Daughters of Darkness (Book)

Smith, L. J. (1996). Daughters of darkness. New York, NY: Archway Paperbacks. ISBN: 0-671-55134-5

Interest Level: Ages 9 to 14
Genre: Fiction
Subjects/Themes: Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural beings, Vampires,

Plot:  The Night World is a secret society of witches, vampires, and werewolves that has existed since ancient times.  Humans who find out about the Night World are killed or used as food for vampires and werewolves.  This is because humans greatly outnumber Night World citizens, though this was not always true.  Night World citizens can torture or kill a human, but they are forbidden to fall in love with one.  But lately there's been whispers in the Night World that soul mates are being found.  The soul mate principle means that for every person there is one other person fated to be their perfect match.  The soul mate connection is stronger then any known magic.  But even more interesting is the rumors that those finding their soul mates are finding them in regular human beings. 

In Daughters of Darkness, three vampire sisters have runaway from home, a vampire controlled island stuck with old fashioned values where men are in charge of everything.  They runaway to the country where they find their aunt has been murdered.  Their brother, Ash, shows up and is trying to convince the girls that they need to return home.  In the process, Ash finds his soul mate in Mary-Lynnette, a human girl living next door to the Ash's sisters.  Torn between Night World rules and his love for his sisters and Mary-Lynnette, Ash tries to figure out what to do next.

Personal Thoughts: This was one of my favorite series in junior high.  I wasn't that big of a fan of the Vampire Diaries but I was glad that it got turned into a TV show since that meant that the rest of L.J. Smith's books were likely to get more attention and get republished.  Each book was a great tween romance that stressed testing true love and your personal principles.  Each of the characters were high school students that are also dealing with very realistic problems as well as magical ones. 

In  this the second book of the Night World series, Ash is a party boy who has used girls for fun and money.  His soul mate, Mary-Lynnette, is a quiet thoughtful individual who doesn't trust good looks because it usually means a shallow mind. The best part of this book is that it shows that the soul mate principle can sometimes be painful when two individuals don't mesh perfectly instantly.  Ash is the perfect bad boy who starts redeeming himself in order to win the respect of the girl he loves.  Cliche it might be, but its sure to delight tween girls. 

When compared to Twilight, the stories are shorter but the female characters are stronger.  Also the material is pretty PG with nothing outside of simple kissing in these stories; though by all reports the last book, Strange Fate, (which has been in the works for years now) does get more intense with the Apocalypse which results in vampires taking over and humans as slaves.  But I'll report back on that once its published.  Definitely a Must Read for young vampire fans!

Series Info: Book Two of the Night World series
Sequel: Spellbinder
Book Talk: Check out my 2 minute book talk for the Night World series first three books.

Author's Website: L.J. Smith Offical Website