Marked (House of Night Series #1) by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast is about Zoey, an average high school student, complete with ex-almost-boyfriend, annoying best friend, religious zealot step-father, and perfect siblings. Zoey's life turns upside down the day a vampyre comes into her school and "marks" her with a crescent moon tattoo on her forehead. Zoey's destiny is to go the The House of Night school and to make the change into a vampire. Once she arrives, Zoey realizes that she has a very special destiny to fulfill. She has a special mark, different from the other fledglings. This puts her in a strong rivalry with the leader of the Dark Daughters, an exclusive group who is being groomed to be the next generation of vampire elders. Not to mention the fact that the current leader, Aphrodite's ex-boyfriend is now interested in Zoey. Zoey has a lot to prove to her new classmates and to the Dark Daughters.This was a great book. It was a very quick read because the story was so engaging. I really liked the feeling that I was going through everything for the first time right along with Zoey. It was as if I was learning all the secrets of the vampire world as she learned them. I do need to caution younger readers that there is some VERY mature content in this book - both physically and verbally. This book is definitely for older readers.
