Review- Hourglass by Claudia Gray

***Warning: May contain SPOILERS***

Title: Hourglass

Author: Claudia Gray

Pages: 339 (Hardcover)

Published: 09 March 2010

My Rating: 3/5

Synopsis provided by Goodreads.com

After escaping from Evernight Academy, the vampire boarding school, Bianca and Lucas seek refuge with Black Cross, the elite group of vampire hunters led by Lucas's stepfather. When Bianca's close friend-the vampire Balthazar-is capture by Black Cross, Bianca knows she has to do whatever it takes to save him. But at what cost?

Hourglass, the third book in this gripping vampire series by the author of the New York Times bestseller Stargazer, has all the romance, suspense and page-turning drama that has made Claudia Gray's books runaway successes.

Ever since reading Stargazer, this series has left me with a bitter sweet taste. Although the plot thickens throughout each book, they all start off pretty slow and Hourglass is no exception.

Let me start off with the things I don't like about the book. Now that the series is in the third installment, I am still having a hard time feeling any kind of connection to the characters. They are all well rounded and I've got to know them but it wouldn't really bother me if any of them lived or died. I don't normally have this problem with books but this is part of the reason why this book was a little bit tough to get through. I also feel like the story line has been dragged out. Well, that is until the end. The plot moved slowly until Gray caught me at the end, again anticipating the next book. I also did not like that Bianca's character is not that smart. I caught on that if she did not become a full vampire then she would get sick, die and become wraith. I kind of figured that out in the second book, but Bianca did not until she already died.

Then there are the good parts of the book that kept me reading until the end and will probably keep me reading until the series ends. I like the open, honest and almost child like relationship between Bianca and Lucas. They love each other so much they're willing to look past what they've been taught to hate. There is also an innocence to them unlike the characters in most YA novels. Neither of them have any ulterior motives.

Overall, this book kept my attention (mostly) til the end. It was not the best Evernight book I've read but I liked it.