| | Marked (Thorndike Press Large Print Literacy Bridge Series) |  | Authors: P. C. Cast, Kristin Cast
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Category: Book
Buy New: $23.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  109 reviews
Sales Rank: 586536
Format: Large Print
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Lrg
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 472
ISBN: 1410410218
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781410410214
ASIN: 1410410218
Publication Date: October 3, 2008 (In 34 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Not yet published
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| Customer Reviews: Read 104 more reviews...
 Enjoyed it thoroughly. May 24, 2007
26 out of 28 found this review 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.
Great YA read for adults as well! May 23, 2007
19 out of 20 found this review helpful
Zoey Redbird's life changes forever the day she is MARKED. Once being tagged by a vampyre tracker, she can no longer remain in her home but instead has to move to the House of Night. However, Zoey finds out very quickly that her mark is different from that of the other vampyre fledglings. The Goddess Nyx has special plans for Zoey....
Do not start reading MARKED late at night as I guarantee you will not get any sleep until you finish this book! P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast have written a tale that is a hit from the very first sentence. Not only is MARKED an engaging story, but the fresh perspective on vampyres makes this one of the best vampyre tales I've ever read.
MARKED is targeted for the young adult audience. However, adults are absolutely going to love this one as well! One word of caution, however. Some of the themes may be a bit too extreme for younger teenagers as Zoey very openly discusses certain sexual acts and drinking blood. However, older teenagers will appreciate Zoey's attitude while parents will appreciate the integrity of Zoey's character. In fact, P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast are to be commended for the phenomenal job they did with creating Zoey's character as her voice sounds loud and clear throughout this superb story.
MARKED is a must buy for all fans of vampyre tales. P.C. Cast already has a reputation for crafting quality stories and her first effort with her daughter may be her best yet. MARKED is easily recommended!
COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES
 Marking a Turning Point March 22, 2008
13 out of 13 found this review 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.
 Not that great... June 20, 2007
12 out of 15 found this review 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.
self-indulgent and uncomplicated February 25, 2008
12 out of 13 found this review 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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