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What are readers saying about The Awakening and the Struggle (Vampire Diaries)?
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-07 03:17:55.
(Language: English)
  
I read this book because I started watching the TV series and loved it! I have to admit, I am a big twilight fan. Many told me that they thought that Stephenie Meyer stole some ideas from Vampire Diaries. I'm not sure exactly if that's true, but there are definitely some big similarities. I don't know if it's because I started with the show, but I like the TV version better than the book and there are some HUGE differences. Other than the main characters being the same, and some of the starting plot, the show and the book are different stories completely. Also, if i had to choose, Twilight is way better. The chemistry between Bella and Edward is so much stronger than with Stephen and Elena.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-31 11:53:30.
(Language: English)
At the end of chapter 9, in 'The Awakening' I wanted to vomit. Elena seemed a bit too obsessed with Stefan to be 'in love' with him. After all, he'd only been around for a month and she NEVER spent any time with him, how could she had possibly loved him. It was infatuation more than anything.Anyway...I forced myself to continue the books, because I was curious as to how it would end up. I'm glad I did, because Damon's presence in the books definitely add a lot of 'fun' to it. I will, definitely, finish this series.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-10-13 06:28:38.
(Language: English)
good book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-07-27 04:38:24.
(Language: English)
I love it, love it, love it, love it! it's the first of an incredible journey through dimensions, people, and love
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-13 02:01:15.
(Language: English)
This was written several years before Twilight and of course there were several similar ideas. How original can a vampire book be anyway? The show is quite different from the book including how they changed Elena's character and all the stuff that happens with Damon. I would have liked to see the show more like the book but I'm not suprised by the changes. If you hated Bella, you may enjoy Elena. Though she's a b**** at the beginning, give her a chance. If you haven't read Twilight but are interested in that kind of book, I recommend reading this one. With better writing...okay not great writing but it's better than Twilight, you may enjoy this one.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-11 10:14:14.
(Language: English)
I only started reading the books because I LOVE the show, but the two are nothing alike really. I love the TV version of Elena, but I can't stand the book version. she is so into herself, self-centered, and superficial. The only reason I am interested in continuing on with the rest of the series is because it started to get a tad intriguing when Damon started wreaking havoc, but I am not really feeling the rest of the characters or the book in general.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-21 08:26:24.
(Language: English)
I was not thrilled with the first book at the begining. I like her version of vampire (take blood be bitten and not turn unless you are killed with vampire blood in you...or something to that effect.) I was very suprised at the end and it left me wanting to read the second one (which there is a sneak peek on this site of the second book and the full version of the 1st book under free e books) I don't remember there being harsh language but because of the theme and nature of the book i would recommend to 13 and up..call me old fashioned lol.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-11-13 04:53:01.
(Language: English)
It was very good. I couldn't put it down. If you watch the show you have to treat it like its something different other then most of the FIRST names and Stefan and Damon are vampire brothers that love Elena and Katherine pretty much everything else is different. The last names, personalities and characteristics, the town name and history etc.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-14 11:02:32.
(Language: English)
Ok so I know the books came before the television show, but I watched the show first, and I am SO glad that I did. The book/s read like fan fiction. The author seemed to have had so many ideas but no idea what to do with them. It was so frustrating. The producers and writers for the show deserve a HUGE amount of credit for making such a fantastic show from such poorly written novels.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-30 11:51:07.
