Author: L. J. Smith
Publication: HarperTeen (June 26, 2007)
Product Description from Amazon: 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.
Collected here in one volume for the first time, volumes one and two of The Vampire Diaries, the tale of two vampire brothers and the beautiful girl torn between them.
My Thoughts: The Awakening -- Elena is queen of the school. She knows it and seems to treat everyone else as scenery on the stage of her life. She just has to look at a boy and he is hers. Then she meets the new boy Stefan and he ignores her. Elena won't let this happen and is determined to attract him. He is also attracted but, as a vampire, is afraid that he will hurt her. Besides, she reminds him of his first love and the young woman who made him a vampire. Katherine had made both Stefan and his brother Damon into vampires though she knew the brothers hated each other. Stefan has been determined to be good for more than 500 years, surviving on the blood of animals and not killing people, while Damon embraced being a vampire and killing people and, as a result, is much stronger than Stefan. Damon also wants Elena and wants to make Stefan think he is blacking out and doing evil things. I didn't like Elena. She seemed so self-centered and selfish to me. I don't see why either of the brothers has developed such a passion for her. I liked Stefan and his desire to start a new life. Damon was creepy and evil.
The Struggle -- Damon has a bigger part in this one. He has decided that he wants Elena too at least, in part, because Stefan does. He is killing people around town and it looks like Stefan is getting blamed especially by Tyler and Caroline. Tyler attempted to rape Elena and Stefan beat him up. Naturally, Tyler holds a grudge because he couldn't admit that he did anything wrong. Caroline thought that she had managed to attract Stefan but he dropped her without thought when Elena entered the scene. Both are plotting evil toward Stefan and Elena that comes to a head at the Founder's Day celebration.
I will continue reading the series because it is a light, quick read and I want to see where the story goes. The ending of The Stuggle has left me hanging from a cliff wondering which boy Elena is searching for. Luckily, I received notice that the next two books have been shipped. Now I just have to watch my mailbox.
Challenges: 2010 TBR Challenge & Bottoms Up 2010 Challenge (I bought this book on June 15, 2007 and it has been languishing in the pile since.), 2010 YA Book Challenge, RYOB Challenge
I really enjoyed the first two books! I have the next ones and I will probably start reading them soon. I'm glad I found your blog via the Saturday Network. I enjoy YA as well! :)
ReplyDeleteI watched the first couple episodes on tv, but everyone says the book is different. I just got this one in the mail and will be starting it soon. Thanks for the great review and I am a follower now!
ReplyDeleteThank you for participating in The Saturday Network!
ReplyDeleteAnd great review! I've only read the first two, but I agree that The Vampire Diaries is a light series filled with tons of drama. I wonder where Stefan and Elena's relationship is headed now...
I need to finish reading this series. They are fairly quick and entertaining. So far anyway :)
ReplyDeleteBTW I love your "super book" idea. I do that with TV shows that I know will be addicting but I never thought to do it with books. Okay only like once but still. hehe ;)