Book Review: Afterlife (Evernight #4) by Claudia Gray

Summary:  (Contains spoilers for Evernight, Stargazer, and Hourglass)

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.

Release Date:  March 8, 2011
Publisher:  Harper Collins
Age Group:  Young Adult
Pages:  368
Source:  NetGalley  

Review: 

This was a perfect ending to a unique YA vampire series.  I have really enjoyed this series, and think Claudia Gray did a great job of setting the Evernight series apart from others of its kind.  The romance, plot twists and character development lend themselves to page-turning books that are very difficult to put down.  Gray surprised me  at least once in each of the first three books and did not disappoint with Afterlife.  I think I let out little shocked gasps of surprise at least twice.  I love being surprised like that!

I had a little bit of trouble with the addition of the wraiths to the story.  You may or may not know that I am really scared of ghosts and always steer clear of books with ghosts in them.  Mary Downing Hahn ruined me on ghosts when I read Wait Till Helen Comes as a child.  That book affected me for years.  I remember my mom praying with me that I would forget about Helen and that God would comfort me to help me believe that Helen was not coming for me.  Even now, I remember how scared I was: just typing the title and those sentences gave me chills!  Anyway, the point of that story was that ghosts freak me out something terrible but I was able to read the Evernight series without too much trouble.

Afterlife had more going on than its predecessors.  There were several layers to the story and the plot twisted in ways I was not expecting.  Just when I thought I had some of the characters figured out, they would go and surprise me again.  One of my favorite characters in the series is Ranulf.  I think he is so funny, and I love the camaraderie he and Vic have.  Some of the things Ranulf says are hilarious---and I can just picture him with his bowl cut and serious face.

And now for my thoughts on the ending: highlight the text below if you want to see how I felt.

I wasn't completely thrilled with the conclusion to Balthazar, Patrice and Vic's stories.  I wanted more details about what happens to them.  An epilogue would have been nice.  But, I was very happy with how things ended between Bianca and Lucas.  I thought it was so nice NOT to have the typical happily-ever-after, together-forever ending I was expecting.

I was so thrilled to get this book on NetGalley.  I did not treat the privilege of reading it early lightly, and I was so happy to find out how the characters I've loved from the beginning spend the rest of their existence. 

Just One Gripe: 

The wraiths did freak me out a little.

The Best Thing About This Book: 

The surprises.

Appropriate for a younger audience: 

Yes

Score: 

Characters:  4/5

Plot: 4/5

Setting/Imagery: 4/5

Originality: 4/5

Ending: 4/5

Total Score:  20/25