Review: Afterlife by Claudia Gray

Title: Afterlife
Author: Claudia Gray
Genre: YA, Supernatural, Romance
Perfect for: Those who have read the previous books in the series. Don't start the series with this book!!!
Star Rating: 3/5 stars

Taken from Goodreads, "The fourth book in this electrifying vampire series has all the romance, suspense, and page-turning drama that have made Claudia Gray’s Evernight books runaway successes.

Having become what they feared most, Bianca and Lucas face a terrifying new reality. They must return to Evernight Academy, Lucas as a vampire and Bianca as a wraith. But Lucas is haunted by demons, both personal and supernatural. Bianca must help him fight the evil inside him, combat the forces determined to drive them apart—and find the power to claim her destiny at last."


If you've looked at my review for 'Evernight', the beginning of this series, you'll see that I was a bit let down by that title. Quite honestly, I had given up on the series until my mother (yes, my mother) decided to continue on with it and told me I had to read the rest. I did and, you know what? I'm happy I continued on.


'Evernight' still isn't my favorite book, but the sequels have gotten steadily better and better. 'Afterlife' completes Bianca and Lucas' story. Last we saw them in 'Hourglass', it seemed like all was lost, but Gray had much more planned for her characters!


'Afterlife' is a fine conclusion to the 'Evernight' series. Most loose ends are tied up, especially in terms of Bianca and Lucas' relationship.


The first hundred pages of the novel dragged a bit. I think it had something to do with the fact that the majority of the 'big reveals' were in the second half of the novel.  Once we started to learn all the secrets we've been waiting to hear for the past four years, that's when the novel really picked up.


My favorite thing about this novel (and series) has to be the secondary characters. I'm probably alone in this, but Bianca and Lucas, well, they kind of got on my nerves throughout the series. Without Balthazar or Vic, I don't know if I would have seen this series in the same light. By far, Balthazar is my favorite character and I'm quite happy he's getting his own series! And let's not forget Vic.  Vic was a great source of comic relief and I loved the interaction between him and 'his ghost' in 'Afterlife'.


I can't say anymore than this: 'Afterlife' may be sappy, but if you want closure (and if you've read 'Hourglass' you probably will), this is it. 'Afterlife' gets 3 out of 5 stars. You can find it at your local bookshop!

S.O.S Book of the Week

Typically, I post these on Thursdays, but I missed last week.  Enjoy!


The S.O.S Book of the Week is where I let you in on what new releases I'm looking forward to! S.O.S comes from the term 'Strict on Sale'. It's bookseller speak for a title that you can't sell before a specific date-- think Harry Potter. While the books I have here may not be S.O.S titles specifically, they are all new!




The S.O.S. Book of the Week is:

"The fourth book in this electrifying vampire series has all the romance, suspense, and page-turning drama that have made Claudia Gray’s Evernight books runaway successes.


Having become what they feared most, Bianca and Lucas face a terrifying new reality. They must return to Evernight Academy, Lucas as a vampire and Bianca as a wraith. But Lucas is haunted by demons, both personal and supernatural. Bianca must help him fight the evil inside him, combat the forces determined to drive them apart—and find the power to claim her destiny at last.


Readers have fallen in love with Bianca and Lucas, and they will be thrilled to read this exciting conclusion to their romantic adventure."


Claudia Gray's 'Evernight' series is one of those that I just fell into.  Funnily enough, it was my mom that kept me reading it.  She just plain enjoyed them so much that I had to continue.  I'm glad I did.  This series has turned out to be a great read.  It will come as no surprise that I'm looking forward to the conclusion, 'Afterlife', due on store shelves March 2011.


What do I expect?  I honestly couldn't tell you. At this point, the characters have taken so many paths I didn't expect that I've given up on guessing.  My fingers are crossed that the ending is happy and that we see more of Balthazar.  (He happens to be my favorite character of the bunch!)


Are you looking forward to 'Afterlife'?  Are you jealous of those who received ARC's?  (I am!)  What do you want to happen?

Review: Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

Title: Elsewhere
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Format: Hardcover
Genre: YA/Afterlife/supernatural
Perfect For: Those who enjoy reading the many definitions authors have of life after death

Liz is dead and in the beginning, it isn't very fun.

Elsewhere really surprised me. This book was sitting on my bookshelf being unread until I was bored out of my skull and had nothing else to read but it. I'm very happy to have had to chance to read this strangely amazing book. Yes, it took a while to get used to the voice and at one point in time I wasn't quite sure where the plot was, but it was one of those books I just couldn't put down.

The book deals with acceptance, love, and the issue of moving on. It's funny, sad, and a very different view point of Heaven than past books I've read.

Here's the deal: Give Elsewhere I try. It's one of those you'll either love or you'll hate. But it's definitely worth a look.