(Language: English)
I saw the previews for the show on TV and it looked interesting, so I thought I'd read the series before the show starts in the fall. First of all, to address the Twilight issue... Half of the reviews I've read say this book and Twi are very similar, and half say they're nothing alike. I agree with both. In the beginning of the first book, there are several indisputable similarities. But as both plots develop, they take completely different paths. This book was published long before Twilight, but I feel that Twilight is the better written of the two. This book was an "all right" read overall, but it definitely had its flaws. Much of the dialogue was juvenile, but it IS a YA book, so I can't really say that was a flaw. The story switched between the points of view of the 2 main characters, Elena and Stefan, at first. But then, more and more, we only get Elena's POV and Stefan seems to be sort of forgotten, even though Elena talks about him. I found myself wondering where he was and what he was doing at times. When he was present in the story, he didnt have the presence of a leading character. And, he was not much of a hero, and not a very good vampire either. Elena was much stronger than him. She spends the whole book trying to protect and save him, and she's only a mere human, not even a vampire. Stefan's character definitely needed more development and needed to be stronger. Hopefully he grows a pair and steps up during the rest of the series. And then Stefan's brother Damon comes into the picture. He was the "bad guy", and i thought he would be a pretty good bad guy, but he also should have been fleshed out more as a character. His character also fell short of it's potential. He could have been a "badder" bad-guy (yes, i know 'badder' is not a word, lol). He had a dark nature, but he never actually lived up to it. I was expecting him to do something really sinister, was looking forward to it actually. But when he did show up and actually do something, it was like "that's all? really?". He was mostly bark and maybe a little nip, but no real bite. Such a tease! All in all, the book was more than "ok", but less than "good". I'm intrigued enough to continue with the series, mostly because of the TV show. I'm hoping the show will be good.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-16 04:36:08.
(Language: English)
It was a really really good read. I loved reading this book although I was extremely annoyed by how much it reminds me of Twilight sometimes. And I do realize that this book was written WAY before Twilight, whic is yet another annoying thing. Stephenie Meyer stole a lot of concepts and ideas from this book. Stefan was a good character, but at some point I got sick and tired of him because he doesnt really have any edge to him. I LOVED these two things: Elena's character is a girl with a mind of her own. She does what SHE wants (to some point). She's stronger than Bella Swan from Twilight. But I think Stefan makes her a little more like 'his girl' at some point. Damon Salvatore: Oh man, he is AMAZING. He is so mysterious and very intriguing. His character was the highlight of the book. I cant wait to read more about him in the next books.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-09 10:28:50.
(Language: English)
I started reading this series because I wanted to see how far off the TV series was from it. The books are written for high schoolers. So if you're in the young adult range, it'll be perfect. The characters' logics are a little off, particularly when they believe a diary will help convict Stefan despite it only containing circumstantial evidence that wouldn't hold up in court. I'm not sure if that's Smith or her rendition of a teenager's mentality. I guess anyone will revert to that mentality when that's all they're ever around, even if that person happens to be a vampire that's centuries old. And the notion of love is so immediate and intense that there's little time for it to grow or develop into something tangible and real. Books one and two made me want to bang my head against a brick wall. They're worth the read, though, for book three. In the first two, Damon seems to be solid yet mysterious, despite knowing barely anything about him. We jump between points of view with Elena and Stefan, the latter of which we only see a couple times, which makes me question the use of the POV shift. Makes for easy reading, yes, but the point of these books is to provide romance and mystery and trill, which is negated when you know everyone's thoughts. Such is why Damon holds the most of my attention. So if you want to shut your mind off and not think through the story, you'll enjoy it.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-04 01:44:20.
(Language: English)
elena is not a mary-sue, which is a nice change from other books of this genre... she is, however, an idiot. she makes bad decisions and does stupid things; her attachment to stefan is both without foundation and lacking in emotional connection. there is nothing engaging about any of these characters, and though the story skirts around being interesting, it never really pulls you in. it's not terrible, as far as YA novels go, but it's also not good.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-02-01 01:24:19.
(Language: English)
Since I've reviewed The Awakening already, this review is for The Struggle only. So, the second installment of the vampire diaries picks up at the cliffhanger in book one. I was looking forward to getting into this one, but it really didn't seem to go anywhere plot-wise. The most dramatic thing that happened was the theft of Elena's diary. I may give the third book a try, but if something doesn't happen, I'm done.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-22 04:53:34.
