Stargazer - Claudia Gray

Warning: You must read Evernight by Claudia Gray before you read this summary or it'll ruin the first book for you.

Summary: Evernight Academy: an exclusive boarding school for the most beautiful, dangerous students of all--vampires. Bianca, born to two vampires, has always been told her destiny is to become one of them.

But Bianca fell in love with Lucas--a vampire hunter sworn to destroy her kind. They were torn apart when his true identity was revealed, forcing him to flee the school.

Although they may be separated, Bianca and Lucas will not give each other up. She will risk anything for the chance to see him again, even if it means coming face-to-face with the vampire hunters of Black Cross--or deceiving the powerful vampires of Evernight. Bianca's secrets will force her to live a life of lies.

Yet Bianca isn't the only one keeping secrets. When Evernight is attacked by an evil force that seems to target her, she discovers the truth she thought she knew is only the beginning.

My review: I put off reading this book for a while because I was really afraid at what I might find. I enjoyed Evernight's Buffy-style teen romance and, since it seemed that Lucas and Bianca didn't have anywhere left to go but the bedroom, I wasn't anxious to obliterate my good opinion of this series. Thankfully, with Lucas banished from the Academy and Bianca stuck there with her parents, it wasn't much of an issue. Well, maybe a little. Bianca and Lucas's separation served to draw out the sexual tension between the two of them and allowed for an interesting relationship development with Balthazar that I quite enjoyed.

This book didn't offer as many big surprises as the first one (girl vampire/male slayer), but it still kept me interested the entire time with some little ones. There were mysterious ghosts, a long lost vampire, altercations with Black Cross, and a surprise beheading. In fact, I locked myself in my room for the last 1/3 of the book (my husband was home) and told the kids I was on a time out. I still feel like this is a pretty good series. Drop everything to buy it? No, but still entertaining without being over the top and definitely one of the better YA vampire series I've read.

My rating: 4 Stars. Still some near-sexual situations.

Sum it up: A nice continuation to a fun-to-read series. I'll read the next one when it comes out.