Evernight by Claudia Gray

Bianca didn’t want to come to Evernight Academy. She knows she won’t fit in amongst its beautiful, confident, and moneyed students, but it’s more than that. There’s something almost sinister about the gothic academy, something few others will even acknowledge. Then Bianca meets Lucas, a mysterious outcast, and he seems to share her wary attitude toward Evernight. In fact, he shares a lot more with her, including a fierce mutual attraction. But their blossoming romance seems to be doomed by the secrets each of them keeps, secrets that could endanger they world as they each know it—and their very lives.

I was oddly disappointed in Evernight. From several friends’ recommendations, I was expecting a pretty phenomenal vampire story, but what I got wasn’t quite so. Don’t get me wrong, Gray weaves a unique vampire romance, since a vampire/vampire hunter relationship seems impossible unless one is trying to kill the other. However, much of the rest of the novel felt borrowed from other vampire tales. Vampire schools or safe havens were already done in Marked, Vampire Academy, and others, and Bianca and Lucas’s complicated and seemingly hopeless relationship felt very reminiscent of Bella and Edward. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but what may flatter other vampire readers failed to really impress me. I found myself drawn more to the minor characters like Raquel, Vic, and Mrs. Bethany in lieu of Bianca’s, whom I found somewhat naïve and annoying at times; it made me wish Raquel and Vic were more important than they actually were. However, what I found most irritating of all was how Bianca neglects to mention that her parents are vampires until she accidentally bites someone. This frankly ruined the rest of the story for me because it was just so obvious that this was supposed to be some kind of major revelation or plot twist, but it felt so out of place; it seemed more like a ploy for attention than a worthy part of the story. Once you get past that, Evernight does make for an interesting vampire story, although not one of the better ones.

Dedicated readers of vampire lore will enjoy Evernight. However, my disappointment in this novel disinclines me from reading the sequel, Stargazer and I recommend reading Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz, Peeps by Scott Westerfeld, and, of course, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer over Evernight.

Rating: 3.25

Review copy from personal collection