Jaime's Review of 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.

Jaime’s review….

First thing I said when I found out about this book was “Heck Yes!” Balthazar was my favorite character from the Evernight Books. Second thing? I hope it’s a series! Well I’m not sure now if it will be one but I can still hope because she left the ending open with plenty of potential for one. J

When reading Balthazar I thought I’d miss Bianca and Lucas in the story but they were both there for small parts and, I really wished a few of the other characters I loved from the Evernight books would be as well but alas they weren’t. I loved getting to know Skye better though she’s so much more than I thought she would be and she’s pretty kick ass on her own. I enjoyed her spunk and willingness to do whatever she needed to do to stay safe and beat the bad vampires.

The best part of this book though was all the things Balthazar I fell in love with this guy even more than I thought I could. I loved seeing glimpses into his past which made him what he was in the present. I absolutely loved his protectiveness over Skye and him falling in love with her was awesome! He tried to fight it to protect her but she didn’t make it easy and I found myself saying “You go girl!” in a few different places. Skye knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to go for it. I loved Balthazar’s internal struggles and it was quite funny when he got flustered he made me giggle.

The story itself was really engrossing I couldn’t wait to see what would happen with this Redgrave fellow and what Balthazar’s crazy sister Charity had up her sleeve. I can honestly say after what she did to Lucas I wanted her dead but Balty being well, Balty he couldn’t kill his damaged sister. Redgrave is seriously one smart bad guy he’s calculating and cruel but, he’s also gorgeous and suave which makes him even more dangerous.

So back to why I think this should be a series I love Balthazar and I could read many more books about him! We barely scraped the surface on his past and what makes him tick and like I said Claudia left enough on an opening at the end there. Also by the end of the book we knew what Skye was and what she could do but, we didn’t get to explore it much and if there’s not a strictly Balthazar series I would love to see one with the both of them. There are so many places it could go!

For my teaser passage I decided to use one with Skye where she’s talking to an old friend from Evernight because I thought this was freaking hilarious J

“Nothing else has happened.”

“He kissed you!”

“Once. And I kissed him once. That’s it.”

“You need to jump his bones.”

“Clementine!”

“You know you do!”

“No,” Skye said, trying to sound more firm than she felt.”Chasing a guy like that only gets you hurt. Any guy who really cares about you should want to be with you. Once he knows how you feel, He should step up.”

“And you feel like Balthazar’s not stepping up?”

Balthazar comes out March 6^th so pre-order it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or The Book Depository.

Make sure to add it to your Goodreads lists and make sure to check out Claudia’s website!

Thanks again to the amazing people at Harper Teen for the Advanced Readers Copy!