Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Evernight-- Claudia Gray




Ugh, after all my gushing about books at Mock Printz this weekend, it almost feels GOOD to blog about a stinker.

What to say about Evernight? Well first I should admit that I had to force myself to finish this book. For whatever reason, I truly thought if I just stuck with it long enough, it might get good. WRONG. I'm having a hard time not being snarky today, so I'll just put those comments in italics... So the basic premise of this novel is that a gal named Bianca is forced to attend a creepy boarding school called Evernight. Really? Couldn't think of a more subtle same for the school? She decides to run away and gets caught by an alarmingly alluring guy named Lucas. She falls totally and completely, instantly in love with him ala Bella Swan. Greeaaaaat. Another creepy stalker boyfriend guy we are all supposed to love. Hey, I loved Twilight too, but come on, another one?? Bianca is somehow clueless to the fact that all her creepy, beautiful, perfect, rich, pale, and undead classmates are actually vampires, despite the fact they never eat except when they sneak out at night to munch on squirrels. Don't you sneak out to suck down some squirrel blood? I know I do!

But the part that made me throw the book in a fit of rage, and in the process knock myself off the elliptical machine on which I was reading this book, was this:

Halfway through the book, Bianca and her boytoy Lucas are making out, like bigtime. She gets all steamy and then, because she can't help herself, she BITES HIS NECK AND DRINKS HIS BLOOD. WTH? Like she didn't know she was a vampire surrounded by other vampires at the vampire school? She JUST REALIZES that the blood her parents put in her baby bottle and fed her with dinner in place of warm milk wasn't normal?! Puhleeese!

I am sure the author was just trying to keep the reader in suspense, but really, it just made me-the-reader feel like the author thinks I am a giant idiot. Which I'm not. Seriously, I'm not! Also, to add to the pile, the characters were totally one dimensional, the love story was cheesy and lame, and the plot was 100% trite and unbelievable. But if you still want to pass it on to teens, I would give it to teen girls who have read every vampire book in the library and refuse to read anything else. But really, try to get them to read something else. Good luck with that!

Still... reading other blogger's reviews, I am finding that lots of people just loved this book. What am I missing?

4 comments:

Unknown said...

All babies drink blood. right?

Did the author conveniently leave out the time of day in ALL their descriptions?

Has Bianca eaten anything, a.k.a. blood, between infancy and the present?

Incoming bad rash of hurried teen vamp novels, just in time to ride the wave of Twilight's popularity. After the movie came out, of course.

Pretty soon authors will be rewriting popular novels just like horrible Hollywood remake movies. Bram Stoker's Dracula 2010: written by Jane Doe-creator of BRATZ dolls. INSTANT AUDIENCE.

Avid Reader said...

I felt the same way about this book. I thought it was a Twilight knock off. I've given it to a couple of teens and they aren't excited about it but they don't hate it either. I don't plan on reading the sequel.

Bethany said...

I totally agree. It's like the author thought, "Hmm, Twilight, huh? I could do that--but I'll have to give it a twist."

Unknown said...

I had LOVED this book right up until she bit his neck. And then when I found out that the character KNEW she was a vampire-to-be... I was so PISSED. I mean, sure, I knew she was a vamp - but I thought that after 150 pages of her never mentioning it that she didn't. It really annoyed me, and while I get that Gray wanted to spend the first part of the book introducing their relationship without the vamp thing... well, I was still pissed. GRR.

Am still going to read the second book, because apparently it gets better... but I remain, well, pissed at Claudia Gray.