Hourglass (novel)

Hourglass

Author	Claudia Gray
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Evernight series
Genre	Young adult, Fantasy, Gothic
Publisher	HarperTeen
Publication date	March 15, 2010
Media type	Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages	368
ISBN	0-00-735533-5
Preceded by	Stargazer
Followed by	Afterlife

Hourglass is a fantasy novel by Claudia Gray released in 2010. It is the third novel of the Evernight series, a series of four books, and is preceded by Stargazer and followed by Afterlife. The four books feature vampires, wraiths (ghosts), betrayal, and, of course, love. The main character, Bianca Oliver, is living with her rocky, shaky, strong, sturdy and passionate relationship with the head man, Lucas Ross. But Lucas is also a member of the ancient vampire hunting group Black Cross.

Synopsis

Hourglass reaches Bianca after she has already been accepted into the Black Cross. Even though things may feel weird at that moment, the changes are about to come three-fold, and Bianca is almost powerless.

Plot summary

Bianca, Lucas and Raquel are now living in the New York Black Cross cell. Raquel and the rest of Lucas's Black Cross cell are currently unaware Bianca is a vampire. Mrs. Bethany later stages a break in to the Black Cross cell wanting to take Bianca back to her parents. Several members of Black Cross are killed including Lucas's stepfather Eduardo whose neck is broken by Mrs. Bethany. In the attack Balthazar is captured and tied up by Black Cross who begin to torture him to find out why Mrs. Bethany attacked Black Cross. Bianca and Lucas begin orchestrating Balthazar's escape and succeed without getting caught.

After the break in by Mrs. Bethany, Bianca needs to feed so they go to a hospital to get blood for Bianca from the blood bank. They are interrupted by Raquel and Dana who realise that Bianca is a vampire as she is feeding. They both promise not to tell anyone but Bianca is woken in the night after someone told the Black Cross cell about Bianca's vampirism. She is tied up and burnt with holy water, and Lucas. who is also splashed, burns due to him feeding Bianca. Dana helps them escape and gives them some money but tells Black Cross they escaped.

After Lucas realises there is a dangerous vampire in the city they are staying in he decides to hunt it. Lucas finds the rogue vampire but after following him to a hotel room realises that Charity, Balthazar's sister, is staying close by with her clan who the rogue vampire belongs to. He escapes and later he and Bianca tell Balthazar that Charity is near by.

Bianca and Lucas begin to run out of money and go to their friend Vic for help. He allows them to stay in the basement. On Bianca's birthday Lucas takes her to the planetarium where they are attacked by wraiths. They both escape and later get jobs. While staying in Vic's house Bianca becomes increasingly weak and ill. Bianca realises that she must kill a human and become a full vampire otherwise she will die. Lucas offers to allow Bianca to kill him but she refuses as he would not agree to rise with her. She later dies and becomes a wraith. She is met by a wraith named Maxine who tells her that she is powerful due to her born status as a wraith. She is told she can form a body by holding objects she has bonded to in her life including her broche and her coral bracelet which were both made of once living material.

Bianca appears to Lucas telling him about her becoming a wraith. Lucas with Ranulf and Vic who have returned from holiday agree to assist Balthazar in killing Charity. Vic waits outside after they track her down to a rundown cinema where they fight and kill several members of her clan. While Bianca is solid she is injured by Charity who throws a shard of iron at her which is weakening to wraiths, causing her to loses her solidity. Charity, Bianca and Lucas are alone and as Bianca is powerless she pins down Lucas before draining his blood killing him. Charity leaves and Balthazar and Ranulf arrive who tell Bianca of Lucas's fate. He will become a vampire.

Characters

Reception

ALA booklist commented that Hourglass was “A steamy romance in which love bites aren’t just a euphemism”, while School Library Journal wrote “Gray’s writing hooks readers from the first page and reels them in with surprising plot twists and turns.”^[1] Booklist reviewed the book, calling it a "heart-pounding page-turner".^[2]

References