(Language: English)
This series is THE reason I love vampires... I know most people probably fall in love with Stefan and let's face it, I did to. His story was fabulous, tragic and had a happy ending. BUT, I prefered Damon. He had the same story, but everyone was so hard pressed on disliking him. I think, however, he was similar to Stefan with the exception that he didn't the girl...and maybe he didn't get a lot of things in life. I think he longed for humanity, for emotion, for someone to spend his life with and I adored the relationship he (very briefly) created with Bonnie. I wish they'd made a-whole-nother book just for them. I'd like to think he'd turned around by the end... Oh, and I didn't like Elena...I like the romance--even the triangle, but her personally, I just didn't care for.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-26 03:10:09.
(Language: English)
I don't love it and I don't hate. I do believe it to be better then Twilight, seeing as Twilight is the worst series ever written about vampires and or romance. Both books are written like fan-fiction. The Awakening is just bad, it seems like Smith was putting random ideas together and didn't put too much thought into any of her characters. The Struggle was better, but sometimes I got confused about certain things and events that happened, because she would jump from one sequence to another without any explation of how. I did see that she fleshed out her characters more. Elena does come off a little vapid, but she gets a little stronger as the story goes on. Stefan is too "tortured" soul for me. And he does become invisible after a couple of chapters. Damon is entertaining. I like that Elena is apart of everything around her and isnt an ornament for Stefan to drag around (like Edward does to Bella). She has friends and another world that doesn't revolve around only Stefan. It lacks any real romantic structure though. It seems like both characters are simply lusting after the other.
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anna posted a review at 2009-03-10 11:11:27.
(Language: English)
I adore this series and I love the new Return trilogy as well focusing on Damon's character!!! I can't wait until Shadow Souls (The Return Vol. 2) comes out!!!! Anyone else that loves this series can find two great new short stories on ljanesmith.net, on on matt and elena's 1st date and the other is a story about Bonnie and Damon!!!!!!=) I adore this series! I love the original four books and I love the new Return trilogy on Damon and his total hotness! I would recommend the series to any paranormal/vampire/romance fans! I also just read the two new short stories on matt and elena's first date as well as a Bonnie and Damon story on LJS's site! any one can read them for free on ljanesmith.net!
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-22 07:09:13.
(Language: English)
Is over rated in my opinion. The plot was too dark and weird for me, but I guess if I was a Goth fanatic I would appreciate the book more. Brownie points in originality with characters though, they were realistic in a way. High school is as high school does. Although I have to say I never believed that a day would come when I would say that "I liked the TV version better than the book.(Woot! Gone Crazy!) But it's true, the TV plot version was much more appealing for me than the book. So disappointed.
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Leanna posted a review at 2011-07-12 09:01:39.
(Language: English)
Loved the vampire diaries. Not liking the differences between the books and the tv series, especially the descriptions of the characters. Take for instance the description of Elena. In the books she is blond; however in the tv series she a brunette. Also the character relations are different and they have left out people. The books are soooo much better.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-21 07:06:02.
(Language: English)
I enjoyed both The Awakening and The Struggle, but would have been upset if I had read them as two separate books. My only major problem with the books was that both ended as if they were ending a chapter. I liked that we could hear the point of view from most characters and the characters were well developed. The "Powers" could have been made more clear, but added interest to the story. I look forward to reading the rest of the series, including the new releases.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-06-22 03:08:05.
(Language: English)
I actually really liked this book. I picked it up expecting it to be a bit like Twilight. It was definitely relateable, but I'm glad to say that the plot is pretty different. I have to say that Stefan was my favourite character. I didn't really like Elena at all. I found her pretty Mary-Sue-ish (most of the characters are in love with her, she's really pretty, she has a lot of friends, etc.), but nevertheless, I enjoyed reading it. I would recommend it to people who read Twilight, and enjoy romance novels with a dark twist.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-06-03 01:22:18.
