by Claudia Gray
ages: 13+
First sentence: “The burning arrow thudded into the wall.”

The basic story: Bianca is a new student at Evernight Academy, which is not something she’s terribly excited about. But then she meets Lucas (cue dreamy music) and all of a sudden it’s not such a terrible place. Except terrible things seem to happen. And it turns out that although Lucas and Bianca looove each other, they are probably the least compatible people on the face of the earth, for reasons which will eventually all be revealed.

Things I liked about the novel:

• I found it was far more engaging than I will admit in public. (Except I just did, didn’t I?)
• I liked how Gray played with the vampire lore. It was a bit Twilight-y (especially the beginning; if you miss it, you’re clueless, or haven’t read Twilight yet), but for the most part it worked.
• I liked Balthazar. He was cool.
• The action was pretty good.
• The Romeo and Juliet aspect of the story; I don’t do starcrossed lovers, but this was a very well done extreme case of two people who really shouldn’t fall in love.
• The second plot twist. It didn’t catch me off guard, but I thought it worked well, and made the ending that more dramatic.

Things I didn’t like:

• The first plot twist. It really, really, really, really bothered me, primarily because I thought it nullified the first third of the book. I was really annoyed at the author, and I almost gave the book up at that point.
• Bianca was whiny and annoying (like Bella), though she redeems herself in the end.
• The first plot twist. Really. She completely had me misdirected, and I hate misdirection.
• The snotty rich kids. So stereotypical. So done.
• The first plot twist. I mean withholding information is okay, but in the first third Bianca’s afraid, running scared, worried she won’t fit in… and it’s all for naught.
• All the lying and betraying and trying to figure out who is what and why. It got old.
• Have I mentioned the first plot twist?

In the end, the book was just okay. Which isn’t a bad way to spend a day. Especially one where you’ve had little sleep and you don’t feel like doing a whole heck of a lot. But if you don’t have one of those (or you’re not a die-hard Twilight fan, who needs something else to read, but can’t stand to branch out of the vampire-romance genre), then you might want to find something else to read.