Dark Visions (#1-3) by L.J. Smith

Goodreads rating: 4.19

Paperback, Omnibus, 730 pages

Published September 3rd 2009 by Simon & Schuster (first published November 1st 1998)

Series: Dark Visions #1-3

Characters: Rob Kessler, Kaitlyn Fairchild, Lewis Chao, Anna Eva Whiteraven, Gabriel Borelli

 

GIFTED AND CURSED

Kaitlyn Fairchild has always felt like an outsider. Her haunting eyes and prophetic drawings have earned her a reputation as a witch. But Kait's not a witch: she's psychic. Tired of being shunned, Kait accepts an invitation to attend the Zetes Institute, where she can study with other psychic teens and have a fresh start.

As Kaitlyn learns to hone her abilities with four other gifted students, she starts to discover 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 a healer - kind and gentle, he's surrounded by good energy, while Gabriel is aggressive and mysterious - a telepath concealing his true nature.

Together, Rob and Gabriel's opposing forces start to threaten the group's stability, and when an experiment traps the five teens in a psychic link - a link that threatens their sanity and their lives - Kaitlyn must decide who to trust and who to love...  

 

4.5/5

 

I really liked this book and almost loved it, but the only thing keeping me from this was that I didn't feel as attached to the characters as I would have liked. The only people I really felt for were Kait and Gabriel. Not even Rob, when the ending came. I really enjoyed the concept of psychics though and how, as the cover says, not all vampires are out for blood. Apparently, energy is a very powerful thing that can build you up or break you, and both aspects were included here. It makes it easy when the whole trilogy is included in this one big volume, because the first and second books leave you with pretty decent cliffhangers. And I hate having to wait. The only thing that really bothered me (but in a good way) was that the chapters would end with a little cliffhanger where you HAD to go onto the next chapter and wait to stop reading until there was a quiet moment. All in all this was very enjoyable read. Truthfully, it was very hard to put down at times and I would probably read it again. Smith's writing style flowed easily.

I totally called the relationships and how they would be in the end. The first clue that gave away Kait and her guy was the fact that some of the story was being told from Gabriel's POV sometimes and Kait's most of the time, so I felt like that kind of gave it away. And the way that Smith described both Rob and Anna as being purely good and full of light gave that relationship away as well. But I love it when the generally good girl is able to break the bad boy and turn him good. Make him want to be good, for her if nothing else. And this novel certainly satisfied me.

It ended a little too perfectly, with the relationships and the plot in general. A lot of it was slightly predictable, but that didn't take away the enjoyment I felt and the satisfaction of the ending. The mind bond the 5 of them shared was interesting. I would NOT want my thoughts broadcasted to my 4 closest friends, but in the end it was a lot more helpful than hurtful. I can't count how many times it ultimately saved them and there were very few times where it was a hinderance. That part of the book was left unfinished though, but it's not enough of an issue to write a whole other book about it, so it's understandable why that remained unfinished.

 

This is actually all I've read of L.J.'s , even though I have lots of her books on my shelf. I'll have to make that another goal for this year and pray I'm overwhelmed! Anyway, definitely pick this one up.