Hourglass (Evernight, 3) Paperback – March 8, 2011

This book series is fantastic. It's a unique twist on the modern vampire novel. The series gets even better in books 2 and 3. This series has excitement, emotion, writing that really makes you feel what the characters are feeling, and definite unique and unexpected plot twists that will put a jolt to your system!Even if you're not a vampire novel freak like me I definitely know you'll enjoy this series. And it does go way beyond just vampires.I just finished book 3, cliffhanger argh!! but the final book should be out march 1.hope you'll definitely consider this book series :D

First of all I would give this 4 1/2 but I cannot do that on here, so I wanted to clarify that first. So, if you participated in the Dewey's Read-a-Thon this weekend (like I did) then you might know that the books I choose to read were the Evernight books. I thought they would be fun, light, reads. I got through the first two in this series during the read-a-thon and just finished the third one today. I have learned something about myself through this blog: if I start a book in a series, I am going to finish that series, period. The only thing that would stop me from finishing it would be if the book was terrible or one of the characters just really turned me off (which I have had happen before). I am not sure why I am like that, I guess I just have to see things through, I do the same thing with movies too, and it is a problem.Anyway, the thing that I think surprised me the most about this series is how it got better as the books went on. The first book, Evernight, was good, but not great. Actually, after I finished that book I did not think I wanted to keep going, but a couple of loose ends needed to be tied up so I read the second book, Stargazer, and found that I liked that one so much more. So after the read-a-thon I picked up book number three Hourglass, now I am really glad I did. I feel like this was the best one out of the three. The beginning part of the book was a little slow for me, but that might also be because I was anxious to see some action and I was getting a little nervous for some of the characters. However, the second half of the book I could not put it down, I know I caught onto what was happening before the characters did, but there were still a couple of twists that I did not see coming, like the ending!Let me just warn you, these books have had slight cliffhangers at the end of book one and two, but Hourglass book puts them to shame! The cliffhanger at the end literally made me yell at the book, out loud! I cannot believe we have another year to wait for the final book. I read on Claudia's site that she did not mean for the two final books to be so far apart, because she has no control over publishing so I cannot blame her, but man I really want to read Afterlife (the title of the last book). I am having a hard time grasping how this is going to end, I have genuinely grown attached to these characters and I am a little worried for them, especially with a title like Afterlife.To wrap all this up, if you read the first book and were not crazy about it give book two and three a chance, they really do pick up! I don't really want to say too much about the plot of this story because I don't want to ruin too much and I think the Goodreads synopsis gives a good enough overview. Overall, I have enjoyed the series and going on this trip with Bianca and Lucas. I am looking forward to seeing their journey continue because now I am attached and could not stop even if I wanted to.

Book Three in the Evernight series, Hourglass, picks up where Stargazer left off: Bianca and Lucas, on the run from the burned Evernight Academy, are hiding out with the Black Cross vampire hunting cell responsible for the destruction. The problem? Bianca's becoming a vampire, and her need for blood compromises both their situation and their lives. Still, at least they are relatively safe until the twosome can figure out a way to escape Black Cross and just be together--that is, until Bianca's secret is exposed and the two find themselves in danger from both Black Cross and Charity, the unstable vampire who wants Bianca to complete her transformation and become a part of her "family."Whew. Lots and lots of action in Hourglass, and also lots of running and hiding. Back for this installment are Bianca and Lucas's vampire friend Balthazar, Ranulf and Vic, Bianca's former roommate Raquel, and even Mrs. Bethany, sinister headmistress of Evernight. Besides the amount of time Bianca and Lucas must spend on the run, there is also the feeling of impending doom as Bianca's health deteriorates in the face of her decision to not become a full vampire, and the fact that the wraiths (ghosts) still believe Bianca should be theirs since her very existence is the result of a pact made with her parents. And speaking of parents, Bianca's parents play an almost non-existent role in Hourglass, which sets up intimate scenes of emotional and physical connections between Bianca and Lucas. Things are definitely changing, not always for the better, and they are packing excruciating decisions and painful separations.Hourglass is a wonderfully engrossing book; I kept wanting to skip ahead to find out what happens next because I just couldn't read it fast enough. Definitely dark in nature, Ms. Gray is setting us up for future impossible situations that I cannot foresee any solution to at this point. If I have one problem with the book, it's that Bianca and Lucas's monetary situation is too conveniently solved, but that minor argument is more than made up for with the heart-wrenching emotional scenes. This one ends on a major, major cliffhanger and I'm not sure how I'll hold on until the next installment. Ms. Gray has given us one outstanding series and Hourglass is no exception. Highly recommended...and highly anticipating the next one!

If you start reading this books of evernight's series you can't stop until you'll finish it!full of suspense... There are 4 books in total.

