Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Marked: A House of Night Novel by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (Book 1)


Enter the dark, magical world of The House of Night, a world very much like our own, except here vampyres have always existed. Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird has just been Marked as a fledgling vampyre and joins the House of Night, a school where she will train to become an adult vampire. 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. Zoey discovers she has amazing powers, but along with her powers come bloodlust and an unfortunate ability to Imprint her human ex-boyfriend. To add to her stress, she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers: 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.

Title and author of book: Marked: A House of Night Novel by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (Book 1)

Fiction or non-fiction? Genre? Young Adult Fiction. Fantasy. Paranormal.

What led you to pick up this book? I know a lot of people that love them, and since it is a genre that I enjoy, I thought I would give them a try.

Summarize the plot, but don’t give away the ending! See above...

What did you like most about the book? I liked that the authors came up with an original idea. With all the paranormal books on the market right now they are getting a bit monotonous. This series has the promise of being different. I did like the characters, too. They were interesting and interacted well together, but they were a bit predictable.

What did you like least? Don't kill me! I am just weird, but I don't like this series. I didn't like the writing and found everything a bit predictable. I also found it all a bit juvenile, but I suppose that is the marketing age. They do have a great idea here, but I don't think they pulled it off very well for me. It was a bit cliched, too. All the characters fulfilled a different role that was expected. It was like a stereotypical school. I couldn't find myself loving it, so I don't imagine I will be carrying on with the series. There are just better ones out there that I would much rather spend my time on. Even though I thought the story seemed different, in the end I just thought it was ridiculous! I just didn't find it very plausible, I guess. I am not sure what it was. It just didn't work for me.

Have you read any other books by this author? What did you think of those books? Nope!

What did you think of the main character? I didn't like her. She just about drove me crazy, actually. I did like a few of the secondary characters, though, but she told the story so I had to put up with her throughout. It was a bit strange how she got to the school in the first place, but then everything got so predictable. There was no spark to her character. The authors tried to make it surprising, but it was really just dull. Like I said about, she was cliched.

What about the ending? Another book that I was happy to see come to an end! I had the second book out from the library, but I decided that there were other books that I wanted to read a lot more and took it back unread.

Sorry, everyone. Just not my thing!

15 comments:

  1. I have to admit, this series has never sounded very interesting to me.

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  2. I'm right there with you. I just couldn't get into this book and have no desire to read the rest of the series. The writing was definitely the biggest turn-off for me--it was like they were trying too hard to only target that market age or something. It was a book that just didn't translate across all ages well. Nice review, I've linked it to mine.

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  3. Oh you are so not the only one. I have pretty well documented my love/hate relationship with these books and, I hate to say it, it is just becoming more painful by the end of each book. I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut them off it they don't get any better, and, seeing as how they HAVEN'T gotten any better in FIVE books, I don't think they will. It is painfully obvious to me that there are two writers and that one of them is horrible.

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  4. For some reason, I never got interested in this series and after reading your review, it's confirmed I would never touch it...

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  5. Thanks for the honest review. A friend of mine sent me this book as a gift. It sounds interesting, but not one that I would've picked up on my own.

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

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  6. I was considering checking these out because of my recent luck with the YA Fantasy genre (ie Wicked Lovely) but chances are I won't be now as I am sure I would find it similarly cliched. Thanks for saving me some money Kelly! :)

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  7. Amanda: Well, I do like paranormal, so I figured I would try the first one at least!

    Melissa: Yeah, I really didn't like the writing. I am glad I am not the only one that was bothered by that!

    Heather: lol, yes, Heather, your reviews of these books are some of my favourite. You are very clear on your dislike!

    Alice: I wouldn't recommend it. Better books out there to enjoy!

    Anna: People love this series, so you might disagree with me. :)

    Vanessa: I know for sure you wouldn't like this series. So, yes, good thing you didn't waste your money on it!

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  8. I read this book, and was turned off the series very quickly by it. I like you thought it was to stereotypical, and predictable. I disliked the characters and the style of writing, I basically forced my self to finish it. I won't be finishing the series.
    Glad I'm not the only one!

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  9. Jules: A lot more people hated this series than I thought!

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  10. I've still got to read this sometime, it's been on my shelf for ages. Thanks for the honest review, the stereo-typical cast makes me think I might not like it either. Hmm, if that's the case I could knock 5 books off my TBR pile in one go - I'm so pathetic for thinking that :P

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  11. Anonymous7:36 AM

    It's interesting to read a negative review of this as everyone else has raved about the series. It helps put a little perspective on things. I do plan on reading this series, but will temper my expectations thanks!

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  12. I thought the second book and each of the others was much better than the first. I hope you give it another try because I just adore this series!

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  13. Anonymous5:34 PM

    Read all of them except tempted as forced by a friend and for me it is a repetitive book and extremely like twilight.

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  14. Anonymous12:16 PM

    wow, I am reading the third book right now and I love each one of the books so much! they are so much fun to read and they keep me interested the whole time! i would recommend these books to everyone!

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  15. i feel like i need to Finnish the series although every time i start a new book i laugh bitterly at my expense for this curse that has been put on me

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