My New Novella Obsession: The House of Night Series

Currently listening to: "Disturbia" by Rihanna.

(I may have a spoiler or two in this entry)

I have just recently discovered a brand new book series to sink my teeth into (painful pun intended). The House of Night series, by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, is about a teenage girl who is Marked—practically ‘chosen’ to become a vampyre—and must move to the House of Night, a boarding school for teenagers who have been Marked, and try to live through the Change (the period of years in which the body slowly transforms from human to vampyre).

The only problem? Not everyone lives through the Change. Like some vaccinations for diseases, not everyone’s body accepts the metamorphosis. If the body rejects the Change, the person dies in a pretty gross way.

I’ve read the first three books in the series—Marked, Betrayed and Chosen—and so far like it a lot. It’s different from Twilight, but also the same: it takes previous Vampire lore, gives it a swift kick up the ass and presents us with something different. House of Night is slightly more stereotypical though—the students sleep through the day and wake when the sun goes down, are pale, have really long, thick hair and are usually superhumanly beautiful. A difference, though, is that changing into a vampyre is a slow process that ends with their Mark (the crescent moon tattoo between their eyes) being filled in and an intricate band of tattoos adorning their face and body, and of course developing the bloodlust and extreme power.

The main character, Zoey, is more of a Suze Simon than a Bella Swan, something I kinda appreciate, especially with a story like this one. The novels bring back memories of the Mediator series by Meg Cabot, my first love: Zoey is witty and kicks serious ass, but is still burdened by the everyday problems of being a teenager—such as dating three guys at once and her best friend (and roommate) rejecting the Change and dying in her arms. At times I felt like throwing the books across the room because of some of her decisions, but on the flip side it just goes to show how good the characterisation is—to merit such extreme emotions in me, they must be doing a pretty stellar job.

I checked out their site, and the yearbook is worth checking out--except for the guy they chose for Erik Night. Sooo not how I pictured him. But everyone else was gold.

The fourth, Untamed, is out in the US already, but I’m still waiting for it to come out over in Aussie Land. Hopefully it lives up to my expectations!