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Spellbinder
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Spellbinder
Unavailable
Spellbinder
Audiobook6 hours

Spellbinder

Written by L. J. Smith

Narrated by Jeannie Stith

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

The series takes place in a world similar to our own but one where vampires, witches, werewolves and shape-shifters live among humans without their knowledge. These supernatural races make up a secret society known as the Night World, which enforces two fundamental laws to prevent discovery: 1) Never allow humans to gain knowledge of the Night World's existence and, 2) Never fall in love with one of them.

In Spellbinder the plot centers on Thea and Blaise Harman, cousins who belong to the race of witches. Although they are as close as sisters, in temperament the girls are as different as day from night; Thea belongs to Circle Twilight, for the not-so-wicked-witches and Blaise belongs to Circle Midnight, for the darker ones. When the two cousins start fighting over Eric Ross there ensures an epic battle between black and white magic.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 1, 2009
ISBN9781441804518
Author

L. J. Smith

L. J. Smith has written over two dozen books for young adults, including The Vampire Diaries, now a hit TV show. She has also written the bestselling Night World series and The Forbidden Game, as well as the #1 New York Times bestselling Dark Visions. She loves to walk the trails and beaches in Point Reyes, California, daydreaming about her latest book.

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Reviews for Spellbinder

Rating: 3.8906250625 out of 5 stars
4/5

160 ratings6 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Blaise and Thea are cousins raised more like sisters, and witches. Blaise likes to use her powers to play with human boys and make them helplessly in love with her. These actions frequently cause the two to be kicked out of boarding school after boarding school, so they finally return to Las Vegas and the home of their grandmother (and the unofficial headquarters of Night World Witches, led by said grandmother). Blaise is soon up to her old tricks, but unfortunately her new target is the boy Thea suspects might mean more to her than anyone ever... her soulmate. This volume of the series brings in the witch culture of the Night World and introduces us to the differences between them and the patriarchal vampires. However, many witches are just as dangerous than the 'people are food' camp. So far the volumes in this series stand alone and have few overlapping characters, but themes are developing and movement is progressing toward an eventual showdown.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read this when I was younger and I had a hard time convincing people it was real for a while, but I'm glad I found it again.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The third entry in L.J. Smith's Night World series, about a hidden society of vampires, witches and shape-shifters, Spellbinder shifts focus after the first two vampire-centered novels, concentrating instead on the witches of this secret world. When Thea and Blaise Harman - first cousins and witches - come to stay with their grandmother in Las Vegas, they soon find themselves involved in a love triangle with a human boy at their high school. Thea struggles with the knowledge that Eric is her soulmate, while reckless Blaise plots to separate the two, and put an end to such heretical notions...Smith continues her world-building here, laying out the foundational myth of the Night World, in which the lamia (vampires) are descended from Maya, and the hearth-women (witches) from her sister Hellewise. The two main witch circles - Circle Midnight and Circle Twilight - are discussed, and brief mention is made of the mysterious Circle Daybreak, which will play so decisive a role in future stories. Like Daughters of Darkness before it, characters initially seen in Secret Vampire recur, while other characters introduced here turn up later in the series.The Night World books are aimed at teenage girls, and nowhere is that more apparent than in their reliance on the "Romeo and Juliet" motif. But despite the melodramatic flourishes, the theme of forbidden love works very well in the context of each story. Smith understands the appeal of having a "soulmate," and the strength of young emotions: "The thing was, it was terrible and wonderful. She felt awkward and tremendously safe at once, scared to death and not scared of anything. And what she wanted was so simple. If he only felt the same, everything would be all right."As mentioned in my review of Daughters of Darkness, I prefer this series to the more current (and more popular) Twilight saga. Smith's characters are a fairly complex mix of good and bad, and her girls are smart, strong-willed, and principled. The recurring feminist themes, and the emphasis on tolerance for other world views, make for exactly the kind of “neo-pagan” literature decried by the religious right. High praise, in my book...
