Afterlife by Claudia Gray

Yes, this post is sort of like a Christmas miracle!  Now that my children's lit class is finally finished, I'm hoping I'll have time to start blogging again.  

So, I was lucky enough to get an ARC of Afterlife, the newest Claudia Gray novel from the Evernight series. Just a warning that this review might be a little spoiler-y!

How do I feel about this book?  Hmmmmm….it’s hard to sum it all up.  The story was fast-paced and I never lost interest in it.  I constantly wanted to see what was going to happen next.  So, in that sense, the book was fantastic. 

I found myself sympathizing with Team Jacob as I read this book, however.  I never thought that I would say that, but now I know how they all felt when Bella rejected Jacob in favor of Edward.  I am still having a hard time understanding why Bianca always chooses Lucas over Balthazar.  I can’t find one really redeeming quality about him.  And the more I read these books, the less I like Bianca.  I am so very Team Balthazar that it’s hard to say that I “enjoyed” this book.  Don’t get me wrong…..I really did enjoy the read.  The story goes places that I never dreamed and even though there is a sort of happy ending, it’s not one of those sugar-coated sort of endings where everyone lives happily ever after.

I enjoyed being able to learn more about the wraiths, also.  I wasn’t particularly happy when Bianca became a wraith in the 3^rd book, so seeing a little about them and their world was nice.  Also, the whole plot with Ms. Bethany was quite entertaining and engaging.  It was nice to see Black Cross turn out to be just the bad guys that I thought they were.  Also, I think that I love Patrice as a character now.

So, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book but I’m really glad that the author is writing a series about Balthazar.  I absolutely love him and this book just made me realize even more what an idiot Bianca is for letting him go.  But since she doesn’t want him, then maybe I can have him??

Now, for a grade.......I'm going to say that this book is a solid B+.  It's definitely above average, but whiny Bianca who gives up Balthazar just keeps me from giving it an A.