Supernatural Saturday: Review of Marked

The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres have always existed.  In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire--that is, if she makes it through the Change.  Not all of those who are chosen do.  It’s tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling.  She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx.  But 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 club, 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.
[from Goodreads]

Rating: 3 out of 5 boxes
Target Audience: Teen girls, vampire aficionados
High point:  Slightly different take on the classic vampire tale
Low point:  Immature writing style and predictable relationships
Reader maturity:  17+

Zoey Redbird finds out that she is Marked to undergo the Change into a vampyre. Dealing with crazy parents and the loss of her former friends, this powerful fledgling immediately faces conflict from the reigning clique at her new school, the House of Night. Using the courage and wisdom instilled in her by her Cherokee grandmother, she discovers her place--and new powers--at the House of Night.

I received the first four House of Night books as a Christmas gift; if I hadn't already owned all four, I might not have continued reading after Marked. The vampyre lore (it's vampyre in this series, not vampire) is unique from many other vampire/vampyre backstories on the market, but Marked just didn't quite make the cut.

The writing style is inexperienced, and the descriptions of other characters are like climbing inside the mind of a 13 or 14 year old girl, an unpleasant experience for those of us who have been there already. That in itself would not be so problematic except that this is obviously a book aimed for older teen readers in mature content and the protagonist herself is almost 17. I feel that there are more appropriate ways to describe unsavory characters than resorting to unsavory slang. I also have issue with the mature content; not only do I prefer my books clean, but it feels a little out-of-place and forced, as if written in only as a marketing effect.

Back to the story, I liked that vampyres are created through the process of being Marked and that they are known to humans, though a fear of them still exists. Zoey's fear of a new place is real (though her acceptance of the Mark and relationship with her mother and stepfather are abrupt), and her friends sound like the kind of people that one would actually meet at a high school. The mean girl is sufficiently mean, if unrealistically over-the-top...but then she is a fledgling vampyre. Zoey's extraordinary powers and her reaction to them (after the initial Mark) also sound credible.

My feelings on this book are mixed. On the one hand, the writing was simplistic and the content unnecessarily mature, but on the other, the premise of the story is good. Though tempted to only give it an "okay," I bumped it to a "liked it" rating because the story itself was a good draw and left me wondering what happens to Zoey.

Title:  Marked
Author:  P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Genre:  Young Adult Horror and Suspense
Year:  2007
Book Source:  Received as gift