Night Vision (Ella West, A&U)

Viola lives in a different world from other 15-year-olds: due to a condition she was born with, she will die if she goes out into the sun, so she lives her life at night. The forest next to her home is, at night, like a secret place where nobody else goes. But one night in the forest she witnesses a man setting fire to a car with a body inside. Now Viola has a new and dangerous secret. This book has rather a lot of expository text about Viola’s condition and the financial situation of her family’s farm, which makes the story less enthralling than it might have been. And while Viola’s secretive nature is an important part of her character, it also means that it isn’t always clear why she does the things she does, or how the events of the story have affected her. But her perspective is an interesting one, not only for the eternal night she lives in but for her isolation and awareness of death. Although the mystery behind the crime she witnesses is rather straightforward, there is some effective suspense, especially in the final chapters. Night Vision should appeal to younger teens who enjoy realistic stories and suspense.

Jarrah Moore is a primary literacy editor at Cengage Learning Australia

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews