Dueling Reviews is a new feature here at RB where we read the same book and post multiple reviews of it at once. You are invited to add your thoughts in the comment, or hit me up at zombiemichele@gmail.com if you want to duel with me.
Michele says:
“Hateful girls, totally cliquish drama-trauma, and the possibility for embarrassment and bloodletting. What’s not to love?”
Marked, book one of the insanely popular House of Night books (about a vampire boarding school), begins rather inauspiciously with main character Zoey’s best friend, Kayla, rambling about Zoey’s boyfriend’s state of drunkeness at a recent party. Then Kayla also blames the boyfriend’s alcohol use on Zoey’s early departure of said party (you know, sticking to the curfew that her parents so cruelly put on her).
If that won’t have you bristling, as soon as the vampyre tracker marks Zoey as chosen by the goddess Nyx to become a vampyre (or die in the process), Kayla drops BFF Zoey like they don’t even know each other. Zoey can’t even find solace in her mom because Mom suffered from a complete personality transplant after she married New Husband. Once a somewhat normal single mom with three kids, Zoey’s mom is now the polite, perfection-seeking submissive wife who lets New Husband make all the decisions and constantly uses passive-aggressive tactics to punish Zoey for not doing the same.
So in the first two chapters of the book we end up with Zoey, who is not only marked for going to a fancy finishing school where she’ll become a super powerful chosen one of a goddess (or die, oh and by the way anyone who is beautiful, famous or talented is/was apparently a vampire *eyeroll*), but she’s also surrounded by shallow, two-faced, passive aggressive people who punish or abandon her for the smallest slight. To be fair, I do like this series (in a soap opera way) and this feeling of no one around Zoey being a genuine person is one of the reasons why. Through out the series Zoey is called on to make responsible decisions and she, almost without thinking, steps up to make the right choice (or what she reasons is the right choice). Everyone else seems to fail at even accepting that they have to make a choice. But like a lot of aspects of Marked, the effect is very heavy-handed.
Cast pounds at all the familiar teen tropes; drug use, sexual activity, religion, teen pregnancy–Cast shoe horns snarky commentary in about everything to prove Zoey (and most teens) aren’t as stupid or sinful as people think. As the story goes on the messages fade away in the light of the story and Zoey’s voice. Zoey really is a good person. The books really do promote friendship, loyalty, doing the right thing and not making assumptions. But it’s easy to take one too many bruise in the ring with these books and leave them on the sidelines.
In Marked, Zoey learns about vampyre life (it’s fabulous, remember everyone rich famous and beautiful is a vampyre.) She has to face down against a bully and the pressures put on her for “being special”. More importantly she has to learn who she is and how to stand up for what’s right when it’s way easier to follow the curve. Despite all my eye-rolling and complaints I still really enjoyed the book. I found myself eager to pull out my book and read more whenever I had a few minutes to spare. Ironically, when Cast stops trying so hard she’s a great, compelling storyteller and Marked is a tasty read.
Naomi says:
In many ways, Marked is your typical teen vampire angst-fest – regular girl Zoey Redbird discovers she is literally marked for greatness when a vampyre tracker shows up at her school and reveals she is undergoing the change. Zoey must get to the House of Night – “vampyre finishing school” – or risk dying. And if her body doesn’t adapt to the change from human to vampyre, she’ll die anyway. Leaving behind her restrictive family and loser sort-of-boyfriend, Zoey heads to the House of Night and there discovers a whole new world of cliquish vampyres, hot boys, new friends and, of course, fabulous powers. There’s really nothing new in the concept. What sets Marked aside from other, similar, series is the execution. It’s a mix of good and bad, sadly.
The good: Cast has a good, deft touch with description, making the House of Night a vivid and real setting for the story. Her take on the vampyre mythos is unique and interesting, if sometimes heavy-handed (every famous, attractive, intelligent person in history and current pop culture was or is a vampyre – really?). The pagan and matriarchal focus of vampyre society is something I really enjoy about these books. Zoey herself is (more or less) an interesting protagonist to follow. If her story itself is not new, her attitude towards her sudden high destiny is at least realistic. She doesn’t want to be special or stand out; she just wants to get on with life attracting as little attention as possible. It’s a feeling that rings true for me. Sure, discovering you are goddess-touched and have amazing powers probably sounds cool in theory, but in reality I can’t help thinking it would be more trouble than it’s worth.
The bad. Oh dear, the bad. For me, there is a lot of bad here. The pop culture references date the book rather badly (references to Ashton Kutcher preferring older women, for example). Cast is a talented writer but she uses her writing to deliver preachy messages that drag me from the story and make Zoey a judgemental, prissy little madam as a side effect. Zoey casts (pardon the pun) judgement on everything from the way emo kids wear their hair to teen sex to pot-smoking. It’s not that I don’t believe a sixteen-year-old would be opposed to under-age sex or drug-use (I was), but her tone is so adult, so forced, and so out of place, it’s obvious they aren’t really the character’s feelings but the author’s. Using your book as a platform to promote clean living and moral fortitude is, of course, entirely your choice, but it’s a choice that jars for me.
The side characters are paper-thin and often I feel like they’re acting as they do because the plot demands it rather than because it’s an organic development. Zoey’s mother is married to a religious fundamentalist, so of course her home life is a nightmare. She has siblings (one of whom we never even learn the name of) who are horrible to live with and a mother who is distant and has given up reading exotic romance novels to please her husband. She has friends who are shallow and do terrible things like swear and use cannabis. All this means Zoey has no ties to regret giving up to start her new superior life as a vampyre fledgling. I would much have preferred to see a character with a good home life, someone who has something to cling to, and see what conflicts that provided. Bad girl Aphrodite often comes across as so wooden and cliched in her dialogue that it’s impossible to take her seriously. Shaunee represents the only time I’ve wished a fictional character was alive so I could tell her how irritating she is. Please. Just please. And does Stevie Rae have any personality traits besides being from Oklahoma?
So…how to summarise Marked? There are flashes of brilliance and moments of head-shaking awfulness. Of course, at 29 years old, I’m way past being in the target audience. I can see the strong appeal of this series but I’m also left wondering where it can go from here. Zoey is already the most super-special vampyre fledging in recorded history and this is the first book. It’ll be interesting to see how Cast handles Zoey’s sudden ascent to top of the social food chain in Betrayed.