Night World

Poppy North is a typical sixteen-year old--she gets through school by being smarter than her teachers; likes to irritate her straight-laced twin brother, Phil; listens to New Age and techno music; has a secret crush on her best friend, James; and wakes up on the first morning of summer vacation before her senior year of high-school with nothing more paramount on her mind than what she can do with an entire summer spent with James. Until the pain in her abdomen, which has steadily been increasing, working its way around to her back, keeping her awake at night, and causing her to lose weight, sends her to the doctor. Who then sends her to the hospital for tests. Where doctors then inform her that she has pancreatic cancer--the kind that will kill you within three weeks to three months. Poppy, of course, isn't ready to die. Watching the reaction of her family--twin brother Phil, her mother, and step-father Cliff--only brings the truth closer to home. Poppy is going to die, there's nothing anyone can do about it, and it's going to be painful. Except there is someone who can do something about it. James Rasmussen, her best friend from El Camino High School, her secret crush, a boy who now tells her something impossible--he's a lamia, a boy who was born a vampire, a member of the Night World, and he can change Poppy into a vampire to avoid certain death. Of course Poppy doesn't believe him at first, but then what choice does she have? There's always been something different about James, and now she knows exactly what the difference is. So she agrees to become a vampire, knowing she'll have to leave her family behind, but knowing it's the only way to avoid certain death. What follows is a fast-moving, interesting story about Poppy's immersion into becoming a vampire, the toll it takes on her brother, Phil, who finds out what they're doing, and the danger it puts James in. Because there are only two rules of the Night World: Never let the humans know it exists, and never fall in love with one of them. James has broken both of those rules. What a great start to the Night World series! Towards the end of the book we meet some other interesting characters, which I'm guessing will play major roles in future books, so I can't wait to get started on the next read.

LJ Smith has been one of my favorite authors since I was in junior high school. Her books are all about the supernatural, but you don't have to be a science-fiction, horror story lover to enjoy them. The Night World is a series about vampires, witches, shapeshifters, and the humans who know about them. However, don't be turned off if this isn't typically your thing. They are more love stories between teenagers who hapen to be supernatural beings than they are books about supernatural beings who happen to fall in love. The characters are easy to relate to because they have the same types of problems that normal teenagers have, fangs and all. Secret Vampire is one of the best Night World books in the series. James is a vampire whose human best friend, Poppy, is dying of cancer. He has to choose between breaking the laws of his people or letting Poppy die. He also has to face the obstacles of Phil, Poppy's possessive twin brother, Poppy's stubborness, and Ash, James' ruthless vampire cousin. I would recommend Secret Vampire for any teen girl, because in encompasses a wide variety of genres into one book without going too heavily into any of them.

I think that this series is great I own all nine books, but the only bad thing about it is if you buy all 9 books you won't be able to finish the series because the other books i have no idea whether they were even been published yet, which is a real bummer. I have been waiting 2 years to finish this series and I have been searching around my state and other book vendors trying to find the last volumes. L.J. Smith is an excellent writer but I wish I could just find the other books!

Like all of L. J. Smith's books, Secret Vampire is a quick, thrilling read. Poppy is an ordinary teenage girl who at sixteen years old finds out that she is dying of cancer. That's when James, her best friend who she has secretly been in love with for years, reveals to her that he is a vampire and that he can offer her a cure - eternal life as a vampire. Now Poppy must make a choice - she can die or she can become a vampire. I especially like the ending, but I won't spoil it for you. All I can say is this book is awesome and amazing.

I've read this book about four times, and I'll probably still continue to read it. I have this goal to actually get myself to read the Night World Series in order, but unfortunately, sense my boyfriend has some of my books, when I did decide "Ok, I'm going to do it" I had to skip over some books. LJ Smith writes great characters. This story seems to be one of those things that is just fancinating about vampires. A girl is about to die, and her only way to live is to become a vampire. Its romantic, it has an edge of evil to it, and its a great intro to the series. The series just glides right into things. I began to notice, recently, that they seem to be flowing in a yearly manor. Poppy finds out she's got cancer just after school let's out, Ash finds his soulmate just before school's back in session, the book after that happens toward the beginning of the school year, and so on. It really is just one long series and you get to meet so many different lives. Secret Vampire is still my fav. And actually, everyone seems to be always mentioning Ash. I really didn't find anything about his character that special in this book. He has a good part and I love him in the book after this, or rather I just love how Mary Lennette treats him. These books are funny, suspensful and romantic, just a good mix. Don't let these books pass you by.