Monday, June 8, 2009

YA Book I'm Reading Right Now: Marked, House of Night, Book 1

I've finally found a vampire series I can sink my teeth into. ( Sorry for the awful pun). House of Night by mother-daughter team PC and Kristin Cast is a fun, sarcastic, and sometimes eerie look at "vampyres'' that must go to the House of Night school to become full-fledged vampyres.

Zoe Redbird has a vampyre mark on her forehead that means she has to go to the school, but her mark is so unique that even among vampyres, she's an outcast. There she befriends sweet country girl Stevie Rae, Damien, and best friends, Erin and Shaunee. After taking a few classes and speaking to her mentor, Neferet, Zoe realizes she has the power to be head of the Dark Daughters, a powerful group of the vampyres. Her only obstacle is mean girl, Aphrodite, who's head of the Dark Daughters and doesn't want to give up her high status-or the boy Zoe has a crush on and Aprodite's still in love with, Erik. Zoe has to deal with being away from her family, battling new enemies, and still being true to herself as she changes from a fledgling to a vampyre.

House of Night may be similar to Twilight, with vampire teenagers in high school, but that's about all I see the two series have in common. This book has much more mature subject matter ( Damien is openly gay, sex is mentioned quite a bit, and the characters curse). This book is also more matriarchal ( the vampyres worship a Goddess, male vampyres assist female ones, and Native American rituals in the book are performed by powerful women). This series has caused controversy because of that, so if you're more into straight vampires in innocent love, stay with Twilight. If you want an edgier, but still teenage vampire series, though, check out Marked ( after I return it) under YA FIC Cast. The other books in the series will be on the shelves soon!

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