Guest Blog: Acire

It is our pleasure to share with you something different here at Girls Just Reading.  Acire, author of The Cherry Valley Chronicles is not only a guest blogger, but a guest reviewer as well.  Here is her review of P.C. and Kristin Cast's Marked, the first novel in House of Night Series.

Summary: In 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampires 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 vampires 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 vampire world and that the problems she thought she left behind exist there as well.

Review:  If The Twilight Saga’s didn’t have enough UMP for you, I have the series with that special kind of edge you are looking for. I am now a HUGE fan of P.C. and Kristin Cast, and I admire that this mother and daughter duo could agree on this excellent piece of work that they've created. “Marked” is the first book in this brilliant “House of Night” series. 

Zoey Redbird is a teenager who is struggling with the basic teen drama, geometry exams, ex-boyfriend troubles, and trying to deal with a family that doesn’t understand her at all. In the House of Night world, Vampires are no secret and very special humans are marked (a sapphire crescent moon tattooed on your forehead by a tracker vampire) and are chosen to become Vampires. Once you are marked you must go live at The House of Night.

Pretty much all of Zoey’s Human family and friends turn their back on her and her new life once they found out that she was marked. Her best friend is scared of her, and her mother and stepfather are members of the local Sanctimonious Crusade group. This group all believe that being marked is a sign of the devil and that prayer and oils can heal you. Zoey runs away to her grandmother’s so she can join the House of Night and start attending the Vampire finishing school. Zoey’s Grandma Redbird understands Zoey and her decision to attend the finishing school.

Not wanting to give too much of the story away. Zoey attends the House of Night and finds out that she still has the basic teen issues plus a few more not so teen issues. Zoey turns out to be a very powerful Fledgling (a ½ human ½ vampire in training). Zoey finds that she has many desires and many changes with herself on the inside and on the outside as well.

This book had me at the first chapter. I love the realness of this series. P.C. and Kristin didn’t sugarcoat anything. There is real talk and real life relationships in this series. The series has a lot profanity and a lot of exotic encounters. I mean we all know that Vampires are extra sexy and in this series they get to go loose. The characters are very and are very relatable.

I highly recommend this series to those die hard sci-fi fans out there. As I said before this series makes Twilight look like a walk in the park. Enjoy!!!

Thanks to Acire for this great review.  Please check out her website and follow her on Twitter.