Review: Vampire Diaries Books 1 &2 by L.J. Smith

'Vampire Diaries Volume 1: The Awakening & The Struggle'

THE DETAILS:
Pages: 389
Release Date: 1st published by Harper Collins in 1991
My Edition: Published by Hodder 2010
Genre: Young adult, Fantasy
Bought Online

THE BLURB:
The Awakening: Elena Gilbert is used to getting what she wants and she wants mysterious new boy, Stefan. But Stefan is hiding a deadly secret - a secret that will change Elena's life for ever ...The Struggle: Elena is torn between her boyfriend, Stefan, and his brother, Damon. But these brothers hide dark secrets and a tragic past that threatens them all. Damon wants to lead Elena astray - and he'd rather kill Stefan than let him possess her ...



THE REVIEW:
Like most other books that were turned into a show or a movie 'Vampire Diaries' has differences in both outlets. What is unusual in this case though, is the very few similarities between the two.

One thing I dislike about books  that are made into movies or shows is that you are revisiting the same story. This can be boring. I also don't like how they change this or that and often twist words around so that they sound the same, but mean different things. I actually liked the book version of 'Vampire Diaries' because of its differences. I could see the same characters in different situations.

So what were the differences? A few last names were swapped around, The town was called 'Fell's Church' instead of 'Mystic Falls', Elena has blond hair, Bonnie is descended from druids not Salem, There is an extra friend, Elena has a little sister instead of a teenage brother... And not to mention the changes to the story line. The one thing I don't get about people who didn't like this book was how they said that Elena was a 'Mean girl'. I didn't think she was exactly Regina George or anything. She was a little self-centred, but that subsides a bit when more exciting things start to happen. When I first heard that she was a 'Mean girl' I was like "Well I don't care. Only a mean girl would choose Stefan over Damon". Haha. I did not like Stefan back then. I maintain that he has 'Ken Doll' hair. It was nice to read a book where I could see a different version of Stefan. I still found him quite boring though.

Onto the actual book now... I found the writing style to be quite fast paced and intriguing. It was one thing that kept me interested in the novel and made it seem more unique and realistic(despite the fact that there were vampires). I also liked the vagueness of the writing. It left fewer clues and made the story more unpredictable.

The main problem I had with this novel was the confusion between what happened on tv and what happened in the novel because the stories were very different.

Overall I gave this book 5 stars. Normally I would have given it a 4.5 star rating, but the writing style was so great and I'm feeling nice. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

The next book:
Volume 2: The Fury and Dark Reunion

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