Secret Vampire (Night World) by L Jane Smith

Today's the first day of LJ Smith Week!!! Hope you enjoy! Leave comments and please click on some ads if you have the time. :)

"It was the first day of summer vacation that Poppy found out she was going to die."

What do you think when you hear of Vampires? (If you think Sparkles just leave right now.) Well, what about lamia? I didn't think so. A breed of Vampires that are born that way. (A lot like in Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, except a lot of the color effects, like sunlight weakens, fangs, and they even have special powers.)

James is one of them. His life is pretty normal compared to most Vampires, he goes to school, dates and hangs with his best friend Poppy. That is until he finds out that she has Pancreatic Cancer, one of the most painful cancers known to man. He researches it (tearfully) and decides then that he refuses to let her die, mostly because of the obvious, he's in love with her.

So, he decides he's going to turn her into a Vampire, even if they'll kill him for it. THEY being the Night World, the secret world of Vampires, Werewolves, Witches and Shapeshifters. The Number One Rule, Humans are not allowed to know. Number Two (at least for Vampires) Humans cannot be changed into Vampires.

But, when The Night World is the least of their problems, James has to find a way to get Poppy back before The Night World catches up with her.

This is one of those books that I could not put down for two hours straight! It's a must read!

Remember, there's always a link to the amazon page for the book when you click on the picture! Don't hesitate!

September Calender

Here's the calender for September:

• Thursday, September 3rd until Thursday, September the 10th is L Jane Smith Week in honor of the series premiere of the Vampire Diaries on the CW
• Monday, September 14th until Monday, September 21st is Gossip Girl Week in honor of the season premiere of Gossip Girl.
• Wednesday, September 23rd until Sunday, September 27th is Bring Back Bard Week, a week devoted to continuing the Bard Academy Series by Cara Lockwood.

More information on these events as they draw closer.

L Jane Smith Week!

Annoucement!!!

There will be a new review everyday, starting on September 3rd until Septmber 10th. Most of the books will be from her Night Series since it involves Vampires, and the review of the first book of the Vampire Diaries series will be debuted the night before the pilot episode and the second the night of, since they are both printed togther now.

Here's the schduele:

• Thursday, September 3: Night World-Secret Vampire
• Friday, Septemeber 4: Night World-Daughter's of Darkness
• Saturday, September 5: Night World-The Chosen
• Sunday, September 6: Night World-Soulmate
• Monday, September 7: Night World-Huntress
• Tuesday, September 8: Night World-Black Dawn
• Wednesday September 9: The Vampire Diaries-The Awakening
• Thursday September 10: The Vampire Diaries-The Struggle

Stardust by Neil Gailman

"A philosopher once asked, "Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" Pointless, really... ”Do the stars gaze back?" Now that's a question." - Ian McKellen, Stardust Movie, 2007

To be honest, I was excited to read this because this is a tie for my favorite movie with The Princess Bride. And I was extremely disappointed.

The premise was exactly the same as the movie but there were a few key differences. Firstly, the characters first name is not Tristan but Tristran. His father is not a single father, but rather got married a few months before Tristran was born.

Before I go off into the bad points let me tell you a few reasons why I like it:

• The story was extremely unique and wonderful, interesting plot lines.
• Very understandable (especially since based in Victorian times) but still was true to the language.
• While multiple deaths, the dead Princes still come back from the after life to watch, showing that death might not be an ending but could be a beginning.

Now, the reasons why I was disappointed:

• The novel was quite dark while some tend to thrive on it, it only seemed to bring it down.
• Quite violent for a child/teen's novel.
• The explanations of things were jumbled and a little confusing (not even as confusing as Jurassic Park, which was written by a doctor).
• The ending isn't ended well.
• Instead of Tristran falling for Yvaine, it seems more like he went to her because he had no other choice because the girl who was orignally in love with got pregnant by some other guy.

There are many, many, many things that have to wrong before I can hate something, or even become disappointed by it but this novel seemed to manage it. Why is it that most books that seem to win so many awards and become movies and make authors popular don't seem to be that good at all?

I myself can not answer that but my recommandation, don't bother reading it and stick with the movie, while a little lengthy it will be a better use of two and a half hours than a week of getting through this novel.