Goodreads Synopsis: She's been uprooted from her small hometown and enrolled at Evernight Academy, an eerily 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.
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.
[WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW. It's almost impossible to review this book without revealing some of the major plot points. If you don't want to know, please don't read any further.]
My Confession: Sigh. I wanted to like this book. I really, really did. Despite the clear indications of THIS IS A VAMPIRE BOOK, I wanted to give it a fair shot. Maybe I was bored. Maybe I just wanted to read something that made this supernatural craze seem remotely okay. And to give this book credit, there were quite a few unexpected twists and unforseen turns. The problem with these little tidbits? They came out of left field, in the middle of the book, and made me feel like I'd been lied to for a hundred plus pages.
Newsflash: Bianca's the vampire. WOAH, WOAH, WOAH. Have to tell you, I did not see that coming. Probably because for the first half of the book, you get the feeling everyone around Bianca (including Lucas) is a vampire, not her. When she unexpectedly bites Lucas, causing him to black out, I initially thought that she herself didn't know that she was a vampire.
Wrong again.
She knew all along. Her parents were vampires who miraculously conceived Bianca after a couple hundred years together. Apparently, this is an extremely rare occurrence, and because Bianca was born a vampire, instead of being made into one like everyone else, she's not fully a vampire until she kills someone. How lovely.
On top of this, everyone, seemingly, was a vampire. Except Lucas, who is human. And, wait for it--a vampire hunter. Yeah, didn't see that one coming. Oy.
Here's my problem. Why wasn't it obvious that Bianca was a vampire all along? I felt tricked and mislead by her whining of not belonging at Evernight, when she so clearly does. Once the audience is made privy to this information, all of a sudden everyone's drinking blood and revealing their true ages, which of course, number in the hundreds. This could have been subtly hinted at throughout the book, but instead, it hits you like a punch in the gut, and then the rest of the book just never sat quite right with me.
The Romance: Hate to say it, but I was not feeling it. In the beginning, when Bianca and Lucas first met, there was something sweet and genuine about their relationship. It didn't seem forced or weird, and I didn't feel like the author was hastening emotions that would take time to progress. However, right around the time when we find out that Bianca is a vampire, we also see an odd shift in Bianca and Lucas' relationship. Mainly, I stopped beliving it. Completely. It's stated that since Bianca bit Lucas, a part of her remains inside him, and he will be forever drawn to her as a result. Because of this, I couldn't get behind his ridiculous and downright stupid proclamations of love that happened after the incident. He comes across like he's under a spell, and that weakens any genuine romance you hope to pull off. It just stopped feeling real. And that was disappointing.
Besides that, when we're introduced to Bianca, we're told that she's horribly shy and never opens up to anyone; that's one of the reasons her initial comfort around Lucas seems so special. But not once do we see her acting shy. Not in class, not around her roommate, not around anyone. She seemed perfectly normal, maybe even outgoing. It made her character feel inconsistent and added to my distrust of the story and the feeling that I'd been strung along and ultimately played.
Recommendation: Eh. It's the first book in a four-book series, so it may lack cohesiveness for that reason. The fact that, for once, the vampire is female and doesn't totally pull the "I'm dangerous, stay away from me" routine is different and worth checking out if you're a fan of these supernatural romances. Personally, since I don't buy the relationship or chemistry between Lucas and Bianca, I'd have a hard time picking up the second book and investing in a series that has a rocky foundation. I just wish I hadn't been so blindsided by the plot. The idea had potential.
Rating: 2/5
327 pages, published by HarperTeen (May 1, 2008)
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