Alternate Character Interpretation: Did Constantia persuade Redgrave to turn Balthazar solely because she wanted a hot new plaything? Or was she secretly hoping to earn Balthazar's loyalty/affections to the point that he would help her when she finally decided to get her revenge on Redgrave? Her comment to him near the end of Afterlife about how he never seemed to realize she didn't choose this life either and simply hid her resentment better, and the fact she pitches a plan for them to take down Redgrave together and both get what they want from it, could potentially support this.
The Plot Twist in the first book that Bianca is half vampire, though it's not so much the twist itself as opposed to its execution. Some readers thought the way it was handled was great and made the plot more interesting and original. Others thought it was pretty stupid or nonsensical, seeing as it occurs about half-way through the book and yet Bianca, who is the narrator, never mentions it. This revelation does get a few hints earlier in the book, but they're extremely subtle and would go over some first-time readers' heads, so for readers it either comes off as an Ass Pull or it's quite clever.
The ending of Afterlife tends to be divisive, mainly the part where Lucas is happy giving up his immortality and living a normal (ish) human life with Bianca...even though she’s now a wraith, meaning they will inevitably be parted someday. Some readers see it as a realistically bittersweet outcome that still gives the leads a happy ending (especially seeing as Lucas was miserable as a vampire), while others think it's more 'bitter' than 'sweet'.
Captain Obvious Reveal: That Evernight Academy is a school for vampires and that Lucas is hiding something, although what he’s hiding is less obvious. Prior to The Reveal that Bianca’s a vampire, it’s hinted that he himself could be a vampire, though this is goes out the window when Bianca bites him, as it confirms he’s definitely human.
Cliché Storm: The first half of Evernight. A shy, naïve small-town girl is forced to attend a snobby boarding school with dark secrets, where she doesn’t fit in. She bonds with fellow outsiders, including a handsome and mysterious rebel who tries to keep her at a distance because being close to him could result in the other students turning on her. She, of course, doesn’t listen and keeps trying to get closer to him because of the strong connection she feels to him, whilst trying to uncover his secret. And then said small-town girl turns out to be a vampire, after which the clichés start to die down.
Complete Monster: John Redgrave, from Balthazar, is a cruel and ancient vampire known for bringing out the worst in his followers. In the seventeenth century, when the title character discovers Redgrave's obsession with his young sister, Charity, Redgrave takes revenge on the family by killing them all except the siblings, then torturing Balthazar for days before turning him into a vampire. Forcing Balthazar to choose between turning either his Love Interest or Charity into a vampire, Redgrave murders Balthazar's beloved in response to him reluctantly vampirising his sister and forces Charity to become his lover while molding her into a vicious monster. After tormenting Balthazar throughout the ages, Redgrave discovers a psychic girl in the modern day whose blood makes vampires relive their most ecstatic memories and plans to constantly drain her blood to create an army of euphorically inebriated vampires for himself. Sending hundreds of vampires to attack her town, Redgrave Mind Rapes Balthazar with visions of his past pain when he tries to stop him.
Diagnosed by the Audience: Even before Charity More became a vampire, she was mentioned as being a bit strange. She had a short attention-span, was very rebellious, frequently talked to herself and generally seemed to be [[{[Cloud Cuckoolander off in a world of her own]]. After becoming a vampire, she's clearly insane.
Skye, who was popular enough to become one of the main protagonists of the Spin-Off.
Vic and Ranulf are pretty popular, possibly for providing a good deal of the comic relief in the series, and because their Odd Friendship is both fascinatingly quirky and heartwarming.
Balthazar is a stand-out example; he's probably the most well-known and popular character in the whole series and achieved Breakout Character status.
Harsher in Hindsight: In the first book, Raquel mentions her parents would probably tell her to stop overreacting or actually feel flattered at the attention when she's harassed by Erich. As of the second and third books, this becomes even worse with two revelations. Firstly, Raquel is revealed to be a lesbian, with "zero attraction" to boys. Fridge Horror sets in when one realises Raquel's parents may have known or at least suspected this, but tried to force their daughter to be attracted to the opposite sex. Second, Raquel reveals to Bianca that the wraith that haunts her gives her horrific nightmares about being raped by him and makes perverted comments. It's hardly surprising Raquel is terrified of Erich - it isn't the first time something like this has happened to her.
