House of Night Series: Book Review

House of Night is a series of books, following on in the style of the popular teenage books about Vampyres. Ever since Twilight the latest vampire movie, hit our screens, we seem to be going slightly mad over everything Vampire. Since then there have been books about Angels, as in Fallen By Lauren Kate, and of course we have the wonderful Vampire Diaries written by L.J. Smith. So when I picked up the first book in the House of Night series, I felt sure that I was going to be carried along on a smooth ride, with lots of nice teens and handsome male Vampires, falling in love, fighting Demons and generally doing what they normally do. Bite each other, make up, and bite again. I will be honest here, when I first saw the book sitting on the counter my first thought was, this won't take long to read and then I can pass it on to one of my younger female members of my family. I love these sort of books but didn't really think that this one would be any different to the rest.

Well, let me tell you, I was so wrong.

The second that I started to read the first book in the series, Marked, I realised that this was no ordinary Vampyre book. This was different. The story grabbed me from page one and since then I have read four of the books, in fact I went to the shop and picked up as many as I could straight away. This is very unusual for me as I like to read at least half of the book before I decide to buy the next in the series. The Authors, P.C. Cast and her daughter Kristin Cast, have somehow managed to write a story that is so different from the usual genre yet is recognisable enough to capture the attention of Vampyre lovers. The story starts with a character named Zoey Montgomery, who is a normal sixteen year old school girl, until one day she starts to feel ill and to her horror realises that she is being targeted by Vampyres to become a Vampyre fledgling. The first line of the book captures you with the words:

Just when i thought my day couldn't get any worse, I saw the dead guy standing by my locker.

The Vampyres in the books are different in the fact that they are known to humans, and scientists have studied them to find out why and how they become Vampyres. Zoey knows from the second that she sees him that he is a Vampyre because of his distinct Mark on his face. He had a sapphire crescent moon on his forehead and additional tattoo patterns on his face that framed his bright blue eyes.

Zoey then hears the words that all humans fear.

Zoey Montgomery, Night has chosen thee, thy death will be thy birth, Night calls to thee, Hearken to her sweet voice. Your Destiny awaits you at the House of Night.

This is a sign that Zoey can no longer be called human, and must leave her home and her friends and take herself of to The House of Night school for Vampyres.

The characters in the books are quite unique in the fact that they include a Goddess called Nyx, who has chosen Zoey to be Marked as special, therefore giving her powers beyond her age and her abilities. She is allowed to change her name and she chooses to take her beloved grandmothers name thus calling herself Zoey Redbird, as her grandmother is named Sylvia Redbird, a native Cherokee and a wise woman. The following are her friends and allies within the House of Night.

1.Damien Maslin. An intelligent and warm gay guy, who has an affinity to Air.

2. The Twins. Shaunee Cole and Erin Bates, who are in fact not twins as one is white with blond hair and the other is Jamaican/American. They are so close they finish each others sentences and provide some of the most hilarious and brilliant one liners in any book that I have read. In fact I found myself laughing out loud to some of the remarks that they make. They also have an affinity for water and fire.

3.Erik Night. Zoey's on off boyfriend who turns into a fully fledged Vampyre.

4. Stevie Rae.This is Zoeys best friend and most trusted companion. There is a very poignant and sad part of the story when Stevie Rae succumbs to the rejection process that some of the fledglings go through. Not all of the Fledglings can become grown Vampyres, if their body doesn't take to the changes they will die a horrible death, bleeding from their eyes and ears, and holding their stomachs in agony. The story of Stevie Rae's death was handled amazingly. The pain that Zoey goes through, clutching her friend to her and not allowing anybody to get close enough to take her away, will make even the most hardhearted person feel a tear well up in their eyes. it was absolutely brilliantly done, and just goes to show how great these two authors are. I am not giving away any of the story here, as you can imagine, Stevie Raes demise is not necessarily all it seems.

Along with Red Vampyres, Blue Vampyres, a High Priestess with the name Neferet, who is the leader and teacher of the House of Night, we also have the lovely story of the Cats. Each Vampyre Fledgling is adopted by a cat that lives in the House of Night. There are some lovely moments when Zoey's cat, Nala, appears whenever Zoey is in trouble, and gives her a wonderful meouw uf ouw! every time she needs to be comforted. There are so many other great characters within this story that I would like to add as they are just as interesting as those I have written about. Aphrodite, who is the school bitch from hell as the twins call her, also has some brilliant one liners. And of course there is Jack Twist, Damiens boyfriend, who is a technological wizard. And so many more. Along with magical powers, evil Demons, and of course a few pain in the butt ex boyfriends to contend with, Zoey certainly has her work cut out for her!

But suffice to say, I think that if I write any more, I will be giving away the whole story, and that's something that I don't want to do as I really believe that if you read these books, whether you are a young teenager who loves anything Vampyre, or older like me, who just loves a really good chilling read about Ghostly evil Apparitions and terrific characters, then these books are the ones for you, to keep you going on a cold black night. But I warn you, this isn't your average Vampyre teen horror, there are some really chilling moments in this story, in fact I even felt a chill go down my spine when I was reading about the first sighting of the Red Vampyres. But I will not give the game away, only to say, make sure that you leave a light on, and check your windows before you go to bed. You never know, you might just hear a tapping at your bedroom window!