Spoiler free for Hourglass, but big spoilers for previous book in the series, Evernight and Stargazer, ahead.Book 2 of the Evernight series, Stargazer, ended rather dramatically. Evernight attacked, set on fire, and Bianca and Lucas escaped only with Black Cross. Now Black Cross are giving her refuge, still under the belief that she's human, kidnapped and raised by vampires as a baby. If they find out the truth, that she is actually a vampire herself, they'll kill her. And most likely Lucas as well. But they don't have anywhere else to go. Escaping from Black Cross could well be harder than escaping Evernight, and they need money they don't have as well. So they stay, Bianca trains, learns to fight, while starving for blood only able to get a little every few days instead of daily like she needs. Bianca and Lucas get little time together either, not alone, and Bianca can't confide in her roommate, Raquel, either because she's sided completely with Black Cross. It leaves Bianca feeling very alone in the heart of enemy territory.Then Balthazar, Bianca's closest friend from Evernight, a vampire, is captured. Bianca can't watch them torture him so she convinces Lucas they have to save him, somehow. Lucas, who has never liked Balthazar for his attraction to Bianca, agrees for her sake more than anything. But he puts his heart in to it and together they come up with a plan. But in such close quarters, can they really save him and continue to keep Bianca's secret? And Lucas', because if they discover Bianca's fed from him, he'll be in just as much trouble. Living on the run, Mrs Bethany, the powerful head of Evernight Academy, after them, surrounded by Black Cross members who'd kill them in an instant if the truth came out, things are far from certain for Bianca and Lucas.I really, really loved this book. It was fascinating seeing Bianca and Lucas attempt to cope within Black Cross. Neither wanted to be there and the tension between Lucas and some of the members was almost explosive. It wasn't always fast paced, but it never felt slow either. I think there is more action in this book than the previous two, and I loved seeing how they both dealt with the things thrown their way.It's a great continuation of the series, building on previous events, more secrets are revealed and dealt with, and both Lucas and Bianca continue to grow and learn from the things they face. I've loved how this series has developed. Ms. Gray does a great job of hiding things until the last moment, with just subtle hints before hand which don't make anything easy to guess, but makes perfect sense when you understand what's going on.I've loved Bianca and Lucas from the start, and Balthazar grew on me a lot as well through Stargazer and this. But Vic has become one of my all time favourite side characters with this book. I loved him already, but even more so now. He's smart, takes things in stride, and yet has a serious, deeper side which just makes him more impressive and lovable.The build up for the ending is intense. I confess that I think Bianca and Lucas should have figured out what was going on with her a bit sooner than she did. But on the other hand, it does still make sense that they didn't. The ending though, about killed me. I'm so glad I hadn't got in to this series sooner and read this as soon as it released, because the wait for the final book, Afterlife, may just kill me and I've got less to wait than some. Such an awesome series, great writing, great story, great characters, and a must read. It's still far from your typical YA vampire series and it's up there with Strange Angels [Lili St. Crow] and Vampire Academy [Richelle Mead] on my favourites list.

Anfangs war ich etwas verunsichert, ob der dritte Band wirklich so toll werden würde.Oftmals ist es nun (leider) so, dass Reihen von Buch zu Buch abnehmen.Doch nicht bei Claudia Gray!Meiner Meinung nach steigert sich ihre Reihe von Buch zu Buch. Hourglass hat für michvieles wieder herraus geholt, was Stargazer verpatzt hatte.Die Spannungskurve um Bianca und Lucas nimmt eindeutig zu!Man erlebt endlich wie es zwischen den beiden knistert undwie sie gemeinsam (fast) jedes Problem lösen.Auch viele meine Lieblingscharakter wie Vic oder Balthazar kamenendlich wieder ins Spiel und es passiert wirklich in jedem Kapiteletwas, was man nicht verpassen will.Ich bin schon ganz gespannt auf den 4 Teil 'Afterlife'.Sobald man das Ende von Hourglass gelesen hat,wird man den Titel sofort verstehen ;)4,5 Sterne von mir, bin gespannt ob der 4 Teilnochmals eine Steigerung sein wird.

Ms. Gray has grown as an writer, making this third installment a more complex and less predictable tale of young love vs everything.Of course here our young lovers not only have to tackle those who don't think they should be together and the bias they've been taught, they also have to battle the Bianca's physiological makeup. Bianca being a pre-vampire/child of a wraith, an almost one of a kind creature surrounded by full vampires, vampire hunters and lowly humans, is one heck of an obstacle for our pair to overcome - and they don't overcome it fully, which is what makes this book so good. More than once I said "Ms. Gray would NEVER let that happen" only to see that exact thing occur a couple of pages later. That, in a teen novel, was a nice surprise as books in this genre are usually very formula driven and thus boringly predicatable.While I enjoyed the entire series, this was the first book I truly didn't want to put down. Bianca's emotional struggles against mostly unknown and unsurmountable odds kept me reading in bed well into the wee morning hours. In prior books, I understood the struggle she faced but it wasn't nearly as capitvating or as heartfelt. This time I really felt Bianca's love for Lucas, and his devotion to her. And that maked for a wonderful third book.Only problem with Hourglass is the huge cliffhanger ending. Ms. Gray, if you're reading this, that was just plain cruel......

An excellent series that kept me guessing right until the end. This is not just another Twilight saga, it stands up well in its own right with engaging characters and gripping storyline. If I had to make comparisons, I'd say it's more Twilight meets Harry Potter!