What makes for a bad day? It all depends on who you are. If you’re a teenage girl, maybe having ultra-conservative parents who never let you do anything might do it. Or maybe having your almost boyfriend make a drunken fool of himself. Then, there’s the rumor that the same almost boyfriend cheated with your best friend, that’s a bad one too, almost as bad as a killer geometry test. Then there is the granddaddy of them all, being marked as a vampyre—forced to turn into a blood-sucking freak or die a horrible death. All in all, really sucky day for almost any teenage girl—definitely for Zoey Montgomery, heroine of Marked, which is P.C. & Kristin Cast’s first book in the House of the Night series.

Zoey Montgomery prides herself on her honesty and toughness. Part of it she credits to her Cherokee ancestry and Grandmother Redbird. Without Redbird, she wouldn’t have survived the last three years after her mother married the ultra-conservative John Heffer. Suddenly her family morphed into some sort of pseudo-religious stereotypical family. Of course, it is an act for her brother and sister to please their mom and to continue the joys of John’s pots of money. Zoey isn’t like that—she can’t pretend, maybe that’s why John dislikes her so much. When the tracker marks her, John is all for her staying hidden at home knowing that the marked must go to the House of Night or die.

Sixteen-year-old Zoey is thrust into a new world, one where she will cavort with others like herself. There will no Michael to monitor her every action. There will be no cheating boyfriend or backstabbing best friend. Come to think of it, those people will now fear her. Just maybe being a vampyre isn’t all bad. Zoey is about to find out.

Marked is written in fast-paced, wisecracking style that both teenagers and adults will enjoy. Zoey with her rapid delivery and self-deprecating humor makes her a likable and sympathetic character. The reader wants Zoey to triumph over her various trials and less than stellar friends.

Marked is Book One in the House of Night series. I would highly recommend this book for its dialogue, characters, delivery—well, just about everything. It is that good…and if you like things that go bump in the night, it has that too. Don’t miss it.

Reviewed by Morgan Wyatt
© May 2008