Book Review: Evernight by Claudia Gray

*This is going to be a fairly spoilery review, since I'm not really sure how to discuss the book without giving away a big twist.

I'm also going to set up my review a bit differently, just to make it a little easier to read if you just want to get right to the point.

Bianca wants to escape.

She's been uprooted from her small hometown and enrolled at Evernight Academy, an eerie Gothic boarding school where the students are somehow too perfect: smart, sleek, and almost predatory. Bianca knows she doesn't fit in.

Then she meets Lucas. He's not the "Evernight type" either, and he likes it that way. Lucas ignores the rules, stands up to the snobs, and warns Bianca to be careful—even when it comes to caring about him.

"I couldn't stand it if they took it out on you," he tells Bianca, "and eventually they would."

But the connection between Bianca and Lucas can't be denied. Bianca will risk anything to be with Lucas, but dark secrets are fated to tear them apart . . . and to make Bianca question everything she's ever believed.

The reviews I've seen of Evernight have either been extremely good, or the exact opposite. Although, I've noticed that the negative reviews are always in some way connected to that other vampire series. You know which one I mean, right? So, despite mixed reviews I ended up picking up a copy. The premise sounded interesting, after all, who doesn't love a story about a mysterious gothic boarding school?

After reading the book, and gathering my thoughts I decided that ultimately I did enjoy the book, but there were a few, superficial things that I wasn't a huge fan of.

Characters

I pitied Bianca quite a bit. It's never fun to be uprooted, especially during high school. Cliques have already been formed, and trying to find a place where you fit in can be a daunting task. Of course, it didn't really help that Bianca's roommate, Patrice, was pretty much the exact opposite of her (at least she was nice). Some of the decisions Bianca makes toward the end of the book, however, had me a little confused though. I'm sure most of that will be discussed in the second book in the series, so that didn't bother me all that much. I just didn't know what was driving those choices. As for Lucas, well, I wasn't sure how I felt about him. In fact, I'm still not sure how I feel about him. I know that a lot of the other readers loved him, but I guess I never really trusted him. I'm personally more of a fan of Balthazar, who seems genuinely kind. Of course, now that I've said that he'll probably do something unforgivable in the sequel.

Plot

Overall I liked the story, but there was one thing that bothered me. I couldn't get over the giant twist in the middle of the story. I understood that Bianca was a still-living vampire (well, not a full vampire...yet), who was born to two vampires, and majority of her classmates were also vampires. Presumably, Bianca has known this for quite some time, so I just wasn't sure why it was revealed so suddenly. I guess I would have liked a little bit more foreshadowing in the first half. After I moved past that, I started to enjoy the book again. At the end there was a new, exciting twist, and I was left wondering what would happen to the characters in the sequel. I've heard good things about the second book in the series, so I'll pick it up soon.

Evernight
By Claudia Gray
Published by HarperTeen
336 Pages (Hardcover)
Rating: C+