Hourglass (novel)
Encyclopedia
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 vampire
s, wraiths (ghost
s), 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.
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.
.com.
Claudia Gray
Claudia Gray is a pseudonym for Amy Vincent, a young adult paranormal romance author, best known for the Evernight series. She is published by HarperCollins. Her book Stargazer hit No. 4 in the chapter book category of the New York Times list of bestselling children books in April 2009. Gray is a...
released in 2010. It is the third novel of the Evernight series
Evernight (series)
Evernight is an on-going series of four vampire-based romance/fantasy novels by New York Times bestselling American author Claudia Gray. It tells the story of Bianca Olivier, a 16-year old half-human and half-vampire girl born to two vampires, who is forced to attend Evernight Academy, a private...
, a series of four books, and is preceded by Stargazer
Stargazer (novel)
Stargazer is a fantasy novel by Claudia Gray released in 2009. It is the second part of the Evernight series, following Evernight. It is followed by the third book in the series, Hourglass.-Synopsis:...
and followed by Afterlife
Afterlife (novel)
Afterlife is a fantasy novel by Claudia Gray released on March 3, 2011. It is the fourth and final 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.-Synopsis:Bianca now a wraith,...
. The four books feature vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s, wraiths (ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
s), betrayal
Betrayal
Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations...
, and, of course, love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
. 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
Vampire hunter
A vampire hunter or vampire slayer is a character in folklore and fiction who specializes in finding and destroying vampires, and sometimes other supernatural creatures....
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
Planetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
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.
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.” Hourglass received a rating of 3.93 on GoodreadsGoodreads
Goodreads is a privately run "social cataloging" website started in December 2006 by Otis Chandler, a software engineer and entrepreneur. The website permits individuals to sign up and register books to create their library catalogs and reading lists. It also allows users to create their own...
.com.