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Marking a Turning Point Mar 22, 2008 (64 of 67 found this helpful)
Early on in my reading of Marked, I wasn't at all sure I would like this young adult novel. The story of Zoey Redbird, a sixteen year old girl who is unhappy at home, becoming "marked" as a fledgling vampyre, just seemed a bit forced. I wanted to feel a part of her story but her angst was overwhelming and I couldn't really see where the plot was headed. However, about midway through, the book picked up steam and by the last few chapters, I was eagerly turning the pages in order to find out how Zoey's unusual powers would manifest and where it all would lead.
Marked is an imaginative take on vampyres, weaving "old" pagan religious themes throughout and incorporating ancient history into its background. I liked the idea of a society where vampyrism is openly known and accepted, and I liked the School of Night where fledgling vampyres are taken for further training. I loved Zoey's learning to accept herself and step up as a leader at the school, and even the cursing seems realistic. What I didn't like was the obvious prejudice against traditional religion, and the "mini-sermons" we receive early on against drugs, drinking, and oral sex from Zoey's point of view. I liked Zoey's friends but felt that her acceptance into such a tight group so immediately didn't ring true, and I had to wonder at just why Erik, the hot young vampyre, was so attracted so quickly to Zoey. There are also some very lucky coincidences, such as Zoey's Native American grandmother having taught her purification rites which come in very handy. Thankfully these annoyances were overcome by the general storytelling and the excitement of the last half of the book.
Marked is the first in the series and I'll definitely be looking for the next two. I am captured by Zoey's world and want to see how her special spiritualism develops over time. This book also left enough unanswered questions that I'm drawn to find out more. With a caution that this book would probably be better for more mature readers with its incidents of sexual tension and cursing, I can say I'm intrigued enough to recommend this one.
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Before you read this Mar 12, 2008 (111 of 121 found this helpful)
Ask this question to yourself: Am I an immature, shallow, whiny, the-whole-world-is-out-to-get-me teenager? If yes, then I strongly encourage you to read this book. If no, then I strongly encourage you to to put it down and walk away.
Is it unfair to rate this book against Stephenie Meyer's Twilight? Probably. But I found myself doing just that the whole time I was reading Marked. The main character, Zoey Redbird, especially annoyed me.
Zoey (who is the epitome of all that is Mary Sue) is the most under-developed, cliched character I have ever read about. I'll compose a checklist.
Beautiful: check
Moral: check
Interesting ethnicity (in this case Cherokee): check
Family problems: check
Specially chosen: check
Amazing powers: check
Ah, and let's not forget that she's dating the hottest guy at the House of Night and got on the Queen Bee's bad side.
I have to admit though, that thing that most threw me off about Zoey was her vocabulary. Every time I read the word "poopie" or "boobie" I couldn't help thinking, How old is she supposed to be? I also hated how whiny Zoey was. The girl could not go a paragraph without finding some sort of fault with her life.
Moving on. I was rooting for the Zoey/Erik pair for a while, but decided to drop it after the reappearance of Zoey's ex-boyfriend Heath. Zoey and Erik just lacked the chemistry to pull the relationship off with Heath added to the equation.
The plot was mildly interesting, and what caught my attention was that the story takes place in a world exactly like our own, except that vampyres (vampires; the word is spelled differently in this book. The students never seem to have enough energy to say the whole word, and simply abbreviated it to "vamps." I'll admit, that bothered me too) are common and well known. This book would've been better if it had been written by a different author. Stephenie Meyer would've been good, but I think only James Patterson has the style to pull this one off (though it is NOT something he would write about).
On a last note, the only reaon the book was described as "sexy" was because of one scene (which is continually cited in books two and three. Why, I don't know...) in which Queen Bee Aphrodite was attempting to forcefully administer oral sex to Erik. This scene was absolutely irrelevant to the rest of the plot.
All in all, I would not recommend this book, much less the series; I read books two and three in hopes that is would get better. It didn't. I hope this review has been helpful to you.
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self-indulgent and uncomplicated Feb 25, 2008 (50 of 59 found this helpful)
I liked MARKED. It was light, fast, easy, and fun. It didn't make me think or worry, and it was predictable.
