Marked by P.C Cast and Kristin Cast

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. (From the back of the book)

When I started reading this book I was completely pulled into the story. Things got moving quickly, and I really enjoyed the Casts' new take on the vampire world. The school setting, with its unique rules, structures, ceremonies, and night classes gave the book a fresh feel. I found myself having a lot of fun reading Marked, and enjoying the little details of the story...things like the classes the fledglings take, the physical appearance of the school and the rules, regulations, and traditions set up for the students. I felt like the authors created a believable setting for their characters and the physical descriptions were easy to visualize, from the layout of the dining hall to each vampyres individual 'mark'.

Another factor that made this vampire series unique is the involvement of ceremony and worship, and how the whole vampire existence ties in with Greek Goddess Nyx. Definitely something different from what I have read in a while.

While I loved the plot and descriptions in this book, a few things got to me. Some of the characters tended to annoy the heck out of me (*cough*twins*cough*) and it seemed like at times the Casts' were trying too hard to make Zoey and her friends sound...cool? There was an overuse of teenage slang that sometimes felt like a middle aged parent trying to fit in with their teenage child by talking like them. I mean, poopie? Boobies? Loser kids? I'll admit it frustrated me.

Despite these annoyances the story itself intrigues me enough to continue reading the rest of the series. I just finished Betrayed and I can't help but feel eager to know whats going to happen next in the House of Night.