 Marked (A House of Nights Novel) By P.C Cast & Kristin Cast
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Review (Contains Spoilers) ::: I am going to start off saying that this is probably the most underrated book of series of there. It is constantly being compared to ‘Twilight’ and Zoey is also compared to Bella Swan.
I don’t see the similarities and I feel the only things these two books have in common is the fact that the book is about vampires. This series is considered a Young Adults Paranormal Fantasy. Which means it right up my ally. Let me get into it.
Zoey is your average 16 year old girl. That is until she was marked. Vampires and Humans coexist. But that’s doesn’t mean they get along. They are still considered creatures of the night, dark and evil. But vampires make up majority of their worlds arts and entertainment. (Poetry, movies, book)
Being marked is not unheard of but Zoey just never thought it would happen to her. She had dreams and goals. She wanted to go to school and become a vet. Now that she is marked she doesn’t see that happening. Not to mention that the Tracker (vamp that placed her mark) did it while she was in school and when she was with her best friend. Instantly her so called best friend was afraid of her and looked at her like she was a disease.  The girl who was suppose to be her best friend did quit on her. She left her and made up some lame excuse. On the bright side she didn’t have to worry about her geometry test tomorrow. Anyone who hates math knows that Zoey was the real winner there. When trying to get home after being marked she ran into her almost ex boyfriend football player, Heath Luck. He was already drunk on school ground when he saw her and the two guys he was with called her a weirdo and drove off scared.
Honestly I am not sure if it was weirdo but I know it was nothing nice. Now this is the part where I mostly relate to Zoey. Her home life.
Zoey is the second born of 3 kids. Her mother use to be a good mother. That was until she got remarried and now serves her husband night and day. Her step father or step loser like Zoey calls him is an extremely religious man which makes her mother an extremely religious woman. He always thought of Zoey as the problem child and basically told her if she keeps up her act that God will punish her. {Eyes rolled to the extreme}
Because of this Zoey feels isolated and alone in her own house and she feels like she can’t even turn to her mother. But she has to tell her cause Zoey needs to go to the House of Night (school for vamp). If she doesn’t she will surly die. Instead of her mother being caring and seeing how scared Zoey was she basically ask what did she get herself into and makes her feel even more of a outcast. Her step father blames her action on the reason why she got marked. I didn’t realize being a normal teenager was the reason why you became a vampire.
Tracker much of not been able to find me cause I’m still human. Lol anyways she run away to her grandmothers, where she knows she will be safe and not judged.  While looking for her grandmother she falls and hits her head. Zoey has this out of body experience and actually gets to speak to the Goddess of the freaking Night NYX.
Nyx tell Zoey, “You will be her eyes and ears.” That Zoey is very special. That she was marked for a reason and that was going to do great things. When Zoey awakes she is in the infirmary at the House of Night. Her grandma is there and her mark is completely filled in. This is completely unheard of for a fledging.  This is where Zoey meets the High Priestess Neferet. She is describe as beautiful. Which is not uncommon for vampire. Neferet tries to ask Zoey if she remembers anything of her fall and that’s when Zoey gets a gut feeling to not tell her about the out of body experience and talking to Nyx. Zoey grandmother is still worried about her but Nefert promises to take care of her. She even takes Zoey under her wing and becomes her mentor. This makes Zoey feel very safe.
Throughout the first book Neferet is very helpful towards Zoey and even allowed Zoey to miss class. She even broke down how things will go and how happy she is to have Zoey finally here. There was an awkward moment in the halls when Zoey was trying to find the center of the school but I won’t talk about that right now.
Zoey eventually meets Stevie Rae. Not only is she her roommate but she becomes one of her best friend. Stevie shows her around and they sit together at lunch where she meets Erin and Shaunee, who are referee to as the twin. Yes they are not biological twins. Yes they are not even related and yes one is black and the other is white. They are so alike that no one points it out. She also meets the extremely smart, outstanding vocabulary and openly gay Damien. He instantly became my favorite character along with all of her other friend.  I get so emotional when I think about their friendship. Not because it a tragic one but because it is so amazing. They have such a bond. Throughout the book they are always by her side. No matter what. Especially when it came to facing Aphrodite.
Aphrodite is also Neferet student and she is also a High Priestess in training. Aphrodite gift from the Goddess Nyx is that she get vision. Usually they are about death and destruction. She usually gets them so she can save those people. She is also the leader of The Dark Daughter and Son. I would say that under Aphrodite rein it was considered more the evil bitch group of cool kids that picked on younger classmates because it’s “fun”.  In many ways this book is about any typical high school. Only thing is they have class at night and they are vampires.
This is the part where like all the craziness happens. Since Zoey is the only fledging to have her marked filled in she is looked at as different and that instantly gets her a invitation to the Dark Daughters. She has to accept considering her mentor is Neferet and would expect nothing less then her to go. Unfortunately a fledging does dies in this book. Her name is Emily and Zoey didn’t know her well. In the vampire community they expect you to just get over death and move past it. There is one other fledging that does in the first book but for some reason his name keeps slipping my mind.
So they did. On the night of the ritual for the Dark Daughters Zoey felt in tune with each of the elements called. She felt like she could fell the air around her. That she could feel the fire on her skin. Smell the saltiness of the sea and smell the earth. She could also feel the spirits wrap around her. At first she thought she was crazy. She thought she was just really into the ritual. When the gauntlet got to her she took a drink. After the circle was closed by Aphrodite who looked like a hoe in her outfit, she realized that she actually drank blood and that she liked it.  This made Zoey sick. Oh I guess that is another different from other activities that you would do in a human high school. Lol that when she went outside. A cat was stuck on the wall and she went to help it. Little did she know that her drunk and high ex boyfriend was going to appear and tried to “bust her out”. Not realizing that she couldn’t leave or she would die. Her body would reject the change.
This is when Zoey messed up and licked his blood. That is another thing that makes Zoey unique. She hasn’t even been a fledging for that long and she has already develop a bloodlust. This usually only happens as you get older. Which shows how advance she is. This totally freaks her out and she sends Heath away. That’s when she run into the completely hot and the amazingly geeky Eric Night, who happens to be Aphrodite ex. That little awkward moment in the hall I mention earlier. Yeah that was between him, Aphrodite and Zoey. Talk about walking in on something you don’t want to see.  He saw everything that happen and talked to her about it. That’s when he also told her that he was sorry that she wasn’t told about the blood that they used in the ceremony. That Aphrodite should of told her and that she should also tell Neferet about what happen tonight.
Eric at the end of the book along with Zoey friends, Damien, Stevie Rae, Erin, and Shaunee help Zoey save her ex boyfriend from the spirits Aphrodite cast. The were blood sucking evil spirits who almost killed them. Thank the Goddess Nyx that she blessed Zoey with not only power over one element but with the power of all 5 elements. With that she was able to cast her own circle, with the help of her friends and save everyone there tonight. Because of this heroic act it cause her marking to extend from her head to her shoulder blade.  Neferet realize she was wrong about Aphrodite and kicked her out of the Dark Daughters and Son. She then have leadership to Zoey. This is just the beginning for Zoey. She doesn’t know why she was picked. She doesn’t know why Nyx chose her to be different. All she knows is that she finally found somewhere she belonged and she had friend and finally found a mother figure in Neferet.
Like I stated earlier, I related to this book on many levels. It is definitely light reading. I would finish this book in a day if I didn’t have work. I don’t believe a lot of the negative reviews are true but that is my personal opinion. I am sorry about the length but there is sera lot of things o left out. Not because they weren’t important but because I still want some mystery for you guys if you do decided to read the book. Thank you for you time.
Till next time, Miracles View