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A review by annettebooksofhopeanddreams
Balthazar by Claudia Gray
4.0
Claudia Gray is one of those authors I always like. Some of her books are better than others. Some speak more to me than others, but there's not one I read that I disliked. However, this book was on my shelves for a long time already. I finished the original series and somehow I didn't feel like starting this one and didn't really know why, actually. But today I stood in front of my bookcase and felt the pull towards this book.
And this book, maybe even more than the last book of the original series, was a vampire love story as I like them. It's filled with danger, it's filled with threats and serious contenders, it's filled with hard choices and it's filled with confrontations. Both characters have a lot of growing and learning to do. Both on their own and also together. And to learn and grow, they also have to confront the past and what made them who they are now.
Balthazar suffers the typical vampire guilt. We learn in flashbacks where that guilt comes from, why he sees himself as a monsters and why he doesn't allow humans to get involved with him and his life. But slowly we see the cracks forming, we see him breaking. In a good way. It's a hard journey, most of all for Balthazar himself, but the conclusion he reaches at the end of the book is beautiful and absolutely worth the read.
The same can be said about Skye. Skye has those powers she knows nothing about. She can see ghosts, she can experience their deaths and it terrifies her. When she learns that her gift has consequences for vampires drinking her blood she has to confront her fears and figure out what's going on with her, what it means and how she has to deal with it. And on top of that she has to convince Balthazar that it's okay to love her.
Written in the typical easy to read and highly addictive style of Claudia Gray this is a vampire story like there are maybe already a lot. And yet, it's still worth the read.
And this book, maybe even more than the last book of the original series, was a vampire love story as I like them. It's filled with danger, it's filled with threats and serious contenders, it's filled with hard choices and it's filled with confrontations. Both characters have a lot of growing and learning to do. Both on their own and also together. And to learn and grow, they also have to confront the past and what made them who they are now.
Balthazar suffers the typical vampire guilt. We learn in flashbacks where that guilt comes from, why he sees himself as a monsters and why he doesn't allow humans to get involved with him and his life. But slowly we see the cracks forming, we see him breaking. In a good way. It's a hard journey, most of all for Balthazar himself, but the conclusion he reaches at the end of the book is beautiful and absolutely worth the read.
The same can be said about Skye. Skye has those powers she knows nothing about. She can see ghosts, she can experience their deaths and it terrifies her. When she learns that her gift has consequences for vampires drinking her blood she has to confront her fears and figure out what's going on with her, what it means and how she has to deal with it. And on top of that she has to convince Balthazar that it's okay to love her.
Written in the typical easy to read and highly addictive style of Claudia Gray this is a vampire story like there are maybe already a lot. And yet, it's still worth the read.