Book Review #6: “The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and the Struggle” by L.J. Smith

Title: The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and the Struggle

Author: L.J. Smith

Publisher: HarperTeen

Edition: Paperback including volume 1 and volume 2: June 26, 2007

Back Cover Summary: Elena: the golden girl, the leader, the one who can have any boy she wants.

Stefan: brooding and mysterious, he seems to be the only one who can resist Elena, even as he struggles to protect her from the horrors that haunt his past.

Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Determined to have Elena, he'd kill to possess her.

*******

Once again, I watched the show before reading the books and absolutely fell in love with what I was watching. In the show, the background story is interesting, the characters are gorgeous, the plot line is very active and intriguing, and I was left with only wanting more. So, I picked up the books which I had saved on my shelf since finishing Twilight. And did it live up to the show…Not so much. :(

High Notes: While waiting until I had the time to watch season 2 of The Vampire Diaries online, I turned to the books to get just a little bit more of Elena, Stefan, and the oh-so-irresistible Damon. I figured that the books would just fill me in on more of the deliciousness that the show wasn’t able to fit in. Let me just say that I was in for a surprise. From the first page, I thought, “This is…wrong!” I know this is supposed to be the high note section, but I can’t think of ANYTHING that I really LOVED!!!

I did like that the plot in the book moved fast like the show, but at least the show slowed down the romance. In the show, Elena and Stefan had time to get to know each other, their obvious attraction towards each other, and eventual love and modesty. In the book, it goes from Elena “having to have” Stefan when Stefan ignores her to instantaneous soul mates when Stefan saves her one night.

I did, however, enjoy Damon (my absolute favorite on the show), but it took him forever to show up and without Ian Somerholder’s beautiful eyes staring at you when Damon speaks, it’s just NOT the same.

Low Notes: I have got A LOT to say here!!! But, I will try and keep it short and not let it turn into a rant. (That’s going to be hard, though.)

First off, the book’s plot relies HEAVILY on coincidences. (I feel that one coincidence in a book is acceptable. Anymore is CHEAP!) For example, in the show, Stefan seeks out Elena when he discovers that she looks very much like his 150 year-old, ex-girlfriend, Katherine, that he thinks died sometime around the Civil War. However, in the book, Stefan just happens to move from Italy to this itty-bitty town of Fell’s Church, and just happens to decide to go to this high school so he can integrate himself with the humans, and just happens to see a girl that looks a lot like his dead-undead ex-girlfriend that he knew around the Renaissance period. That’s THREE coincidences in ONE chapter!!! And they just keep coming. It really destroys the believability of the book.

Secondly, the instantaneous romance that I mentioned before.

Thirdly, Elena is a shallow, snobbish b*tch in the book! And Katherine looks like a pretty, frail, naïve child. Because of this, I didn't even like the main character! This is opposed to the show which makes Elena strong, empathetic, self-sacrificing, and lovable while Katherine is her doppelganger, a sexy, manipulative brat. This clearly defines Elena as the protagonist and Katherine as her personal antagonist. The other characters get more background story and bit more of the limelight in the show as well.

Finally, there is a whole lot of sucking of each other’s blood in the book. Yes, that’s what vampires do, but the book glorifies it as one of the only ways Elena and Stephan can connect and feel close to each other. I found it just plain gross. ("Ouch! You bit me! Why are you cutting yourself? Your blood tastes ucky!" Way to ruin the romance, Mrs. Smith!) I didn't like it.

Ratings:

Character Development: 2/5

Dialogue: 3/5

Prose: 2/5

Believability: 1/5

Style and Grammar: 1.5/5

Overall Rating: 37% Suckage!

This is my personal recommendation…Please read carefully!

SAVE YOURSELF FROM THE BOOK! JUST WATCH THE SHOW!