In the first book (published in 2008), Bianca and Lucas are messing around trying on clothes in a second-hand store and Bianca jokingly says Lucas looks like Sherlock Holmes "if he was sexy". The following year, Sherlock Holmes (2009) was released and the year after that the first season of Sherlock aired, both of which featured Younger and Hipper versions of Sherlock played by actors considered attractive by many (Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch, respectively; Cumberbatch's portrayal in particular got himself legions of fans swooning over him). Following the airing of Elementary in 2012, where Sherlock is played by Jonny Lee Miller and gets some fanservicey scenes, it's safe to say the idea of Sherlock being found sexy is not ridiculous anymore.
Skye is hinted to be a fan of Star Wars, mentioning she once argued with her brother when he stole her Padmé Amidala action figure. Claudia Gray later went on to write several Star Wars novels, including two centered around Padmé's daughter Leia.
Between Lucas and Balthazar, mostly in Afterlife. They become roommates, Balthazar is the one who helps Lucas deal with becoming a vampire and emotionally supports him, sometimes better than Bianca can. Balthazar also quite casually strips off in front of him.
Bianca and Raquel's friendship comes across as being a Pseudo-Romantic Friendship at times, particularly taking into account that Raquel turns out to be gay. Bianca stands up for Raquel in class when Mrs Bethany picks on her even though this makes her a target, despite them not knowing each other well at this point. They both bond over feeling like outcasts, Raquel confides some of her darkest fears and secrets to Bianca while Bianca hates having to keep secrets from her, and they're delighted to become roommates in their second year (with Bianca vehemently defending Raquel when Courtney claims she "drew the short straw" for roommates). Bianca is deeply shocked and hurt when Raquel betrays her to Black Cross, though she states she cannot hate her for it as she understands why; Raquel herself quickly comes to regret it and profusely apologises to Bianca even wondering if she'd come back to haunt her when she learns she's a wraith. Bianca also goes to great lengths to protect Raquel from Erich and the ghost that terrorises her.
Courtney. She's a cruel, vain, self-centered Alpha Bitch, but it's implied several times (particularly in the second book) that she's actually very lonely and was forced to leave her family after becoming a vampire. She was only eighteen when she became a vampire too, and we have no idea what the circumstances of her transformation were (given how unhappy she seems, it's possible she had no choice in the matter). She also doesn't deserve to be decapitated.
Kate. One cannot help but pity her - both her husbands are killed by vampires, she's told she will have to disband her cell for their safety, who are like family to her, her son runs off with a vampire and she has no idea where he is or if he's safe and then becomes a vampire too, which in her view, is a Fate Worse than Death, which she attempts to 'save' him from by trying to kill him. She's clearly distraught by this, but her indoctrination by Black Cross makes her think she has no other choice. And then, two members of her cell betray her, which has got to sting.
Samuel Younger. He's an asshole and a bully, but not even he deserves to be forcibly made human and driven mad by it. Even Bianca and Lucas (the latter of whom he frequently targeted) think so.
Moral Event Horizon: It's implied she may have already crossed it by this point given she's a murderer many times over, but the first time we see Charity doing something truly heinous is when she kills the defenceless, incapacitated Courtney simply because she could. Charity does argue that Courtney was going to tell the Evernight faculty about Balthazar teaming up with a Black Cross hunter, so she was feasibly protecting her brother, but then Charity proceeds to tell on Balthazar anyway and falsely tells Black Cross that the Evernight vampires plan to massacre the human students, resulting in an attack on the school that kills and endangers many people. By this point everyone save Balthazar considers Charity well beyond redemption and even Balthazar gets onboard when Charity brutally kills Lucas and leaves him to rise as a vampire, just to get back at him, Balthazar and Bianca. That said, the ending of Balthazar suggests redemption could be possible for her once she's freed of Redgrave's influence forever and saves Balthazar and Skye, although Balthazar isn't certain if her apparent Heel–Face Turn will stick.
