Review: Hourglass by Claudia Gray

Title: Hourglass
Author: Claudia Gray
Age Group: Young Adult Series
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
Published: March 9, 2010
Format: Hardcover $22.50 CDN
Pages: 352
ISBN - 10:0061284416
ISBN - 13:9780061284410
My Rating: 3.5/5

From the Publisher:

Bianca will risk everything to be with Lucas.

After escaping from Evernight Academy, the vampire boarding school where they met, Bianca and Lucas take refuge with Black Cross, a fanatical group of vampire hunters. Bianca must hide her supernatural heritage or risk certain death at their hands. But when Black Cross captures her friend-the vampire Balthazar-hiding is no longer an option.

Soon, Bianca and Lucas are on the run again, pursued not only by Black Cross, but by the powerful leaders of Evernight. Yet no matter how far they travel, Bianca can't escape her destiny.
Bianca has always believed their love could survive anything . . . but can it survive what's to come?

My Review:

Hourglass is the third book in a four book series called Evernight, with the fourth due out next year.  I was very excited about it's release but to be honest I was slightly disappointed for the first quarter of the novel.  The first two books in this series were ripe with mystery and intensity and I was in love with the character dynamics and I felt like the first half of this book was one long drawn out chapter with little to no new development.  Additionally there wasn't much going on between the two protagonists Bianca and Lucas during the first half of the book to really engage me in their story.

With that said by the second half of the novel I couldn't put Hourglass down!  Things began to quickly steam up between Bianca and Lucas in a way that isn't usually written in a young adult novel.  Although unexpected what I really appreciated was how the author portrayed intimacy in a realistic, progressive, and innocent way that I wish was more often true of young adult relationships.  The reality is teenagers in our society are intimate at a very young age and we do not have enough positive role models to emulate how intimacy should be between two consenting and in-love "adults."

I was disappointed not to have a few of my favorite characters highlighted a bit more in this novel so I am eagerly awaiting the next novel in this series to showcase them more.  The final few chapters was where things really got interesting and I found myself frantically turning the pages with the patience of a six year old at Disney.  I know a book is good when after I read the final sentence and realize there is no more to read I feel compelled to throw the book across the room.

I gave this book a 3.5/5 because although a good read the book in its entirety didn't have me engaged and I felt that not enough went on outside of the relationship between Bianca and Lucas (aside from something I won't mention due to spoilers but that is quite a crazy twist) .  This series as a whole is fantastic and I have high hopes that when the final book Afterlife is released in March 2011 I will have forgotten about anything I disliked in this book.

My Review