Night World: Volume 1 by L.J. Smith

Night World: Volume 1 (Night World, #1-3)
By L.J. Smith
Publisher: Simon Pulse, 2008
729 pages, paperback
Date Finished: 23/12/2010
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Action

Synopsis: In Secret Vampire, Poppy thought the summer would last forever. Then she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Now Poppy's only hope for survival is James, her friend and secret love. A vampire in the Night World, James can make Poppy immortal. But first they both must risk everything to go against the laws of the Night World.

Fugitives from Night World, three vampire sisters leave their isolated home to live among humans in Daughters of Darkness. Their brother, Ash, is sent to bring the girls back, but he falls in love with their beautiful friend.

Two witch cousins fight over their high school crush. It's a battle between black magic and white magic in Spellbinder.
~back of book~

~First Line: "It was on the first day of summer vacation that Poppy found out she was going to die."
~Last Line: "She held Eric and felt his breathing and was at peace with the night."

Review: This was my second time reading this omnibus, and I rediscovered why I love this series so much! There were magnificent characters, spectacular plots, and a good amount of action -- not too much, not too little. Since the book's covers contain three books, I will give a mini-review of each novel.

Secret Vampire: The first stories in omnibuses seem to always end up being my favorites; it was no different when I reread this series starter. The heroine, Poppy, finds out that she has cancer and there's no cure. The hero, James, has a startling secret -- he's a vampire. The only way Poppy will survive is if she's turned; will she give up her life, family, and friends? *My favorite character in SV: Phillip, because he's the kind of older brother I would have liked to have.*

Daughters of Darkness: The sequel novel revolves around "three renegade vampires and a secret vampire killer." When Rowan, Kestrel, and Jade move in with their aunt, they discover that someone has murdered her -- and knew she was a vampire. Mary-Lynnette, the heroine of DoD, gets caught in the midst of everything when her curiousity gets the better of her logic. Then there's Ash, the hero. How can he and Mary-Lynnette ever be soulmates when they basically can't even stand each other? *My favorite character in DoD: Ash, because he always has some sort of smart-allicky comment, and whenever he was alone with M-L, you could tell that he really did care; he just didn't show it in public.*

Spellbinder: Thea and Blaise, witches you've been raised together since early youth, have only one chance left. They've been expelled from their high school after being there for only one month -- again. Now they are living with Grandma Harman, and if they mess up again -- rather, if Blaise messes up again -- they will be shipped to the Convent, the dark and gloomy home of their Aunt Ursula (the name even creeps me out). Blaise is up to no good as usual with the human boys at their new school. Thea, our heroine, is trying to keep her in line. Then she meets Eric, our gorgeous, totally popular, every-girl-wants-to-be-with-him hero. Blaise wants him to be her new boytoy, and Thea must take a stad against her "sister." Who will win the guy in a fight between witches? *My favorite character in Spellbinder: Thea, because she's always trying to take care of other people and make others happy. She puts everyone before herself.*

Overall, this omnibus was absolutely fabulous, and I can't wait to reread the next three Night World books! :D



Quotes from the Book:

" 'Are you nuts? Look, Phil, I was born in San Francisco. I'm not some bug-eyed monster from Alpha Centauri. I eat Wheaties for breakfast.' " ~Secret Vampire

"Jade put down the suitcase and cat carrier and pulled at the gate. To her surprise, itmoved easily.
'See, it may not look good, but it still works--' She didn't get to finish the sentence properly. The gate fell on her." ~Daughters of Darkness

" 'I wash my hands of you two and I don't want to know what's going on. Besides, I've got worries of my own. I have to decide between a Maserati and a Karmann Ghia.' " ~Spellbinder