For those of you who have been around for a while you know that I “liked” but didn’t “love” the first 2 novels in the “Evernight” series (“Evernight” & “Stargazer” [Rating:3/5]) and while at first I had no intentions of reading any further into the series, I am happy that I did.
One of my biggest issues with “Gray’s” writing in the first two installments of this series was her propensity to be a tad bit flighty and unfocused in areas, and yes… I’m not going to say that “Hourglass” is mutually exclusive of this same complaint, but I will say that it is dramatically less noticeable which makes the plot read much soother than her first two attempts.
“Hourglass” picks up where “Stargazer” ended. Bianca (a half-vamp half human) and Lucas (a vampire hunter) find themselves in full lock-down inside of a Black Cross hide out. (think “warehouse full of Buffy wannabes”) Life is hard…Bianca has to find a way to eat (aka drink) and Lucas has to find a way to save money (to plot their escape), but that’s not all; Ms. Bethany is pissed and she’s out for revenge. After 1 very misguided attempt to contact her parents Bianca leads a less-than-merry band of vamps right to their doorstep. Amidst the fighting secrets are revealed and time starts to tick. Lucas and Bianca find themselves on the run, but what exactly are they running from? Will the Black Cross hunt them down and make an example out of them, or will Bianca’s mysterious dizzy spells finally take precedence over EVERYTHING.
There were definitely chapters that drug in “Hourglass” but in the end, the epic battle scenes and life decisions that seemed to pop up on every corner overshadowed the duller aspects of the plot. Balthazar was naturally thrown back into the mix (which I personally was happy to see), and the character development in this novel was leaps and bounds over the two previous editions. Be forewarned however that the book ends abruptly and shockingly and (if you are like me) you will be more than compelled to curse at your Kindle (or book.)
I am however, going to go on record as saying… I just may have been wrong about this particular series… there may be a bigger crowd out their for it than I originally speculated, because this novel was nothing short of a page turner.
There were surprisingly smart guys in Hawaiian print shirts, evil green water guns, a wraith with control issues, an ex-Viking, and several very well written battle sequences.
Get it, Live it, Love it…pass it on.
Happy reading my fellow Wraiths and remember: when in doubt… go with the sneak attack.
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[Rating:4/5]
