High school senior Rhodanthe Watson is dying.
She should be worrying about college applications, her first real boyfriend, and finding the perfect shade of lip gloss. Instead, her life is measured in doctor visits, an overprotective mother's rules, and the terrible uncertainty of how much time she has left.
Then Julian arrives.
Mysterious, captivating, and unlike anyone Rhodanthe has ever known, Julian makes her imagine a future she had stopped believing she could have. Falling in love with him is unexpected. Discovering that he's a vampire-and that death may not be as inevitable as she has always believed-changes everything.
But loving Julian comes with a price.
When jealousy turns dangerous and someone threatens the fragile future Rhodanthe has only just begun to want, she must decide how far she is willing to go to hold on to it. Choosing Julian could mean leaving behind her family, her old life, and everything she has ever known.
For a girl who has spent her life preparing to die, the most terrifying question is no longer when it will happen.
It's what she is willing to become in order to live.