Rachel Rambles About Balthazar

Balthazar by Claudia Gray

From Goodreads:

Haunted by memories from his first days as a vampire, Balthazar has spent hundreds of years alone—without allies, without love. When he emerges from his isolation to help Skye Tierney, a human girl who once attended Evernight Academy, Balthazar has no idea how dangerous it will be. Skye’s psychic powers have caught the attention of Redgrave, the cruel master vampire responsible for murdering Balthazar and his family four centuries ago. Having learned of Skye’s powers and the remarkable effect her blood has on vampires, he plans to use her for his own evil purposes. As they stand together to fight the evil vampire, Balthazar realizes his lonely world could finally be changed by Skye...just as Redgrave realizes that he can destroy Balthazar once and for all by taking her for his own.

In a story filled with forbidden love and dark suspense, one of the most beloved characters in Claudia Gray’s New York Times bestselling Evernight series will captivate readers with his battle to overcome his past and follow his heart.

I have been waiting to read this book for a long time. The Evernight series by Claudia Gray is one of my favorite series ever, so when I found out there would be a companion novel I FREAKED OUT. If you haven't read the Evernight books, please please please read them soon. They are so amazing and I just want ALL OF THE PEOPLE to read them.


I think you can gather from the above paragraph that I had high expectations for Balthazar. Balthazar is one of my favorite characters in the Evernight books, so I was very excited to read more about him and his story. When I started reading, I was surprised by the fact that not only was this book in third person, but it also changed points of view. Half the book is told from Balthazar's point of view, and the other half is told from Skye's. I loved Skye in Afterlife, even though she had a pretty small role, so I was really happy to see her as one of the main characters in Balthazar.


There were a whole lot of things I didn't see coming in this book. I knew that Balthazar had a few centuries of secrets, but I didn't realize just how devastating and difficult his life had been before the Evernight books. It was pretty amazing to gradually uncover the secrets from his past. As I learned more and more about his life, I found it a lot easier to understand some of the things Balthazar does in the present.

Reading the Evernight series, I'd always loved Balthazar, but he was still always that guy who was NOT LUCAS. Well. In this book, I may or may not like Balthazar better than Lucas. MAYBE. I DON'T KNOW. DON'T THROW THINGS AT ME. JUST READ THE BOOK AND YOU'LL UNDERSTAND. But yeah, Balthazar is just...really, really, really HOT. Also like, intelligent and funny and charming and interesting and lots of other things. I want to be Skye so badly. I absolutely love the relationship between him and Skye. They are both such great characters on their own that when they are brought together, you get DOUBLE THE AWESOME.

And what's really cool about this book is that even if you've never read the Evernight books, Balthazar totally stands on it's own. You can read and enjoy Balthazar either as a companion to the Evernight series, or as just a really great standalone. (I totally recommend the Evernight books because they are amazing. Just saying.)

So, to recap: This book deserves about a billion stars. Balthazar is really hot and romantic and HE MAY OR MAY NOT GET NAKED I AM JUST SAYING.

-Rachel