P.C. Cast with Kristin Cast. Marked: A House of Night Novel   
Griffin Original  $10.95  ISBN 978-0-312-36026-9  304 pg.
Reviewed by Ceilidh, Age 15

Do vampyres play chess? Were there vampyre dorks? How about Barbie-like vampyre cheerleaders? Did any vampyres play in the band? Were there vampyre Emos with their guy-wearing-girl’s-pants weirdness and those awful bangs that cover half their faces? Or were they all those freaky Goth kids who didn’t like to bathe much? Was I going to turn into a Goth kid? Or worse, an Emo? I didn’t particularly like wearing black, at least not exclusively, and I wasn’t feeling a sudden and unfortunate aversion to soap and water, nor did I have an obsessive desire to change my hairstyles and wear too much eyeliner.

When 16 year-old Zoey Redbird is marked as a vampyre by the undead male who arrives at her school, she believes her life as she knows it to be over. She dreads the moment where she will have to go home and face her mom, and her mom’s boyfriend, the religious freak, otherwise known as John. But she does not stay there for long, as soon as John says that he is going to have somewhat of an exorcism, she has decided that she is going to flee. But to where? The most sensible place, she decides, is her Grandmother Redbird’s. But Zoey has never been the type to stay anywhere very long, so soon, her Grandmother takes her to the House of Night.

Follow Zoey, and her new group of amazing friends, through the trials and tribulations at the new school, most of which include a girl called Aphrodite, an enemy that Zoey makes almost instantly. But there is something behind that girl, that no one really knows, something that no one can really put in a place…something far different. Zoey will lead you through the school like you have been there forever, and help you to uncover the mysteries of the school as well.

I found this book incredibly relatable in the latter part of the book. In the beginning of the book, I thought that the main character was someone I would never relate to, but she undergoes a personal life change, which makes her a much better character. The course language, which she spews from her mouth every so often, makes her all the more relatable. This book was an excellent beginning to a series, an excellent introduction with brilliant descriptions. With a lot of emotion, this book certainly does pack a punch; you will be surprised at the things that can happen to a teenage vampyre.

I give this book five sink-your-teeth-into stars because there was humour all the way through. I recommend this book for 14 years and up because of course language and some scenes.