The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening

Meh. OK. Not exactly well-crafted plot. Interesting premise, though.

I read this book back when I was in High School after a friend of mine recommended it to me. I was really into Anne Rice's novels at the time and my friend told me that if I liked Anne Rice, then I was really going to love The Vampire Diaries series. WRONG. I absolutely hated this book, for a number of different reasons. First of all, Elena was a shallow, self-centered brat that decided she had...more

I read this book back when I was in High School after a friend of mine recommended it to me. I was really into Anne Rice's novels at the time and my friend told me that if I liked Anne Rice, then I was really going to love The Vampire Diaries series. WRONG. I absolutely hated this book, for a number of different reasons. First of all, Elena was a shallow, self-centered brat that decided she had to win Stefan over because he paid more attention to Caroline. She made up vicious rumors about Stefan all because he didn't seem interested in her at all, which was yet another reason why she set out to make him her next conquest. She manipulated her friends into doing her dirty work for her in order to get back at Stefan and Caroline, to the point to where she enlists her freshly dumped ex-boyfriend Matt into befriending Stefan to find out more about him, when it was painfully obvious that Matt still had deep feelings for her. Then when she finally gets what she wants, the book went from bad to "Oh my GOD, the dialog in this book is terrible!" The rest of the book when Damon and Stefan wind up in the same situation that they were both in centuries before with Katherine, the plot just gets so damned contrived that it completely insults the reader. In short, the fact that the character of Elena is highly unlikeable and about as deep as a thimble, I never bothered to read any of the other books in the series. I have watched a couple of episodes of the TV show and think that the changes that have been made in contrast to the novel makes it far superior by comparison. It's still really not my personal cup of tea, but at least the lead female character isn't someone that you feel like punching right in the face.   hide

Vampire movies and books are my guilty pleasure. I read this after seeing one episode on TV and was confused. I thought it would be the same but I'm happy they're different. Lent this book to friends and they are hooked as well!

Oh my god, I love all the books.