Title: Night World Vol. 2 (Dark Angel, The Chosen, Soulmate)

Author: L.J. Smith

Publisher: Simon Pulse 2008

Genre: Vampires

Pages: 688

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Vampires

How I Got It: I own it!

Vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters -- they live among us without our knowledge. Night World is their secret society, a secret society with very strict rules. And falling in love breaks all the laws of the Night World.In Dark Angel, Gillian is saved from drowning by her guardian angel. Only visible to Gillian, Angel will fulfill her heart's every desire. But when Angel starts making strange and sinister requests, Gillian must question who he truly is and where he came from.
Armed with a wooden stake, martial arts, and the will to resist a vampire's mind control, Rashel struggles to avenge her mother's death in The Chosen. Then she meets Quinn, her soulmate, who is part of the world she has vowed to destroy.
Hannah receives notes warning her of incredible danger in Soulmate. But if death is her destiny, is the Lord of the Night World's love strong enough to save her?

I have a confession to make: I didn't actually finish this book. I read the first two stories, but then I got upset and stopped reading the book. Let's discuss the first two stories and then I will get the issue that stopped me reading.

Dark Angel -- I liked how this story started. I liked Gillian and her radical change. I also liked Angel. His character was very interesting. You start thinking he's the best thing that's ever happened to Gillian. But then little things started happening. And you start thinking that there's something wrong with this whole story. I liked the story. And then we find out that Gillian's soulmate is David and the ending felt way too formulaic and a cop-out. On to the next story...

The Chosen -- Right away, this story struck me as wrong. The beginning flashback of how Rashel became Rashel the vampire hunter was so clichéd. I knew that the vampire that killed her mother would come back and guess what... he did. Of course. And then she met Quinn and of course they're soulmates. It just seemed so clichéd. I finished the story, but that was it.

So my problem with the Night World stories... soulmates. In the first volume, we are told that people finding their soulmates is incredibly weird. Very rarely do people find each other. And yet, in every story in the volumes, characters find their soulmate. And the soulmate is always from the wrong world. One human, one Night World. Therefore, I am done with this series. I can't keep the formula going. So I'm done and moving on to something else.

Night World

Volume 1: Secret Vampire/Daughters of Darkness/Spellbinder
Volume 2: Dark Angel/Chosen/Soulmate
Volume 3: Huntress/Black Dawn/Witchlight

Title: Night World Vol. 1 (Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness, Spellbinder)

Author: L.J. Smith

Publisher: Simon Pulse 2008

Genre: Vampires

Pages: 752

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Vampires; 2011 - Show It Who's Boss

How I Got It: I own it!

Vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters -- they live among us without our knowledge. Night World is their secret society, a secret society with very strict rules. And falling in love breaks all the laws of the Night World.
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 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.

I was a bit hesitant going into this series. I love the Twilight saga, but am a bit done with the sparkly vampires genre. Thankfully this series is a bit more series vampires than sparkly vampires. This definitely reminded me of L.J. Smith's other series The Vampire Diaries. Now I wasn't a huge fan of that series. Amazingly enough, I love the television series better than the book series. I was happily surprised by this series.

Secret Vampire -- A good classic boys meets girl story although this boy is a vampire and this girl is dying. I loved the characters of James and Phillip. They were likable and believable. I thought that at times Poppy was incredibly childish acting. Especially so when we compare her to her brother's behavior. It made me wonder about the difference in maturity levels between her and James. Thankfully she did seem to grow up at the story progressed. The timeline was just a bit rushed for my tastes.

Daughters of Darkness -- Definitely my favorite from this volume. I love the reintroduction of bad boy Ash. We see him as the lethal vampire in Secret Vampire, and here we get to see his true nature. I also loved the interactions between Ash and his sisters. They were a treat, especially Kestrel. I hope to read more about her in future volumes. My problem with this story lies in the ending. It's just so unbelievable. I thought that soulmates would do anything to be together. Instead, Mary-Lynnette is content to let Ash leave and when he says he'll come back next year, she's completely noncomittal. Doesn't sound like a true love...

Spellbinder -- I always love a good story involving witches. And this one was great with supernatural entities, romance, and jealousy. All around I liked the story. My only issue was with Blaise. If I was Thea, I would have gotten seriously pissed at her and left her in the dust. At least in the end she atoned for her crimes against Thea.

Night World

Volume 1: Secret Vampire/Daughters of Darkness/Spellbinder
Volume 2: Dark Angel/Chosen/Soulmate
Volume 3: Huntress/Black Dawn/Witchlight

Night World Vol. 2 by L.J. Smith

Night World Vol. 1 by L.J. Smith