And here it is. Evernight. The series that just got sadder and sadder with each progressive novel. I went from being like “OKAY lets do this” to “Okay. Please end this.” Real quick over the course of these books. Like. I don’t think that’s remotely okay. But also this series really pissed me off. HOWEVER. I don’t think this series is inherently badly written. Neither do I think that it is a bad series. I do think it was not for me (100% not for me) but that means it could be for you.
So let’s dive into this review and talk about it.
Customary warning: This is a reminder that these are my personal opinions. My thoughts and feelings are not your thoughts and feelings. I may not always be the target audience for a book; sometimes I am. If I do not like a book, that doesn’t mean you’ll dislike it. If I love a book or simply like a book, you may hate it. Take everything I say with this knowledge. If it sounds interesting to you despite what I’ve said, then go ahead and read it. You’ll only know you like something if you read it yourself.
That being said… Spoilers Ahead
State of Sorrow Duology by Melinda Salisbury
Reviews
What I Liked:
Balthazar; My favorite character that got the short end of the stick in every single situation and I am angry about it. I did see that there is a single novel (maybe series?) dedicated to him. I am going to read it. I just want him to be happy. Why in the world did he get caught up in Bianca and Lucas? My goodness.
Vic; He made me laugh so much. The part where he was like “Oh I knew you were vampires the entire time.” DYING. He put together the pieces on what everyone were on the first day and decided, oh well they haven’t killed me yet, so it’s probably to teach them something, or something. No other human seemed to get it, yet he did and it had me laughing so bad. This makes his actions for helping Ranulf all the better, because he knows Ranulf is not in the know, and he’s willing to help the vampires become people again. I love it. If Balthazar did not exist, Vic would be my fave.
Ranulf; This sweet, sweet man, who is just trying his hardest to speak slang and failing miserably. His duo with Vic was everything and I wish I knew more about him as a character.
Raquel; She was a very interesting character, and after how she was stalked and nearly killed, I don’t blame her for being against Vampires. Her betrayal did hurt, but her fear made her actions make sense to me. I hope she and Dana have a happy life, as well as that Raquel never has to be scared again.
Dana; Badass girl, who was willing to fight her order for her new friends? I’m here for it. I love her so much and wish her all the best, and I wish I knew so much more about her. I think her story is vastly superior to some of the others in this book, so I wish we got more of her.
Black Cross; The concept and execution of the organization I did really like. They weren’t maybe we’re vampire hunters sometimes. They were, we are vampire hunters all the time and wander about following rumors to kill. I appreciate this and the whole indoctrination as well as how they lived. I liked seeing it from the inside too.
Concept of Evernight; I like the idea of a school where vampires go to learn about the real world and learn to blend in properly again. I also liked the execution of it with classes and the likes.
Wraiths and Vampires; I liked having a different set of opposing factions other than werewolves and vamps. So this was a nice change of pace.
The Heroine as the Vampire; I really love this. And it might be because I read so many where the dark handsome stranger is the vampire, that I was craving it. But this book got me and I was here for her being the vampire.
Lucas; I teeter on the edge of not knowing where I want to put Lucas. Part of me loves him and his conviction to remain a human. I highly respect this. It is amazing. It is different, and I respect it. My issue with him is mostly in how he is so head over heels smitten with Bianca, and I can’t fault him for that. It was written for him to be that way. I love the fact that he was raised as a vampire hunter, as well as the fact that he can hold his own in a fight (not just being a hunter, but actually being good). So I liked Lucas, I realized as the series ended, it was just his relationship with Bianca pushed me, and that is where my issues lie: Bianca. Also, his family sucks. I can’t believe they tried to kill him when he was turned. Goodness.
Plot Progression; The girl as the vampire and the boy as a vampire hunter. Cool concept. The girl and boy having to meet up as the world tries to separate them. Romeo and Juliet, cool. I’m here for it. The girl escaping to the vampire hunters. Interesting. I like it. The boy becoming a vampire and the girl dying and both have to fix it. Interesting, okay. That was how I felt reading the synopsis each time that I started a new book. I thought the plot progression in concept worked out really well. I also liked how it was different. There were so many plot points here that were fascinating to me. So I really did enjoy this aspect of it. The issue was the execution of the plot.
What I Would Have Liked or Changed:
Bianca; When it comes to people I can not stand, she comes close to toping this list. She has a two digit kill count, not because she kills people but because she makes decisions that kill people. One of them is the person she so call loved. The other was HERSELF. This girl made so many bad decisions that she ended up dead-ending herself, and only because she is a special vampire child, was she able to “survive” it. Which we must not forget. She IS dead. She’s a wraith. And like. Look. Being naive is one thing. Keeping that naiveté and deciding things that will fully alter your life forever, just because a boy says some things to you… This is not okay. And I think that’s why I dislike Bianca so much, because she is real in that decision factor. A normal teenage girl WOULD do exactly what she did. The issue is, that most teenage girls aren’t highly important to their people, nor are they hunted. So they can’t have deaths on them because of their decisions to do stupid things for boys. And then when she finds out she killed people because of what she is? Oh. Sorry. That sucks. Like. Please. No. Bianca please, realize that what you are doing is literally breaking so much. But nope. And then she died. And I about lost it. Bianca is the reason that this series continuously went down hill for me, with all her bad decisions that stacked up one after another after another, without her thinking about the consequences of her actions. Sometimes I can deal with that, in this case I could not.
Bianca and Lucas; And this, this itself just frustrates me. I can’t with this relationship at all. I think that there are so many things wrong for it. And the fact that both of them died in it, is a tell tale sign it is not good. At all. They Romeo and Julieted themselves here, and it wasn’t even written in iambic pentameter. Their relationship drove me nuts. And at first I wanted Bianca to go for the good vampire boy, like everyone else wanted. By the end I realized that Bianca was my issue, and I just hoped Lucas could be happy with someone else, anyone else. Him falling in love with her was always going to result in the death of someone (cuz she had to die as a vampire), but like… It didn’t have to be him.
Plot Execution; In theory the ideas all work out. Then we have Bianca, who just doesn’t sell me on any of it. The first book was fine for me, but take the second that bored me when it could have been all the more romantic and mysterious. Or the third that excited me at first, but when I read it, I wanted to throw things (mostly because Bianca made SO MANY bad decisions). The third book in particular gets me, because thinking back on it, the actual plot and how it went is great when I recite it. When I read it, I wanted to rip the book apart because it wasn’t great. Then we get the last book and I… She’s supposed to be some super powerful wraith once she is dead, and I’m just done. IDK I liked the concepts that each book gave, but the actual execution of them were killed for me. I just could not.
Why You Should Read:
This series was not for me, let me caveat this with that. I think that the base concept revolving around the school for vampires trying to understand society, as well as a vampire hunter falling for a vampire was excellent. The general plot progression was not bad, and I like that Bianca’s reactions to things were reasonable for a teenager, I just didn’t like them. If you are in love with vampire novels, maybe check it out. If you need a YA where the MC’s decisions actually have weight to the story, then this is a good option.
Marlena Marie 
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