Afterlife (Gray novel)

Afterlife

Author	Claudia Gray
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Evernight series
Genre	Young adult, Fantasy, Gothic
Publisher	HarperTeen
Publication date	March 3, 2011
Media type	Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages	364
ISBN	0-06-128442-4
Preceded by	Hourglass

Afterlife is a fantasy novel by Claudia Gray released on March 3, 2011. It is the fourth part of the Evernight series, concluding the ongoing plot from the previous novel Hourglass, which began in the first novel Evernight and ran into the second, Stargazer. This book is followed by a new story in the series, "Balthazar".

Synopsis

Bianca, now a wraith, and Lucas, now a vampire, must return to Evernight to help control his blood lust. Bianca needs to find out what Mrs. Bethany wants with the wraiths before it is too late. Can their love survive their deaths or will they end up destroying one another?

Plot summary

Lucas rises from the dead and assisted by Balthazar and Ranulf. Bianca manages to convince Lucas to return to Evernight to seek help for his bloodlust before it is too late and he is consumed by it. After his return, Mrs. Bethany offers him shelter, much to the annoyance of his fellow pupils. Bianca's parents are told that their daughter has died, for which they blame Lucas. While in the library Bianca is caught in a trap set by Mrs Bethany to trap wraiths. She is freed by intruding into Lucas's dreams. Lucas is set to go on a trip to the local town and Bianca goes to accompany him. Bianca, while following Lucas until she can appear to him, is trapped by Patrice using a mirror. He frees her but finds out everything about how she died and how Lucas became a vampire. At the Cafe, Lucas is attacked by several Black Cross members, including his mother, who leave after the police are called and although no one is harmed, Lucas is shaken up.

Bianca and her father are reunited and he accepts her for what she is before helping Bianca tell her mother. Her parents also realize Mrs. Bethany is up to something, and so agree to help Bianca and her friends search the school for the traps set by Mrs. Bethany and to free the wraiths on the night of the autumn ball. While the ball is taking place, several human students are possessed by wraiths who are angry and confused as to what is happening at Evernight.

Bianca goes to visit Christopher, a powerful wraith, and he tells her that she could be used as a bridge between the human world and the world that wraiths inhibit before they can reach heaven. She agrees to think about it before returning to the human world. She later witnesses Lucas being told by Mrs. Bethany about how vampires can be resurrected to human form although it involves the sacrifice of a wraith when the mixture of both supernaturals' blood happens. Lucas disagrees and leaves.

Bianca is caught in a powerful trap when she goes to get her coral bracelet so that she can apparate fully and feels like she has been trapped for days, before being released into a large room which was designed to contain and weaken wraiths. Mrs. Bethany reveals that she plans on killing Bianca so she could become human again but her plans are stopped when Lucas and her parents arrive. Bianca cannot escape from the room so she possesses Skye who allows her to. Bianca helps the other wraiths to leave the human world by creating a light to which the wraiths float towards, while taking on a more human look, no longer the mutilated beings they previously were.

She was willing to leave but Mrs. Bethany traps Maxine who had warned her parents. Bianca calls upon Christopher, revealed to be Mrs. Bethany's husband before he was murdered, who switches place with Maxine and is destroyed as Mrs. Bethany's cottage collapses, killing her too. A battle ensues with the vampires who planned to help murder Bianca and her fellow wraiths and friends. Lucas is gravely wounded but Bianca drinks his blood and he drinks hers. Their blood infuses and Lucas is resurrected to human life. The series finishes after Bianca reflects on the rest of her eternal life as a bridge between worlds for the wraiths.

Characters

Reception

Afterlife received a rating of 3.88 on Goodreads.com which is the lowest rating for the series.^[1]

Future

Although Claudia Gray has confirmed that she does not plan to write anymore Evernight books she is to write a spin off book about Balthazar More focusing on his life, death and later adventures. This will be released in March 2012.^[2]

References