Sigh. One of my favorite series, Evernight by Claudia Gray, is coming to a close. But there is good news. The fourth and final book of the series, AFTERLIFE, meets all expectations . . . and then some.
When we last left Lucas and Bianca, Bianca had been turned into a wraith and Lucas—the former vampire killer—was about to wake as a vampire himself. All our favorite characters were present: the scrumptious Balthazar, the quirky Vic, and the adorably-out-of-touch Ranulf. AFTERLIFE picks up moments later, and Bianca is debating whether to kill Lucas to honor his wishes of never becoming a vampire or follow her own heart in the hopes he can come to grips with his transformation.
Lucky for us, Bianca follows her heart and Lucas is reborn. The final installment brings the crew back to Evernight and the ever-mysterious Ms. Bethany. While Bianca and Lucas struggle with their new undead status, they also strive to undercover why Ms. Bethany is attracting wraiths—the understood enemy to the vampire—to Evernight, battle parental insecurity issues, and attempt to figure out how to be a couple now that one of them barely has a body and the other is consumed by the need for blood. Along with the usual crew, Dana, Raquel and Patrice also come back to say a final farewell.
I give Ms. Gray kudos for the ending. It was not the ending I anticipated, but it was one hundred percent true to the story. Anything less or different would have been unfair to the world and characters she has so lovingly created. And fans do not have to despair over the series ending. Balthazar is coming back with his very own series in the future, which I am eagerly anticipating.
AFTERLIFE won’t hit stores until March 8, 2011, but is already available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other bookstores. And look for BALTHAZAR in bookstores March 2012!
I recieved AFTERLIFE via NetGalley, courtesy of Harper Collins, in exchange for a review. I was beyond grateful to accept.
