Review of Marked (House of Night, Book 1)

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Such an interesting novel, though it appears to be trying a little too hard to appeal to the young adult crowd.

I was a little disappointed when reading it to see that the main character, Zoey, was rather judgmental. There were a few too many comments in the book that struck me as being rather condescending about other people's habits or vices (or "Okie-ness" - do the writers have a prejudice against country folk?) Maybe it's that I found it occasionally a little hypocritical that the character longed so much to be accepted, but thought the actions of others were hideous when it was probably motivated by their own insecurities and desire to fit in. This was most prevalent in Zoey's interaction with Heath and Kayla.

In the spirit of playing devil's advocate, Zoey's impressions of the religious zealousness of her step-father are surprising once we see her get sucked into almost the same situation at the House of Night. Though she loved what was occurring, it seems to me that an outsider might see those as actions of a cult. Again, that speaks to the hypocrisy and slight arrogance; "My worship is better than your worship."

Outside of those irksome points for me, the novel and lore is strong. The vampires are chosen, and the idea of growing or becoming a vampire after a second puberty is creative. Mixing that with elementals, ghosts, and teen angst (see also: "Vampire Academy" by Richelle Mead) adds lots of fun and suspenseful moments.

I truly think the novel is a great addition to the urban fantasy genre for Teens and look forward to future adventures (and saucy moments with Erik!).

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Added by Voxy 1 month ago on 13 May 2008 07:13