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profile Members: Lu YuanZheng, Reg. 13 of 2A(2008). Rachel Kee Ting, Reg. 16 of 2A(2008). |
 The Story In this story, vampires lurk in the dark. Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird is Marked as a vampire and is invited to join the House of Night, a school where she will train to become an adult vampire. But that will only happen if she makes it through the Change, and that is not something everyone can do. She hates to begin a new life, especially away from her friends, and on top of that, Zoey is not an average vampire. She has been chosen specially by the vampyie Goddess Nyx. Zoey discovers that she has amazing powers, but along with her powers come bloodlust and an unfortunate ability to Imprint her human ex-boyfriend. To add to her stress, she is not the only vampire in the House of Night with special powers. When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school’s most elite group, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny – with a little help from her new vampire friends. Background Information Marked is the first novel in the House of Night series written by romance author, P.C. Cast, in collaboration with her teenage daughter, Kristin Cast. Ever since Stephenie Meyer took the Young Adult genre by storm with Twilight, there has been no stopping of vampires. With the glut of vampire fiction in the current market, it takes something special to standout from the crowd. Marked seems to have that something special and ticks all the right boxes as it gets the House of Night series off to a strong start. Aimed at older teenage readers, Marked is a good mixture of romance, fantasy, horror and mystery, giving its coming-of-age theme an edge of dark intrigue. Marked has an interesting vampire mythology. In the world of the House of Night books, vampirism is triggered in some individuals around the time of puberty. Adult vampires can sense when somebody has been chosen and they send out a tracker to mark them accordingly. Once someone is Marked, a symbol of the crescent moon appears on the forehead of the chosen person. They have to go to the House of Night which acts as a school for vampires. At the time of entering the school, they are not actually vampires. And if their body doesn’t accept the Change, they will die before they can become one. The vampire mythology is slowly revealed in Marked and perhaps raises as many questions as it answers – leaving plenty of mysterious unknowns for readers to look forward to discovering further on in the series. Narrated in first person by Zoey, readers can share her frustrations with her family, which has not been much of a family for Zoey since her mother married the “Step-Loser”, her step-father. Readers can also share her trepidation, hopes and fears as she starts not only a new school without warning, but a whole new life. Zoey narrates the story with good humour and an inner sarcastic voice. Her good intensions combined with her hope that she has finally found a place where she can belong, a place that nobody can take away from her, make her an endearing and engaging character. Recommendation Marked is a fascinating read and a good start to the House of Night vampire fantasy series. A hugely enjoyable book, recommended for reading. Source: http://www.lovevampires.com/pccmarked.html |