Evernight

Evernight by Claudia Gray, 2008 Harper Collins

     At an academy set aside to assimilate Vampires into the mainstream world, Bianca is a rare creation--the child of two Vampires. She has lived her life knowing that one day she will join her parents in their undead lifestyle. When she meets Lucas Ross, a fellow student, something new starts to grow. Their new romance is challenged by the introduction of humans to the Evernight Academy.
     Tensions rise when humans, alongside the Vampires, begin to notice something is wrong at Evernight. When wraiths make an appearance at a school dance, seeming to attack Bianca and her human friends, the school's Vampire population goes on the attack. Within a few weeks Bianca and Lucas' relationship becomes taboo and Lucas's family comes for an unwelcome visit.
     Lucas's family is part of the Black Hand--an organization of militant vampire hunters--and Lucas was placed at Evernight to help infiltrate the stronghold. But his love for Bianca keeps him from revealing her fate to his family. When he leaves Evernight, Lucas pledges his love to Bianca, promising to come back for her.
     This supernatural love story follows the same lines as Romeo and Juliet: lovers from two feuding entities who will challenge all obstacles to be together. Where the story diverges from Shakespeare's work is in Bianca and Lucas's hope that they will be together even when present circumstances seem hopeless. Rather than run away and end up killing themselves, Lucas goes back to his family and Bianca stays with her family.
     There are a few mature scenes, and the occasional bout of foul language, but the main negative sentiment is one of race (vampire vs human vs wraith) and of class. This is Bianca's journey to discover who she is in light of Lucas's love and to either accept or create an ideology for her life. Evernight is the first of a series dealing with the Evernight Academy.