If there’s one thing Claudia Gray is a master at, it’s THE PLOT TWIST. Gray has a way of making the super-fantastic seem normal, and crafting people and relationships that feel completely real in a way I’ve not encountered in other fantasy novels. It’s a page-turner, and ultimately, I was satisfied with her ending for the series.

This wasn’t my personal favorite of the Evernight series, but I have to give Gray props for telling her story unapologetically, and doing it in a way that puts many in her genre to shame. Sexy-times were diminished for reasons I won’t explain here, but I would like to say one thing: This book still has the swoon of star-crossed lovers, but I felt that the panty-melting intensity that Gray reached in the previous books fizzled a little bit. It will come as no surprise, then, that I found great comfort in Vic and Ranulf, and Balthazar (who is getting his own series, HOLLA!) proved himself to be the guy I wanted to spend the most time with. It’s not that I don’t still care about these two, and I feel REAL BAD for both of them, but… just… I need some space. His whole charming devil-may-care attitude has turned into navel gazing self-hatred, and I feel that throughout this book he’s pretty much one step away from offing himself.

And just like it happened with the girl who was my bosomest friend in grade school days, I feel we’ve grown apart.Īlso, Lucas, who I LOVE loved, is not dealing so well with being undead. I gave my BFF charm to Bianca way back when I reviewed the first book, Evernight. Now, I don’t mean to be a fair-weather friend, because girlfriend is going through A LOT of shizz, and is handling it better than I probably would in her situation. Bethany, they discover that she’s trapping wraiths at Evernight… Lucas and Bianca return to Evernight Academy to seek help for Lucas from the mysterious headmistress, Mrs. So remember that girl, Bianca, who turned into a vampire, and then got sick and died, and then turned into a wraith, because her vampire parents used a special kind of wraith IVF to have her? Yeah, so she’s a wraith now, floating around all silvery and misty, except she’s a special wraith, and can be corporeal, too, I just won’t tell you how.Īlso remember her boyfriend, Lucas, who was raised by the Black Cross, a group of vampire hunters, but who fell in love with Bianca and didn’t care that she became a vampire, and then got killed and turned into a vampire himself? Yeah, that really sucks for him. If you haven’t read the other books in this series, SPOILERS from the first three books ahead! BUT it’s still not one I’d want to be seen in public with. I actually kind of like this cover, especially when it’s next to its predecessors. Bonus Factor: The Twist, Boys Who Like Wraiths Who Like Vampires…

Afterlife by Claudia Gray