The Night World: Volume One by L.J. Smith

The Nightworld series is a collection of three (soon to be four) volumes, each containing three seperate stories, each story about someone different, but somehow related to the one preceding and following it.

Here we go:

The Night World isn't a place. It's all around us. It's a secret society of vampires, werewolves, witches, and other creatures of the darkness that live among us. They're beautiful and deadly and irresistable to humans. Your high school teacher could be one, and so could your boyfriend.

The Night World laws say it's okay to hunt humans. It's okay to toy with their hearts, it's even okay to kill them. There are only two things you can't do with them:

1. Never let them find out the Night World exists.

2. Never fall in love with one of them.

These are the stories about what happens when the rules are broken.

When Poppy finds that she has pancreatic cancer, she is devastated that her life is coming to such an abrupt end. But then her best friend James reveals that he is a vampire, and he can offer her a chance to live...forever. But the risks are great. If the Night World were to find about her, it'd be certain death. Poppy must choose in "Secret Vampire."

"Daughters of Darkness" takes us to a small village in Oregon, where human Mary-Lynette harbors suspicions about her elderly neighbor's three nieces. Then a string of brutal murders and baffling happenings occur, coinciding with the mysterious girls' appearance. Things only get more complicated when Mary-Lynette meets their brother, and finds out what they truly are.

In "Spellbinder", witch cousins Thea and Blaise have one last chance to get their act together at their new school. Thea is determined not to get expelled this time due to Blaise's actions, but when Blaise begins playing with Thea's new crush, Thea can't help but get sucked it. Soon both girls are in over their heads.

THESE STORIES IN THIS BOOK ORDERED FROM BEST TO NOT BEST--none are bad, just some arent as amazing as the others (in my opinion): "Daughters of Darkness" and "Secret Vampire" tie for first because they were both fast paced and hooked me very easily. "Spellbinder" took a while to love, but it is definitely not unlovable. I loved all of these stories--no doubt about that--but some were not as great as the other ones.

What i thought: Okay, i am being completely serious when i say this: These Are Just About Some of the BEST Books I Have Ever Read. Not kidding. At all.

I never read books like this. Whenever i read books with more than one book in them, they generally are about the same people, and are sequels. This is the first series of seperate stories involving different characters that i have ever read, and are just about the only ones i will ever read. As i clearly stated before, these books are amazing. I just cant stand having the stories end. Thats how good they are. These stories are so fantastic. i couldn't move from characters to characters so quickly. Its painful for me to do. Such as, by the end of "Secret Vampire," I was just getting to know Poppy and James. Then it was over, and I had to move on to the next story. Fine, i WANTED to move on to the next story, but not because i was over the other one. No way. I just loved it so much, i couldnt wait to see what the next story had in store for me. So that is the ONE downside to these. (I REALLY WANTED MORE! UGH! im okay.)

So, that said, to make this simple, i'm going to select three words that i think describe the Night World; Volume One are: frustrating, romantic, intense. Fine, i'm changing the 'three words' rule. Lets make it five for this book. lets get on with it, folks:

frustrating--look above; in all caps!

romantic--they all involve soulmates. have you heard of that? Hmm? No? Well, go look it up. Or read these. And you'll find out

intense--as you saw previously, there are only TWO laws for the Night people: dont fall in love, and dont tell anyone. Lets think now, use all of our nerd-power. If you were a night person, and you fell in love with a human--VERMIN in your family's eyes--would you try to hide it? bury those feelings down deep, pretend you dont know they're there? If it would protect that loved one? I know i would. But then something happens. something happens and everything you know changes. You need to tell that one person what you are. if it would help them, but also put not just you but THEM in danger, would you do it? I think we all know the answer to that. If not, only one thing to do: Read it.

tofurkey--yes, yes, we ALL know i am not normal in the least. Okay, if you dont, go get a copy of Leah for Dummies, found in bookstores near you. If you dont know me, and are not a vegan or vegatarian, you might have no clue what tofurkey even IS. Well, tofurkey is a TOFU TURKEY. I know it sounds disgusting, but when you stop eating all meat, poultry, fish, cray fish, shell fish. . . you get my point . . . well, tofurkey is pretty good. So this book is tofurkey, the closest thing a vegetarian has to heaven--heaven as in related to food. My heaven is Borders. . . but that is beyond the point

unbelievable--okay, these stories are so beyond me. I could not come up with this kind of stuff. Trust me. I've tried. hey, maybe thats the problem! No. Im not going there.

Basically, these three novels by L.J. Smith that have been combined and put behind one knock out of a new cover will captivate, amaze, and entertain. What you think would be cliché and overworked is unique, innovative, and just straight out fantastic in Smith's voice. All three of the stories are cleverly connected, making them that more enjoyable. Smith's characters are wonderfully imagined and presented in such a fashion to make the readers fall for them and become enraptured in their struggles and triumphs. There's a new twist around every corner and surprising depth and compassion on every page. Although each story was originally published separately, they flow together fluidly to present an enticing, dangerous, and highly appealing look at the Night World.

i know this style of review is reallly weird . . . but in honor of the challenge i tried something new, okay???????? you have a problem with that????