The House of Paranormal YA

Marked by Oil, Caught in Love 

Book Review on Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast

*May contain spoilers!!!

“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!” He lifted one long, white finger and pointed at me” (P.C. and Kristin Cast 3).

Marked by P.C Cast and Kristen Cast is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Zoey who, on top of being a teenager, has to deal with a huge change in her life: being marked as a vampyre. After being marked, Zoey must leave her family and friends to go to a boarding school called “House of Night” where all of the marked teenage vampyres must go to be educated and trained on how to live if they survive the “change.” This change is when fledging vampyres become full, adult vampyres and unfortunately some are killed in the process.

The Sassy YA Truth

Reasons Why We Love and Hate Series: From a YA and Marketing Standpoint

Winter breaks can sometimes be very productive. After reading over ten books, I came across a common trend that I’ve noticed before, but never really thought in depth about. Series. Why are they always happening? Why does publishing one book and just being done seem so taboo? I will be discussing this, mostly from a Young Adult (YA) standpoint. I’ll sandwich the good and the bad.

Reason 1:

Loving that Journey

Who doesn’t want to follow the same characters as they grow and change? While some readers search for their identity and figure out what’s right for them, the characters in series are following a similar path. It’s nice to be able to turn away from the real world and read about lovable characters. It’s worth the thousands of pages and hours of time put into the reading experience.

Also, many series have tons of action. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, of course, is an example of this. As readers, we are sadistic. We read further to see what Katniss would go through in a second Hunger Games. We follow the journey of how she volunteers as tribute and then builds her strength, overcoming death numerous times. Without all her fighting and resilience, Katniss’ story would not be as engaging. Collins throws us into a world that readers know they probably wouldn’t survive, so they continue the journey until the end of book three to see how she overcomes, or if she will even be able to.