Review: Evernight by Claudia Gray

Title: Evernight
Author: Claudia Gray
Published: HarperCollins (4th March 2010)
No. of Pages: 327
Grade Rating: A-

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.

Evernight is a heart pumping first instalment, perfect for fans of vampire mythology. Anyone who loves a taste of the supernatural, will gladly devour this book!

I have to admit Evernight did start quite slowly leaving me wondering when anything of note was ever going to pick up. It was a while untill the nitty-gritty action began pulsing through each page but once you got there, it was worth it. Throughout the beginning of the book, I was admittedly confused as to if the characters were or weren't vampires but luckily everything panned out in the storyline soon enough. Delving into the book, you really got beneath the skin of the plot, waiting until the next revelation was revealed.

I have mixed feelings about some of the characters. For some reason, I really liked Bianca. She was a great protagonist whilst also awkward in her own little ways. I could really relate to her personality although did begin to get quite annoyed when she acted so lovesick towards Lucas. Lucas on the other hand...Let's just say I didn't like him so much. I found him to be really rude, arrogant and controlling in parts of the book. I was flabbergasted when Bianca decided to forgive him for every wrong thing he did in the storyline. Saying this, Gray did create well rounded developed characters.

This wasn't a phenomonal vampire story but it was a very good start to the series. The ending left me itching to get my hands on the sequel, Stargazer. Quite a few things about this novel should have left me shouting at the page but for some reason I couldn't stop reading. This is by no means perfect, but it is highly enjoyable. I reccomend you give a try.