(Language: English)
I heard this was a good book but I didn't quite buy into the hype. However, this book deserves every praise that it receives. It kept me hooked from beginning to end and now I am devouring book 3 and 4. Keep in mind that this should not be compared to Twilight as they are completely different. Elena and Bella are exact opposites and as much as I love Stefan, he doesn't quite measure up to Edward. He is a much weaker vampire then Edward however, they both have their strong "vegetarian" beliefs about drinking human blood.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-02-08 04:53:10.
(Language: English)
This book was somewhat of a disappointmet to me. I do like vampire fiction, but not when it's like this. The main character, Elena, was VERY annoying. She is described as "The golden girl, the leader, the one who can have any boy she wants." From the start this description made me wary. I should have followed that feeling. Elena seems to have no motive for going after Stefan other than "I'm the most popular girl in school, I'm beautiful, he's so hot." Elena was a Mary-Sue beyond belief. She had serious mood swings, and no depth as a character. Her relationship with Stefan seemed to be based soley on physical attraction. I liked Stefan and Damon as characters; they were great. Elena just didn't deserve to be in the same story as them.At best, I would call this book utterly predictable and not worth my time.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-01-26 02:03:37.
(Language: English)
I started reading this series after watching the TV program. For those who have not read the books, let me remind you that the book are very different from the TV series. For example, Stefan and Damon are not from Italy in the TV series but they are in the books. Book 1 is the story of Elena, the homecoming queen of Fells Church. Having just recovers from the death of her parents, she is ready to start a new term with her best friends Bonnie and Meredith. She also develops an interest in Stefan, a new student, but he tries to avoid her. Later on, Stephen rescues Elena from Tyler from the homecoming dance and the two start to bond and fall for each other. At the same time, a mysterious guy, who looks similar to Stephen, is stalking Elena. While all is going well with Elena, there are a few mysterious death in town and Stephen becomes a prime suspect. During her confrontation, she discovers Stefan's secret who then reveals to her his secret-he is a vampire, and his dark past with Katherine(whom Elena looks like) and Damon, his brother. After some effort, Stefan finally manages to locate his brother Damon who is behind some of the deaths and trying to put the blame on Stefan. The brothers have a fight and Stefan disappears. Book 2 picks up directly from the end of book 1. Using Bonnie's powers, Elena tracks down where Stefan's been kept and rescues him. However, her troubles is not over yet. Caroline, Elena's main enemy at school, has stolen her diary and plans to read it out at Founder's day. Racing against time, the gang attempt to get it back, and Damon also offers his help, with a condition-Elena has to spend sometime with him. Fortunately, they manage to turn the table around on Founder's day. However, Elena's aunt still has her reservation against Stefan. She then reveals to the group that herself and Stefan have been secretly engaged. Full of anger, she drives off to Stefan's place but a storm is approaching. Her car drives into the river and she dies. Since she has exchanged blood with both Stefan and Damon, she dies and turns into a vampire. They are quite good read and there is a lot going on apart from the start-cross lovers, a very good plot. Not just vampires, you also get to see witchcraft. And Bonnie's psychic powers are fascinating. It's also good to see Elena with her group of close friends and how they work together to solve the issues Elena has and how they stand by her for loving Stefan. For the Salvatore brothers, the author has put a good show of love, hate and rivalry between siblings and I do like the idea of them coming from Renaissance Florence, and the flashbacks of Stefan are enjoyable to read. There was a lawsuit against Stephanie Meyer for suspicion on plagiarism from the Vampire Diaries. However, in my opinion, I think the books are quite different. The setting is similar-high school and you can also compare Stefan to Edward as they both refuse to drink human blood. However, the other aspects are very different. Elena is very outgoing while Bella is a shy girl. Also, there is no "gang of friends" for Bella. Both are good reads I think. Twilight is more focused on the lovers while in Vampire Diaries, you get to see various different people around Elena and how they interact. Having read the first two books, it's hard to resist moving on to the next one!!
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