Evernight (Evernight #1)

Reader reviewed by fayeflame

synopsis

Bianca wants to escape. She's been uprooted from her
small hometown and enrolled at Evernight Academy, an eerie 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. ""I couldn't
stand it if they took it out on you,"" he tells Bianca, ""and
eventually they would."" 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.

i really liked this book it was
so ummmm...it had an elegance to it(if that make any sense)I loved the
characters, cross star lovers, and the vampires. the story of
beautifully written. Favorite character is Lucas. It did leave me on a
Big cliff hanger, whats gonna happen to Bianca and Lucas?........

Reader reviewed by bookmac

Okay, So Evernight was just another typical vampire story...that was totally awesome! I know I said before that I was getting a little tired of the Vamp stories but this one was totally original and I loved it. Evernight took a completely different twist on what it's really like to be a teen vamp, and readers will be thrilled by the hot romance and intriguing plot.

So Bianca, our sweet main character, is a "miracle baby" a baby, born from two vampires -in other terms, Impossible. But as she grows (drinking blood with her regular food) she knows that she is destined to be a vampire (as she is not fully one yet), and she will become one once she makes her first kill.

Bianca is willing to accept that lifestyle, it is what she has always known must transpire, but her thoughts began to change when she meets rebellious Lucas, one of the many new mortals that attend her elite vampire boarding school. So of course Bianca and Lucas fall for each other, - and have some steamy make-out scenes - but then Lucas learns what Bianca really is, as does Bianca about Lucas.

Now the two lovers are at a dangerous point in there relationship, a modern Romeo and Juliet, how can Bianca love someone who could never love her kind, and how could Lucas love the one person he is taught to despise...pretty interesting, especially when the Evernight adults get involved.

So the two lovebirds do something no one saw coming, something only a couple of love high teenagers would do, something reader will L.O.V.E! But I can't tell you what happens because it'll ruin the book, all I can tell you is that this book is very well written, the plot is excellent, and the characters are to die for (ha!). So check it out!

Reader reviewed by kim

Evernight Academy is an exclusive private school with gothic architecture and unexplainable sense of foreboding. Sixteen year old Bianca wants to run away when her parents take teaching positions and move there. She meets the mysterious Lucas in the forest whom she falls for with extreme intensity. Bianca is a small town girl, who is inexperienced and naive and has a hard time fitting in at Evernight. She finds allies among other outcasts, but especially so in Lucas, an angry and overprotective boy who makes one wonder what secrets of his own he is keeping.
 I enjoyed Evernight and immediately read the sequel Stargazer after finishing the first book. However, it really seemed odd to me that the author waited until the middle of the book to drop a major bombshell regarding vampires. I think it's strange to have a narrator keep something like that from the reader and then all of a sudden constantly refer to it as if you had that understanding between you from page one. It should've been revealed from the beginning in my opinion. My only other gripe was the intensity of how Bianca fell so instantaneously for Lucas. She merely looked at him and was madly in love. That seemed a little cheesy to me but I understand being a teenager and meeting your first real "love". I just wish it had been explained better. In my opinion, Balthazar was a way  more appealing suitor with a more multifaceted character, and I kept hoping things would turn in his favor. Other than that, I did enjoy Evernight. There are also a lot of unanswered questions about Evernight Academy itself, and it's unusual mix of students that I am extremely eager to come to the bottom of as well. Bianca's relationship with her family is another strong pull of the novel and should be interesting to see how the characters grow and evolve.

Reader reviewed by stephanie

Reader reviewed by Pheonix

Bianca's parents have sent her, for her own good, to Evernight Academy
- an elite New England boarding school. Her parents think
Bianca is too shy, too withdrawn, and they hope the competitive and
glamorous world of Evernight will shake things up and force Bianca out
of her cocoon. She finds allies with the other mifits, the students who
don't  fit the Evernight "type", especially a handsome, angry
young man named Lucas.

I find most books on Vampires quite the same, with the same plot about a nice normal girl falling for a dangerous handsome vampire. This book is refreshingly different with a twist. I loved this book, the characters were well developed. And I always love a tortured love triangle. Bianca's close relationship with her parents is one of the strongest
parts of the novel and I look forward to seeing how they grow and
change as a family. The one problem is the author saved a big revelation halfway through the book which should have been discovered in the beginning.

This book is a fantastic read and many questions shall be raised. Lucas' strange behavior - why is he so aggressive and overprotective? What is wrong with Evernight?

Reader reviewed by Kathleen

Evernight by Claudia Gray is one of those books that you start at midnight and finish around four in the morning. You know the type; Short, sweet, to the point, and addictive. I would never in a million years call this a fantastic book, however, as an overnight crawl under the covers and dont sleep book, Evernight is pretty much perfect.

