Claudia Grey
Posted: 19 Feb 2014, 18:16
My previous forays into teen and vampire books have always left me feeling cheated. It's too easy to fall into the sap trap with the former, and devolve into effete and self-conscious inanity with the latter. Not so with Evernight. It is a perfect story for the adolescent set, or anyone else willing to suspend disbelief and enjoy a good tale for a few hours read.
Evernight is a refreshingly entertaining and interesting take on some tried and true themes - coming of age, not fitting in, dealing with the undead. Obviously, there's a lot of flight of fancy here given the premise, and Ms. Gray does a superb job of taking us right into the story of Bianca. She does not get distracted with superfluous back stories, ponderous musings on why things are the way things are, or pointless expositions of how cool her characters are. She jumps into the world as her engaging and wholly likable protagonist sees it, complete with uncertainties and a decidedly modern perspective, and just runs from there. Ms. Gray is adept at dropping little morsels of conflict here and there, whetting our appetite for the inevitable showdown. She does this without being overtly manipulative - the suspense builds very gradually and organically. In fact, I was content just to read about how Bianca interacted with the odd and rarefied world of Evernight - no conflict necessary.
Of course, there is conflict - plenty of it. You get the sense that no one is quite what (or who) they seem, and their agendas are likewise masked. The twists are welcome and make the ride all the more enjoyable, although one or two were a little abrupt and hard to swallow given the way the story played out, but our heroine is so likably normal that these were minor disturbances in an otherwise completely enjoyable experience.
Evernight is a great story, and there are plenty of tantalizing loose ends and "what ifs" that leave me anticipating the next book. Get it and enjoy!
Evernight is a refreshingly entertaining and interesting take on some tried and true themes - coming of age, not fitting in, dealing with the undead. Obviously, there's a lot of flight of fancy here given the premise, and Ms. Gray does a superb job of taking us right into the story of Bianca. She does not get distracted with superfluous back stories, ponderous musings on why things are the way things are, or pointless expositions of how cool her characters are. She jumps into the world as her engaging and wholly likable protagonist sees it, complete with uncertainties and a decidedly modern perspective, and just runs from there. Ms. Gray is adept at dropping little morsels of conflict here and there, whetting our appetite for the inevitable showdown. She does this without being overtly manipulative - the suspense builds very gradually and organically. In fact, I was content just to read about how Bianca interacted with the odd and rarefied world of Evernight - no conflict necessary.
Of course, there is conflict - plenty of it. You get the sense that no one is quite what (or who) they seem, and their agendas are likewise masked. The twists are welcome and make the ride all the more enjoyable, although one or two were a little abrupt and hard to swallow given the way the story played out, but our heroine is so likably normal that these were minor disturbances in an otherwise completely enjoyable experience.
Evernight is a great story, and there are plenty of tantalizing loose ends and "what ifs" that leave me anticipating the next book. Get it and enjoy!