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is another solid entry in L.J. Smith's Night World series. It picks up the feminist thread of the previous entry, Daughters of Darkness. Here, again, are a bevy of strong, capable heroines, this time witches working in a matrilineal society. Thea the good witch yearns for human soulmate Eric. He's bland as tofu, but that doesn't really matter much in terms of the plot because she spends most of the novel working spells that even her crone relatives can't do. Initially, Smith seems to be setting us up for a rivalry between Thea and her bitchy witch cousin Blaise, but Blaise redeems herself at the end, proving that ties between "sisters" are even stronger than the laws of the Night World.My reading choice in this book series came under question recently. I had a party--I laughingly read one of the more pornographic scenes of the first novel to my friends. They responded that the books were awful, bad as the slush pile (I differ from most MFAs in my opinion of the slush pile, but that's another story entirely).So I'd like to say, categorically, that I think that writers like Smith are doing something worthwhile when they create series genre fiction, no matter how cheesy it might seem to an adult literary audience. Though the prose is simplistic at times, it has a sense of immediacy; it does its job without digression or distraction. And more, Smith seems to know, and speak directly to, her audience--barely-disguised sex scenes might seem coy to adults, but I remember being an early teenager, and I remember how squeamish real sex scenes made me feel. Instead of going into Blumeish detail, Smith presents erotically charged scenes in language that isn't alienating to her audience. What's more, these scenes are always consensual and the women involved are treated with respect. That's more than I can say for most romance novels.And, the deeper I get into the Night World series, the more prominent the feminist themes become. Although the first novel defaults to romance-novel heroines and women-in-refrigerator stereotypes, the second and third present the female characters as strong, independent, more capable than their male counterparts, and utterly admirable. When held up to the female ideal presented by her contemporary peers (*cough* Meyer *cough*), Smith's women seem especially shining.So the Night World series might be a tad trashy--yes, they're love stories about vampires and witches. But Smith does some really admirable things in her writing--talking to teenage girls in their own language about their aspirations and fears--and she's largely successful at it. Giggle-inducing or not, I'd recommend her without hesitation.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Thea and Blaise are sisters light and dark. Thea is all that is calm and peaceful and Blaise is beautiful and deadly. Together they are the last witches in their line. After being expelled from their fourth (or fifth?) school after Blaise bewitched a boy into burning down the music room Thea dreads starting again in a new place. However, when an unexpected encounter with a rattlesnake serves to introduce her to Eric, a human boy, things for Thea start getting more out of control than usual. Will Thea be able to keep Blaise from wreaking deadly havoc on their new school and with Eric?Spellbinder is the third book of the Night World series. As a whole so far this has been an enjoyable series about vampires and with this volume we enter the world of witches as well. I did find that this story seemed to drag a little in places more so than the first two, but it was only briefly and it quickly got back on track and very exciting towards the end. I liked Eric's steadiness in everything that happened and really enjoyed Thea as well. I look forward to continuing on with the Night World books in the future.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Book three of the Night World explores the witches heirarchy and introduces two cousins Thea and Blaise Harman, both from the illustrious Hearthwoman witch line that can be traced back to the first witch society. Blaise and Thea are great characters and Blaise is very reminiscent of Faye the bad witch of the Secret Circle trilogy. She vies for human boys' attention and plays with them until she gets bored or she and Thea are expelled from school and shipped off to new relatives. The witchy section of the Night World is set up beautifully and the female protagonists are strong but this falls down with the introduction of Thea's soulmate Eric who is very bland and All American boy, Smith is at her best writing teen bad boys. When Blaise makes a play for Eric, Thea has to stop her but unwittingly unleashes a dark spirit when a spell goes wrong, leaving humans at risk, so with the help of Eric she tries to put things right. Thea must decide whether to turn her back on her heritage for the chance at love. This installment is a bit of a clunker, although it passes the time nicely and sets up the Night World notion of a third circle, Circle Twilight for both humans and the supernatural races. However, this has plot holes fit to drive a truck through; why would any family banish a teenage girl to fend for herself? Who honestly believes that Eric's mom is going to be turning cartwheels at taking in a strange girl? I suppose I should be more willing to suspend my disbelief on these points if I'm willing to acknowledge the supernatural elements. With a more charming male lead this would probably be a four star as the plotting and pace is sound, but a ho-hum lack of chemistry leaves this simmering on three.