Evernight by Claudia Gray

From Barnes & Noble

If you're searching for a word to describe Evernight Academy, "eerie" would be a good choice. For new student Bianca, this austere boarding school and its snobby students are so utterly repellent that she's wanted to escape its creepy precincts almost from the day of her arrival. Only one fellow student escapes her ire: Lucas, an outspoken misfit and rebel. But Lucas wants Bianca to keep her distance; he's worried that she will be forced to pay for their friendship. And as this dark romance plays out, his words seem hauntingly prophetic.

From the Publisher

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.

VOYA

Evernight Academy is the last place Bianca wants to be; however, because her parents have accepted teaching positions there, she is expected to attend the boarding school. The other students seem perfect in their tailored uniforms and with their privileged upbringing. For the first time, Evernight has changed its admission policies. Bianca soon makes friends with two of the newly admitted students at Evernight-the cooly handsome Lucas and Raquel, who would rather read in the library than party in the woods near school. Evernight Academy holds some ancient secrets that will make Bianca unsure of who she is and what she is destined to become. Although it is apparent from the outset that it is a vampire novel, there are sufficient twists and turns in the plot to prevent it from becoming a shadow of other popular series such as Twilight and Blue Bloods. Evernight focuses on some of the important topics of young adult literature such as peer pressure, fitting in, and coming-of-age within the confines of the vampire story. Bianca and Lucas, as the star-crossed lovers, are not terribly dissimilar to other doomed couples throughout literature, and their story does not end neatly. The open ending leads one to surmise that there will be more of this story to tell in subsequent books. Reviewer: Teri S. Lesesne

KLIATT

Evernight Academy is a gloomy boarding school filled with the rich and the vampire, with a few humans to keep the school from attracting too much attention in the local town. The typical high school cliques are well represented, but for outsider Bianca Olivier something else is going on—first love. On the night before school begins, she meets Jared Ross, a tall, good-looking young man who makes a quick reputation for himself as a troublemaker. But he is a troublemaker who dedicates himself to protecting her from an unnamed, undefined evil. Even Bianca's best friend Raquel feels the presence of that evil. Bianca doesn't know what to think about their concerns, but while sorting it out she develops a relationship with Jared that almost proves fatal to them both. Gray's novel is filled with clever twists and turns as the Black Cross steps in to hunt the vampires. The couple escapes into the night and tries to come to terms with who they are and what is expected of them. The truth about Bianca, Jared and their families is slowly revealed as both sides come to a confrontation in a New England meetinghouse. The conclusion leaves room for a sequel, or two, and readers will eagerly anticipate hearing more about Evernight Academy and its inhabitants. Reviewer: Janis Flint-Ferguson

Children's Literature

Bianca Olivier dislikes Evernight Academy, a boarding school for high school students, from the first moment she sees it. Bianca feels trapped. She knows that since her parents plan to teach there, they will turn deaf ears to her pleadings not to make her attend. During a feeble attempt to run away, she meets in the woods another new student, Lucas Ross, and is immediately attracted to him. Since she doesn't have a well-thought-out escape plan, after talking with Lucas, Bianca reluctantly returns to her parents and begins classes in her new school. Bianca does not feel that she fits in. She spends all her time hoping to see Lucas. Another student, Balthazar, proves to be friendly and even invites her to the upcoming Autumn Ball. It is the night of the ball, and without any foreshadowing, that Bianca's true nature is revealed. During the second half of the book, Bianca is constantly torn between the world of vampires and the world of would-be vampire slayers. Young adult readers who are drawn to young romance, boarding schools and adventures with vampires will be caught up in this smoothly written tale It is the first of a planned quartet of books featuring Bianca Olivier. Reviewer: Phyllis J. Perry

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up- Bianca has been uprooted from her happy, uneventful life to start anew at an elite boarding school where her parents will now be professors. Even though Bianca doesn't feel that she is the Evernight type-rich, beautiful, or gifted-she knows that her parents feel this is best for her. She and Lucas Ross share a special connection from the moment they meet and he, like Bianca and a few others, is an outsider. He is a rebel who is on a mission to discover the secret behind Evernight Academy. As the weeks progress, their relationship heats up. What they don't realize, however, is that they each harbor a great secret that could divide them forever. Can their love survive the truth? Gray's writing hooks readers from the first page and reels them in with surprising plot twists and turns, and the open ending will keep them guessing and waiting on the edge of their seats for the next book in the series. A must-have for fans of vampire stories by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Stephenie Meyer, and the like.-Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY

Kirkus Reviews

Star-crossed lovers, vampires and a passive heroine populate this first in a projected four-book series. When Bianca's parents accept teaching jobs at gloomy, gothic Evernight, she considers running away, but instead meets handsome fellow student Lucas. Their absorbing love grows rapidly despite his shady behavior. But both are hiding important truths: She's a vampire and he's a vampire hunter. The problem is Bianca's first-person narration. Why does she hide her vampirism from the reader for half the book? The mysterious foreshadowing and hints about "Evernight type" students seem disingenuous at best once readers realize Bianca knew everything all along. Thin characterization, a need to state the obvious and constant iteration of Lucas's name quickly grow old. Some fun details (a modern technology class where vampires learn to use iPods), the inexorable clash between the vampires and their Black Cross hunters and the open question of what will happen next make this enjoyable enough, particularly for fans of that other vampire series who need something to read while they wait for Breaking Dawn (Meyer, 2008). (Fantasy. 12 & up)

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Chapter One

It was the first day of school, which meant it was my last chance to escape.