Nightmare Fuel: The scene in Afterlife where Bianca confronts the wraith that haunts Raquel is straight out of a horror movie, complete with creepy dolls and the wraith appearing naked and making perverted comments. Worse still, is the fact that this wraith has tormented Raquel since childhood, meaning she had to go through this every single night.
Older Than They Think: An elite boarding school divided into human students and vampire students, the vampires are seen as both admirable and intimidating for their beauty and power, the main character is a teenage girl who doesn’t quite fit into either group and is in a love triangle involving a popular vampire student and a rebellious vampire hunter. Hmm...
Bianca's death in Hourglass; even though it's not permanent, it's still heartbreaking reading about her slowly fading away, whilst Lucas is forced to watch, unable to intervene.
The deaths of Mrs Bethany and Christopher, purely because of how tragic their story is.
Balthazar's entire life could be considered a Tear Jerker, especially the flashback in which he is rejected by his only friend after he discovers he's a vampire.
What happened to the little girl who haunts Skye's house - deliberately poisoned and doomed to die a slow, painful death, never knowing who was responsible (her own parents are mentioned as potential suspects).
Skye's reunion with her deceased brother, Dakota.
They Copied It, So It Sucks!: Some people who read the first book (or at the very least the first few chapters) accused the series of this, due to allegedly blatantly ripping-off Twilight. Most fans are quick to disagree, and in fairness, besides the vampire-human love story and the presence of a love triangle, Evernight's plot really doesn’t have that much in common with Twilight beneath the surface - particularly as the series progresses - and the way the books portray vampires is quite different from Twilight .
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The Plot Twist in the first book that Bianca is a vampire might actually have worked better if she herself had been unaware she was a vampire until she bit Lucas, which would've altered the story slightly in some potentially interesting ways while keeping the overall plot the same. It would also possibly better explain why Bianca never really drops any hints about being a vampire and being in on the secret of Evernight, which some readers found to be a bit of a stretch seeing as the story is actually told from her perspective.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Adrian is intended to be a flawed yet loving parent to Bianca, but there are times - particularly in Stargazer – when he borders on being emotionally abusive. His overprotectiveness of Bianca tends to manifest as constantly lying to her, treating her like a child (while also criticizing her maturity) and dismissing her concerns or opinions on important matters. Celia can also be overprotective but she at least tries to understand where Bianca is coming from and makes an effort to meet her halfway, while Adrian snaps her at for so much as disagreeing with him, says Bianca has no choice about becoming a full vampire with no room for discussion, and criticises her friends simply for being human. He also gets angry because his daughter may or may not be having a sexual relationship with Balthazar, even though she's almost eighteen, he's been actively encouraging a relationship between them (which is a bit creepy considering that Balthazar is actually older than his own wife) and it's really none of his business. When Bianca cuts her parents off because of the lies they told her, Adrian has the nerve to act like she's just being a typical rebellious teenager over a 'little thing' like lying to her about what she is her entire life, and even tries to guilt trip her by telling her how much she's 'hurting' her mother, with little acknowledgement of much Bianca might be hurting from all this. Luckily, he redeems himself in the fourth book by immediately and unconditionally accepting Bianca after learning she's a wraith.
Balthazar. Good god, Balthazar. Nothing ever seems to go right for this poor guy.
Skye, especially in Balthazar. She's grieving over her dead brother, her parents ignore her and act like her brother never existed, she gets bullied or mocked at school, has to constantly be around her ex-boyfriend who broke her heart and his new girlfriend, is being stalked by dangerous vampires, the guy she likes holds her at a distance and she's stuck with frightening psychic powers she can't control.
Lucas from the end of Hourglass to the end of Afterlife. His girlfriend dies in his arms, he is turned into a vampire against his will, has to attend a school where everyone hates him because it's the only place in the world that will accept him, his own mother turns on him and tries to kill him and being a vampire really, reallysucks for him.
