The first book in L.J. Smith’s beloved Night World series is now available as a special collector’s edition The pain was something Poppy couldn’t ignore. The diagnosis was death. There was no hope–until James appeared in the darkened hospital room. James, her best friend and secret love, the most handsome boy in El Camino High. But this was a James she didn’t know, menacing yet irresistible as … yet irresistible as he offered Poppy the gift of eternal life.
Only he could open the door to the Night World, and spirit her into its lonely, secret universe.
One dizzying kiss and she can see into his soul. She finds that he has always loved her. They’re soul mates–but can she follow him into death and beyond? It’s a desperate choice, and Poppy’s time is running out…more
Night World by LJ Smith is the first novel in her Night World series. First published back in 1996, the series introduces young readers to werewolves, lamia (vampires), and witches.
Age Shows
I am a massive fan of LJ Smith, having read the Vampire Diaries series when she still wrote it, but I can say I think my age is starting to show.
Night World is very much written for young readers. Night World is a light and fluffy read. Sadly, there is not much depth to the writing or the storytelling, but that does not mean it is not worth reading.
The novel follows Poppy who is quickly diagnosed with cancer. At only sixteen, her whole life is ahead of her. Her friend James she finds out, is a vampire and offers her a choice, death, or life as a vampire with him. Poppy chooses life as a vampire, even when it means leaving everything she has ever loved behind.
This novel is a perfect light read for young readers. It does lack depth. Again, this is an entertaining read, a quick well-written read. The character dynamics are there, and the personalities are there. It only shows in its age.
As we read, the more we read, the more society changes and grows, the more that writing changes. Back in 1996, I do not think we were wholly aware as we are now. Alternatively, at least, literature was not. The bulk of Young Adult novels back in the day did not deal with today’s issue because voices were getting shut down before they could make a noise.
It shows in writing in a way. Night World is not incredibly thought-provoking; it is simply a story meant for entertainment.
Some Issues
Like I said above, Night World is a light story, a quick breeze to read. Furthermore, while it is well-written, it does suffer some narrative issues.
Poppy’s internal narrative is incredibly annoying. Poppy’s internal narrative is self-involved which makes it difficult to be invested in her character. Yes, she is dying, but there is so much more going on that she is not thinking about. It takes her time to register that her death will affect her mother, father, and brother in ways she had not even thought about.
Moreover, again, there is that issue of the story lacking depth. Again, not every story has to have depth or subtext to it. Not everything has to deal with a current or social issue, so do not expect that if you read this novel.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Night World is a good novel. As the first book in a series is does an excellent job of establishing the characters and the world, LJ Smith is building here. Maybe as the story grows, it will improve as far as depth, but for right now, it is a good light, clean read for all ages.
This book has 3 stories inside it. Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness and Enchantress.
In the Secret Vampire, we follow a girl named Poppy who get a shocking diagnosis of a cancer which can not be cured and will kill her. As she lays in her hospital bed her best friend James tries to find a way to save her. In the end he can only do one thing to save her, and that is by breaking the night world law and turning her into a vampire. Throughout this book we see the process happen, and we find out a secret about Poppy that she didn’t even know herself . Everything take a turn for the worse when James cousin Ash shows up to try and try and separate them. Poppy believes Ash and flees with him bus Ashes intentions are not good what so ever.
I loved this story, it was so cute and heart warming, but left me wanting more, and wanting to find out what happens next. I was so hooked, I loved every page, and didn’t see the twist happening, until it was there and I was shocked.
In Daughters of Darkness, we follow a human names Mary Lynette and her brother Mark as they live in a small village when all of a sudden 3 sisters come to the village to live with their aunt who they find dead, but these sisters aren’t ordinary sisters, they are vampires. Whilst star gazing Mary Lynette see’s something suspicious through her binoculars. She sees the 3 sisters caring something wrapped in black bags and putting it in a deep dug hole. This makes her suspicious and nervous, but she wants to know what is going on and what has happened, so she goes and investigates, over the weeks.
The three sisters have to lie to cover up what really happened to their aunt as the shocking truth is that she was murdered before they got there, and they stumbled across her body. We also come across Ash again from the first book, which I loved, to show how they link. Ash is there to try and stop her sisters and bring them back to the night world, but get tangled up in murders and finding his soulmate which turn out to be human, and he doesn’t know what to do or what to think, all he know is he has to change and help find the murderer to save the village and his sisters.
I loved every moment and was shocked when i found out who the murder was, I never thought it would be the person who it was. The ending was so gripping and heart wrenching, but ti wrapped up nicely, but I wanted to know more and what would happen next.
In Enchantress. In this little story we follow a girl called Thea and her cousin Blaise, they are both witches. Blaise is bad news and breaks every rule the night world has. She and her cousin has been expelled from another school and now this is her last chance at the new school, if she gets into trouble or expelled from this school she will be in big big trouble. Something unexpected happened to Thea starting on day one, she saved a snake with a boy called Eric, and as soon as the clasp eyes she knows that he is her soulmate. Blaise doesn’t like this what so ever so tries to get between them and fails. Blaise then threatens Eric’s life so Thea, unexpectedly, does a forbidden spell, and it goes horribly wrong. No she has two things to try and take care of, first is Eric and not letting Blaise rip them apart, and now the consequences of the forbidden spell.
This was my.least favourite of the three as things happened too fast and was a bit confusing, but I still love the romance and danger this book held.
This was an amazing bound up of the three books. I really loved each unique story and can’t wait to read the second vol of books
Loved the Night World series!