I didn't have a backpack full of survival gear, a wallet thick with cash that I could use to buy myself a plane ticket somewhere, or a friend waiting for me down the road in a getaway car. Basically, I didn't have what most sane people would call "a plan."

But it didn't matter. There was no way I was going to remain at Evernight Academy.

The muted morning light was still new in the sky as I wriggled into my jeans and grabbed a warm black sweater—this early in the morning, and this high in the hills, even September felt cold. I knotted my long red hair into a make-shift bun and stepped into my hiking boots. It felt important to be very quiet, even though I didn't have to worry about my parents waking up. They weren't morning people, to say the least. They'd sleep like the dead until the alarm clock woke them, and that wouldn't be for another couple of hours.

That would give me a good head start.

Outside my bedroom window, the stone gargoyle glared at me, fangs framing his open grimace. I grabbed my denim jacket and stuck my tongue out at him. "Maybe you like hanging out at the Fortress of the Damned," I muttered. "You're welcome to it."

Before I left, I made my bed. Usually it took a lot of nagging to get me to do that, but I wanted to. I knew I was going to freak my parents out badly enough today, so straightening the covers felt like I was making it up to them a little. Probably they wouldn't see it that way, but I went ahead. As I plumped up the pillows, I had a sudden strange flash of somethingI'd dreamed the night before, as vivid and immediate as though I were still dreaming:

A flower the color of blood.

Each rain-beaded petal was vividly red, slender, and bladelike, the way some tropical orchids are. Yet the flower was lush and full, too, and it clung close to the branch like a rose. The flower was the most exotic, mesmerizing thing I'd ever seen. It had to be mine.

Why did that memory make me shiver? It was only a dream. I took a deep breath and focused. It was time to go.

My messenger bag was ready; I'd loaded it up the night before. Just a few things—a book, sunglasses, and a little cash in case I needed to go all the way to Riverton, which was the closest thing to human civilization in the area. That would keep me occupied for the day.

See, I wasn't running away. Not for real, where you make a break and assume a new identity and, I don't know, join the circus or something. No, I was making a statement. Ever since my parents first suggested that we come to Evernight Academy—them as teachers, me as a student—I'd been against it. We'd lived in the same small town my whole life, and I'd attended the same school with the same people since I was five years old. That was just the way I wanted it. There are people who enjoy meeting strangers, who can strike up conversations and make friends quickly, but I'd never been one of those people. Anything but.

It's funny—when people call you "shy," they usually smile. Like it's cute, some funny little habit you'll grow out of when you're older, like the gaps in your grin when your baby teeth fall out. If they knew how it felt—really being shy, not just unsure at first—they wouldn't smile. Not if they knew how the feeling knots up your stomach or makes your palms sweat or robs you of the ability to say anything that makes sense. It's not cute at all.

My parents never smiled when they said it. They were smarter than that, and I always felt like they understood, until they decided that age sixteen was the right time for me to get past it somehow. What better starting place than a boarding school—particularly with them along for the ride?

I could see where they were coming from, sort of. Still, that was theory. The first moment we'd come up the drive at Evernight Academy—and I'd seen this huge, hulking, Gothic stone monstrosity—I'd known that there was no way I could possibly go to school here. Mom and Dad hadn't listened. I would have to make them listen.

On tiptoe, I eased my way through the small faculty apartment my family had shared for the past month. Behind the closed door of my parents' bedroom, I could hear my mother snoring lightly. I shouldered my bag, slowly turned the doorknob, and started downstairs. We lived at the very top of one of Evernight's towers, which sounds cooler than it is. This meant I had to make my way down steps that had been carved out of rock more than two centuries ago, long enough to be worn and uneven. The long spiral staircase had few windows and the lights weren't yet on, making for a dark, difficult trip.

As I reached out for the flower, the hedge rustled. The wind, I thought, but it wasn't the wind. No, the hedge was growing—growing so quickly that I could see it happening. Vines and brambles pushed from the leaves in a tangled snarl. Before I could run, the hedge had almost surrounded me, walling me in behind sticks and leaves and thorns.

The last thing I needed was to start flashing back to my nightmares. I took a deep breath and kept going downstairs . . .