Dark Visions by LJ Smith
Dark Visions by LJ Smith
Buy it Now: at Powell’s | at Amazon
I wasn’t sure what book to pick for my first review at “The Discriminating Fangirl.” I wanted something that expresses something about me so all my future friends can get a sense of who I am. But then it’s really hard for me to pick just one book for anything. Well, I say in my bio (see below!) that my goal is to convert young girls to fangirlism and it just so happens that some of the nerdygirl books I loved when I was a kid are being re-released these days. I’m talking, of course, about the novels by LJ Smith.
LJ (Lisa Jane) Smith was the Stephanie Meyer of the early 1990s. Her Vampire Diaries series hit the New York Times Bestseller list back before there was a separate list for every imaginable genre. (Fun fact: When I was young, I thought reading a NYT Bestseller made me look worldly and cerebral. Oh, teenaged self, you are so unintentionally hilarious.) Anyway, you may be familiar with The Vampire Diaries because it’s now a show that just appeared on the CW network. Mark my words, that show will be winning an Emmy next year for the best use of fog machine. But many other of Ms. Smith’s paranormal masterpieces have been re-released in time for the show’s premiere. My favorite was actually The Secret Circle about a coven of witches, but I didn’t get that one free, so I’m going to be talking about Dark Visions instead.
The copyright page tells me that the first Dark Visions book was released in 1994, when yours truly was 12. If you couldn’t tell from the title, it is about psychics. Not those boring TV psychics who tell hapless dupes that there is someone watching over them, someone whose name begins with B—these are real, honest-to-goodness teenagers with paranormal powers. Our heroine is Kaitlyn (or Kait), a girl who can draw the future much like poor, unfortunate Mister Isaac from Heroes.
Description: Kaitlyn Fairchild has always felt like an outsider in her small hometown. Her haunting eyes and prophetic drawings have earned her a reputation as a witch. But Kait’s not a witch: She’s a psychic. Tired of being shunned, Kait accepts an invitation to attend the Zetes Institute, where she can have a fresh start and study with other psychic teens.
Learning to hone her abilities with four other gifted students, Kait discovers the intensity of her power — and the joy of having true friends. But those friendships quickly become complicated when Kait finds herself torn between two irresistible guys. Rob is kind and athletic, and heals people with his good energy. Gabriel is aggressive and mysterious, a telepath concealing his true nature as a psychic vampire, feeding off of others’ life energy. Together, Rob and Gabriel’s opposing forces threaten the group’s stability.
Then one of the experiments traps the five teens in a psychic link. A link that threatens their sanity and their lives. And Kaitlyn must decide whom to trust…and whom to love.
Emily’s Grade: C, but it gets A+ with sparkly Lisa Frank stickers for nostalgia value
Isn’t it weird that you can remember some bits from books you read decades ago, but can’t remember what you had for dinner last night? I vividly remember the ending of this book; it creeped me out. Other things I did not remember so well. Like Rob, the “good” guy that is after Kait’s heart, isn’t really given any hint of personality until the third book. This should make it obvious who her ultimate choice will be. Although it wasn’t obvious to twelve-year-old me.
As an adult, it was a bit harder to suspend my disbelief. A major plot point of the book is that the five Zetes Institute students are trapped in a psyhic web that allows them all to read one another’s minds. That is, unless it’s convenient to the plot, because there are lots of times Gabriel, Kait and the others are able to do stuff without the others knowing. No real explanation is given for this besides “Telepathy! It’s a mystery!” Silly me, wanting to know how things work. The ending is rather abrupt as well. The bad guy dies and it’s all happy schmappy from there on out.
Reading over this review, it sounds like I don’t like this series but I do. I like it a lot. I’m not sure how much of my love is based on my childhood love for it and how much is actual appreciation of the writing. I will say that I’ve re-read a lot of other books that I loved as a kid for my other blog community, 1bruce1 (a Sweet Valley High re-read group), and Dark Visions held up a lot better. Apart from the problems I mentioned above, and LJ Smith’s odd tendency to say things like “Kaitlyn felt bad” after something bad happens–we know!–I still think it’s pretty decent. It’s a fun, easy read and I found myself really liking Kaitlyn and her friends.