The story centers on Bianca and her experience at her new boarding school, Evernight Academy, where her parents have just become teachers. On her first day she meets Lucas, another new student who feels just as out of place amidst the lofty, rich regulars. Theres vampires too but it would ruin the whole first half of the book if I told you who and where. I mean, youll figure it out pretty quick but expect the unexpected.

What makes this book good? It takes the ridiculously unoriginal idea of vampires and a gothic boarding school and adds a little twist that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. Biancas friend Lucas is another one of those tall sexy book boys who can fight and may or may not be dangerous. Actually, a lot of the secondary characters have some fascinating development and back story to them which is something you dont generally get a lot of in books like this. The plot was well& plotted? Oh dear, I need sleep. The plot was& riveting. It wasnt in any way original but the romantic story line was filled with twists and speed bumps that kept the book propped open on my pillow.

What made this book bad? The rest of the plot was simple and didnt really amount to much. The end of the book hints to an ulterior series plot but this book itself was mostly romance which wasnt a huge problem for me. The character of Bianca is dull dull dull. Shes one of those, what are they called? Mary Sue characters who are just pretty and sort of smart and attract all of the guys and she isnt really into anything. I felt that Ms. Gray delved so much deeper into smaller characters and completely neglected her main heroine.

Overall, I wouldnt say not to read this book. Its not like it was a dark black shadow upon young adult literature, and if youve never read a vampire novel before, you may actually enjoy it immensely. And really it made for an entertaining night. I would say that Evernight is great way to fritter away a few extra hours of unused time after a long day of making your brain work hard. Everybody needs a break now and then.

Reader reviewed by Elisa

I
absolutely loved Evernight in every way you can imagine! I could not
put it down EVER. The character development was amazing. I think that I
love Lucas even more than Edward Cullen... if that's even possible. One
thing that I'm not sure if I like or not is that the main character,
Bianca, has a crucial part of her that is kept from the reader until
the middle of the book. When the reader discovers what this is, it's
almost hard to understand because it was so unexpected. But then the
author expertly pulls you into the new view you now have on Bianca, the
school, and the other characters and you begin to understand everything
in a different way. The plot was extraordinary, the writing was
fantastic, and I can't wait to get my hands on the second book,
Stargazer, and see where Claudia Gray takes this unbelievable story.

Reader reviewed by Readergirl

At Evernight Academy, you either belong, or you're an outsider, and being an outsider has it's risks.
 
With it's walls and towers, decorated with gargoyles, and made of stone, Evernight is pretty intimidating to Bianca, a new student at the academy in which her parents have come to teach. A school where the teachers are strict and her fellow students, with the exception of a few students Bianca would consider normal, are all graceful, flawlessly beautiful, and don't accept her because she's shy and doesn't seem to fit in with their mega-rich lifestyles.
 
Luckily for Bianca, there's Lucas, a gorgeous guy who she meets while trying to run away from Evernight, and who convinces her to stay. Lucas is also a bit of an outsider at Evernight, and Bianca feels inexplicably drawn to him, but after their first meeting Lucas starts avoiding her for no reason, leaving Bianca confused and hurt as she tries to figure out if the connection she felt with him at their first meeting was only one sided.
 
Meanwhile, Bianca tries bonding with the other kids at Evernight, like her roommate Patrice Deveraux, and the handsome Balthazar More who's in her mother's history class. But Bianca feels out of place in this school of beauties, and though Balthazar is a great (amazing, terrific, fabulous, brilliant, gorgeous....) guy, she just can't seem to get her mind off of Lucas, and what she could have possibly done to scare him away.
 
But Lucas isn't what he seems: he's got a secret, and in the shadows of the academy, secrets don't stay hidden for long. Bianca has a strange feeling that something sinister is in the works at Evernight, and she might be right. Soon mysterious histories will resurface, and truths will be revealed. All it will take is a single bite.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I really, really, really loved this book! There were a few things that didn't really make sense to me, but the story moved along fabulously and at that point I really didn't care about the weird bits because I loved the story so much. I read it staight through and I finished it in about 2 days because I literally couldn't put it down! Great read! ^_^

Reader reviewed by Desiree Mobley

This book was great i loved it! It was interesting, romantic, fun and sassy what more could you want in an amazing book like this?!!! Read it and you will see what i mean! I STRONGLY RECOMEND YOU READ THE BOOKS I RECOMEND IF YOU LIKE ROMANCE, MYSTERY,SUSPENSE,ACTION, AND TRU LOVE!!!! =)

Reader reviewed by An_d

EVERNIGHT gives you a little bit of romance, a little bit of humor, a little bit of mystery and a whole lot of fun!  The story follows Bianca, a student at a prestigious and mysterious boarding school.  There is so much more to this book than meets the eye and I cannot wait until the sequel!