Book #27: Marked

Title: Marked (Book #1 of the "House of Night" series)

Author: P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Date started reading: Feb. 28, 2012
Date finished reading:  Feb. 29, 2012

Publish date: May 2007
ISBN: 978-0312360269
Number of pages: 320

Official summary: After a Vampire Tracker Marks her with a crescent moon on her forehead, 16-year-old Zoey Redbird enters the House of Night and learns that she is no average fledgling. She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx and has affinities for all five elements: Air, Fire Water, Earth and Spirit. 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 mis-using 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 (or Nerd Herd, as Aphrodite calls them). (http://www.houseofnightseries.com)

How I obtained the book: Bought for 81 cents at thrift store

Memorable quotes:

• "Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse I saw the dead guy standing next to my locker." ~ Zoey
• "If I died, would it get me out of my geometry test tomorrow? One could only hope." ~ Zoey
• "Darkness does not always equate to evil. Just as light does not always bring good."

My commentary:

• I've heard a lot about this book series over the years mainly because the authors are from my state, and the books are set in the state. I didn't think I'd want to read them, but I thought I'd go for it. It's really odd because most of the places and all of the towns mentioned in the book really exist in real life. It's odd for me to read about vampires existing in towns that I know very well, and I've been to some of the places where scenes take place. It's so surreal. Nothing is as weird as the books saying that country music superstar and Oklahoma native Garth Brooks is a vampire. That was crazy. I really wonder what Garth thinks about being made into a vampire
• The beginning of this book was rather confusing to me. It jumped right into the action without explaining any background first. It felt like I was reading the second book in a series, not the first. The background of the vampire legend is being explained slowly over the course of the book, so at first, it was confusing trying to figure out what the authors' take on vampires was
• One of the reasons I like reading young adult genre books is I normally don't have to deal with much sexual content.  This book talks about oral sex very early on, and I cringed. The authors are a mother and daughter. I can't imagine them sitting down and writing about teenagers engaging in oral sex. 
• I've said before that I always find it interesting to see how each author I read interprets the vampire legend. The "House of Night" vampires don't have fangs and instead are "marked" with magical tattoos. Vampires without fangs? That seems pretty odd, but at least it's not stupid like how the "Twilight" vampires sparkle when they go into the sunlight. I guess it could be worse than no-fanged, tattooed vampires... 
• The book included many negative references to Christianity, which bothers me in many ways. It speaks a lot about Christians who are really judgmental. It portrays Christians as the enemy. I'm trying to overlook that

Buy on Amazon.com: Marked (House of Night, Book 1)