The heroine, Zoey, is a good girl - smart, hardworking, moral. As I read I wondered how the mother/daughter author team affected the overall tone, and I think that Zoey's self-conscious moralizing is the most obvious result. This is a book for teens, so it's nice to see some sensible messages mixed in with all the bloodlust, but Zoey goes out of her way to condemn alcohol, drugs, and casual sex at every possible opportunity. It sounded like most kids do when they try to convince a parent that, seriously, all these forbidden things are totally uncool they would never, ever try them. Which is to say - insincere.
There are "conflicts" and "problems" in the novel - sort of. It turns out that Zoey is a very powerful vampire, that the hottest guy in school has a crush on her, that she's got to choose between an open invitation to join the Cool Clique or the Nice Clique. Yeah, it's a tough life.
We meet the villain very early on, and she goes out of her way to be the most cartoonishly nasty Mean Girl that any fiction writer has ever imagined. She's a beautiful blonde bully with a fantastic manicure and no conscience. She hasn't an ounce of subtlety in her body and the first words she says to Zoey are, more or less, "I'm in charge here, get in my way and I will hurt you."
I would bet money that I can predict exactly what will happen in the next book, thanks to the clue in the title, BETRAYED - but I will probably read it anyhow. Hopefully it will be just as enjoyably vapid as MARKED.
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Enjoyed it thoroughly. May 24, 2007 (33 of 39 found this helpful)
Zoey Redbird's world is very much like our own, except that vampyres have always existed. Zoey is sixteen-years-old and having a typical day in school when she notices a Tracker standing beside her locker. Never really believing the Tracker is hunting for her, Zoey is genuinely shocked when the Tracker Marked her a fledgling vampyre. This means a crescent moon scar appears on Zoey's forehead and she has less than a day to reach the House of Night, a private boarding school for fledgling vampyres. Zoey's mother is no help. Her step-father all but hates her. Zoey goes to her Cherokee grandmother for help, but gets hurt along the way. While unconscious, Zoey has a vision from Nyx, the Vampire Goddess, who informs Zoey that she is very special and has been chosen to be the eyes and ears of Nyx. When Zoey awakens, she is with her grandmother at the House of Night.
Neferet is the High Priestess of the House of Night, as well as her new Mentor. Unlike before the vision, Zoey's crescent moon mark is now filled in. This is unheard of before going through The Change. Zoey soon learns that she has some amazing powers, yet no understanding of how to use them.
Zoey is not the only fledgling in school with special powers. Aphrodite is the leader of the Dark Daughters. She is in training to be a High Priestess; and Zoey has made Aphrodite's black list without even trying. Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage she needs to fulfill her destiny - with a little help from her new vampyre friends.
***** A solid foundation for a new supernatural series! It seems to target older teens, but adults will find themselves drawn to it as well. It looks as though the writing talent is a gene that runs strong in the Cast family tree. Terrific plot with well formed characters. I look forward to the next release of the Cast Duo. *****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
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Not that great... Jun 20, 2007 (22 of 25 found this helpful)
I wrote a review, and yet Amazon somehow ate it, so let's try again.
The novel is okay - it's well written enough. The main character has some interesting ways of describing things. But it's not as good as it could be. Specifically:
- The main character is a Mary Sue. From the beginning, she's special, special, special - she's part Cherokee, she's beautiful, everybody loves her, she's got an awesome facial tattoo that fills itself in by magic, and she doesn't have a single negative trait that would spoil the impression that she's anything but perfect. She's also got a magic cat.
- Her friends are essentially the cast of the first season Real World. There's the Black Girl, the Gay Guy, and even the Okie Girl. They have no traits, but chirp at each other amusingly in order to seem like the world's most wonderful friends.
- There's some religious bigotry in that all of the pagans are absolutely perfect, handsome, Byron-spouting Goths - more of that wish fulfillment - and all of the people who belong to the Old Religion are a bunch of hypocritical, patriarchal jerks. This is the kind of simpleminded thinking that most writers outgrow around the age of sixteen or so; not so much here.
- The antagonists are simply evil without having any other personality traits. There's some vague mutterings about how the evil girl is "set up" towards the end, but nothing that makes her more a cartoon.
You could find better pagan fiction, better vampire fiction, better high school fiction - the writing is technically good, but I would say that the series needs to get seriously deep or it'll remain a layer of wish-fulfillment frosting over an empty cake.