MARKED by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. Published by St. Martin’s Press, copyright 2007, 306 pages, $8.95. Reviewed by Kailey Visoski, grade 8, Brunswick Middle School, Brunswick, MD.

Marked For Life… Or is it Death?


“Then the vampyre spoke and his ceremonial words slicked across the space between us, dangerous and seductive, like blood mixed with melted chocolate.

‘Zoey Montgomery! Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee; hearken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night!’

He lifted one long, white finger and pointed at me. As my forehead exploded in pain Kayla opened her mouth and screamed.”


How would you feel if one second you were getting your books out of your locker, getting ready to go to next period, and then the next, your whole life is changed forever—whole new school, new friends… oh, and not to mention your undead? Well this is exactly what Zoey Redbird now has to deal with, a 16 year-old girl whose only worries used to be about her ex/almost-boyfriend’s drinking problem and not failing geometry, until the moment a vampyre Tracker comes to Mark her.
She now has to attend The House of Night, a vampyre training school where fledglings must train to become an adult vamp—that is, if their body can make it through the Change. But Zoey is destined to be more than just any average fledgling. When she falls and blacks out, she is visited by the vampyre Goddess Nyx, and finds out that she has been Chosen by her to be her eyes and ears on earth from now on and destined to be a great Goddess herself.

So with this new and slightly perplexing knowledge, Zoey starts off her new life as a fledgling and when her roommate, Stevie Rae, is given an invitation to join the House of Night’s most elite group, The Dark Daughters, she finds that it’s leader is not all she appears to be. On top of that, she has now been imprinted with her human ex/almost-boyfriend, Heath, and is having a hard time controlling the ever-present bloodlust. Can Zoey handle all the pressure?

In this exciting, fantasy-thriller, MARKED, the first book in the House of Night series, you will be laughing hysterically, on the edge of your seat, and the book will be practically glued to your hands. The mother-daughter writing team has done an excellent job, taking a fantasy story line and applying it to actual life, making the characters seem so realistic and believable. They also give a really different outlook on vampires from other books I’ve read, like Twilight. I recommend this book--and the whole series--to any teen reader who loves vampires, romance, and a little comedy, and give it a rating of 9 out of 10!