by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

Marked is the first in the House of Night series. We are introduced to Zoey Redbird and a world where vampyres have always existed, where you are tracked down by what resembles a bounty hunter and are "Marked" if you are one of the chosen to learn the ways and eventually become a vampyre. In this case, the story starts with Zoey being marked within the first couple of pages. After the "Change" she is taken to The House of Night (a school for fledgling vampyres-in-training) where she is to begin her new life away from her family and lifelong friends. As it so happens, Zoey is not your average fledgling, she has been favored by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx to be her eyes and ears, so that alone causes her to be somewhat of an outcast, but luckily for her she is paired up with a fantastic roommate who introduces her to a wonderful group of friends. Soon after her arrival she starts discovering her powers as well as that other students also have their own special powers and are misusing them. Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny, with a little help from her new vampyre friends.

For some reason I had been staying away from this series... I think it was just a bit too mainstream for me. But thanks to some friends (and I won’t mention who), I was told how fantastic they were, how I would love them, and I was not disappointed. Although I did find myself comparing the story a lot to Harry Potter, once I got past that, I really enjoyed the whole gist of it. I loved the fact that there was a special vampyre school where your classes started at night and you had these great subjects (like fencing and equestrian classes).

I will forewarn though, that considering that this is a book geared towards young adults, it did have a fair share of sex in it. But with that said, I did appreciate the "opinions" expressed in the story about sex, drugs, and alchol. I don't think it took away from the book, on the other hand, I think it helped to build Zoey's character as a non-conformist and moral young lady.

This is a unique spin to the basic vampire story. Not too shabby I must say. Plus, I liked the subtle cliff-hanger at the end, so I’m definitely intrigued. This first book sets up what appears to be shaping up to be a really great story, and I will eagerly seek out the sequels.