185) Evernight by Claudia Gray

Bianca wants to escape from the spooky looking Evernight Academy. The students all seem to know each other somehow and Bianca doesn't fit in with them one bit. However she is stuck in the Academy because her parents are teaching there and hopefully that won't make her more of an outsider than she already is. Maybe she should just run away...

Then Bianca meets Lucas. There is some connection between them that she can't understand. Bianca is ready to risk everything to be with Lucas and he feels the same. However there is a dark secret Bianca has been keeping from Lucas about what she is. What she doesn't realise is that Lucas has a secret of his own. The both of them seem to be able to handle their differences but will their friends and family be able to?

Evernight is a book I have wanted to try for a long time. So when a copy arrived from a friend I was happy to finally be able to try a new series and new author. The book started off feeling very spooky and I was very interested in the way the story was developing. The book continued to grab me and intrigue me but the 'vampire' revelation happened a little too quick for my liking. In the end I was left with the certainty that I have to see what happens next.

While quite original this book reminded me of three other Young Adult series I that I already enjoy. There were hints of the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead and The House of the Night books by P.C & Kristen Cast. Hard not to think of both of these series seeing as Evernight takes place in a 'school' for vampires. The romantic involvement between the main characters kept reminding me of the Twilight books. Such a deep and fierce connection so quickly is just like Bella and Edward. Although the roles were reversed in this story.

So if any of those series mentioned above are on your list of books read or to be read, then you may want to take a look at this series too. I devoured this in only a few hours and enjoyed it. The second part in this series, Stargazer, has now be added to my wishlist.