Book Review: Marked by P.C and Kristin Cast

Marked by P.C and Kristin Cast
House of Night #1
Release Date: May 1st, 2007
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Rating: Bland

In 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres not only exist but are also tolerated by humans. Those whom the creatures "mark" as special enter the House of Night school where they will either become vampyres themselves, or, if their body rejects the change, die. To Zoey, being marked is truly a blessing, though she's scared at first. She has never fit into the human world and has always felt she is destined for something else. Her grandmother, a descendant of the Cherokee, has always supported her emotionally, and it is she who takes the girl to her new school. But even there the teen stands apart from the others. Her mark from the Goddess Nyx is a special one, showing that her powers are very strong for one so young. At the House of Night, Zoey finds true friendship, loyalty, and romance as well as mistrust and deception. She realizes that all is not right in the vampyre world and that the problems she thought she left behind exist there as well. - Goodreads Page

There wasn't much I actually liked about this book, no matter how hard I tried. The main factor which put me off was the writing style. If you've read my other reviews, then you will know that I don't like it when adult authors try to sound like teenagers. It usually always comes across poorly as, believe it or not, a lot of teenagers are very well spoken. Especially if they are as intelligent as you are claiming your character is. In Marked, the writers did just this, and that was their main error. The dialogue came across as silly, childish, and as though the Casts were trying too hard.

Character descriptions were repeated every forty or so pages, and this irritated me, as I prefer descriptions of characters to be kept at a minimum. It was starting to become very Twilight-esque!

Also, adding to the writing style, the amount of brackets in this book is quite infuriating. Every fifth sentence or so is a sly comment that the narrative is making. This is honestly just me being extremely picky, but I hate brackets!

Despite my dislike for the writing style, the plot does have potential. A girl who becomes a vampire, and starts a new boarding school that is as old and the hills and full of secrets? Yes, please! It is clearly well thought out and, if the writing was improved - and the writers stopped trying to be overly sarcastic and 'teen-like' - this could have been a good book.