Vampire Week Day 6: Evernight

Evernight

by Claudia Gray

HarperTeen

2008

This story gets to a slow start as shy Bianca is getting ready to start at a new school, the Evernight Academy, an exclusive boarding school. An only child, she's extremely close to her parents. She's a little relieved that because her mother and father are both academics who have secured teaching positions at the school, so they won't be far. The tone of the book is moody, atmospheric and a bit gothic. However! There is a stupendous twist which changes EVERYTHING a little more than halfway through the book. Everybody you thought was normal: isn't. Everybody who you thought were the good guys? They're really the bad guys. Wow! It's an action-packed adventure after that, as Bianca and her boy-crush Lucas both come to terms with their heritage which, much like Romeo and Juliet, might make their romance impossible. Stick with it through the slow pace of first third of the book (don't cheat by turning directly to page 136!) and you'll be riveted by the end.

Stargazer

by Claudia Gray

HarperTeen

2009

Be warned: spoilers abound in this review! The cat is out of the bag in this second installment in the Evernight series. High school student Bianca is the daughter of two vampires. Her parents anticipate that she is on the cusp of changing over to become a full-fledged vampire soon. In the meantime, she is studying at Evernight Academy and has developed feelings for one of other students. Lucas secured his place at the school in order to spy for The Black Cross, a vigilante group of vampire hunters, but is now on the run. Bianca's arranged some secret meetings with him, and as a "cover" has started "dating" Balthazar, an older vampire at the school whom her parents approve of. While she's beginning to feel the effects of changing over into an undead, she's also beginning to question everything she's ever believed. She thought she was a rarity: a vampire child conceived of vampire parents. But, is she in fact a full-blooded human? Have her sweet-tempered parents been deceiving her? Has she actually been adopted (or stolen?) and have her parents just been "playing house" with her? She's also starting to wonder why school authorities have admitted human students (who are unaware of the vampiric history of the school) for the first time. These questions will be sure to resonate with older teens who are skeptical of authority. Top it off with Bianca's burgeoning powers, including seeing malevolent ghosts, and a dash of forbidden romance, this series is another go-to must for Twilight fans.

I borrowed all of these books from the public library.