The Awakening

Considering that on the surface this series seems to be just another cheesy vampire romance story (yes, they existed well before the garbage of Twilight), it actually has quite a bit more hiding in the story to unpack. Most vampire stories deal at least somewhat with themes around the prey-hunter dynamic, going back to humanity's primeval fear of predators and darkness, and Smith definitely engages with these tropes, but she does so in a surprising way. In Damon's character we are presented with the predatory vampire in a typical sense, but Stefan is starkly different in his engagement with his vampiric powers. He's not the first "troubled" vampire, but to an extent Smith's treatment of him in a romantic sense is what gives the story show more its tension and sets up a lot of the coming drama. Yet where Smith really differs is in his presentation of her female characters - especially Elena. She may be the main focus of Stefan's (and therefore Damon's) obsession as the doppelganger of their long lost Katherine, but she is anything but a damsel to be taken advantage of. The story is told from her point of view predominantly, and she makes it clear that when she wants something she goes out and gets it and she refuses to be daunted in the face of adversity. Of course, she's still a dumb teenage girl, and is far different than the more mature and down to earth Elena from the tv series adaptation, but she's a heck of a lot more interesting (and inspiring) than certain other vampire obsessed women. It's also good to know that even in 1991 (what?! I know) that we had better role models for supernatural/paranormal romances (even tough the stories are still slightly problematic) show less

I have a great deal of nostalgic fondness for L.J. Smith's Night World series, which was my introduction to vampire fiction, and which remains - to this day - my favorite expression of the genre. With strong female leads, appealing romantic heroes, and well-developed supporting characters, the Night World books often featured stories of overcoming obstacles and bridging differences on the road to true love, and I gobbled them down like candy. But despite that enthusiasm, which extended to Smith's Forbidden Game trilogy as well, I never got around to reading The Vampire Diaries, written a few years earlier. Recently, prompted by the recommendation of a friend, as well as curiosity about the forthcoming television adaptation of the show more series, I decided to correct that omission.

The first of four volumes, The Awakening follows the story of Elena Gilbert, the proverbial "Queen Bee" of her high school in Fells Church, Virginia, who becomes entangled in a supernatural love triangle involving vampire brothers. Bitter rivals since their boyhood in Renaissance Florence, Stefan and Damon Salvatore are as different as two vampires can be. Tortured by guilt, and determined to do as little harm as possible, Stefan comes to Fells Church looking for a new life. There he meets Elena, who reminds him of his lost love. But Damon - reveling in his powers, and ruthlessly intent on getting what he wants - is not far behind...

An entertaining supernatural love story for teens, this first entry in The Vampire Diaries is the kind of riveting melodrama sure to appeal to romantic girl readers. Elena is a somewhat unusual heroine, in that she first appears to be something of a snobby brat - the typical popular girl. Fortunately, Smith's penchant for writing strong girls wins out, and the character grows and deepens as the novel progresses. More episodic than the Night World series, where every book is a stand-alone story, The Awakening ends with a cliffhanger, so it's difficult to make any conclusive statement about characters or plot at this point. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed this installment, and look forward to the next! show less

I don't say this often, but I am going to say it now: The television show is SO MUCH BETTER than the book.

There. That makes me feel better after reading this horrible book. In fact, I probably never would have given the television show a chance if I had read the book first, so I am very, very glad that I didn't bother with the book before jumping into the show. The show has issues, don't get me wrong; but the book is awful.

Elena is relatively likable in the television show; at least I can understand where she is coming from most of the time. Elena in the book, however, is a vapid, shallow creature who only thinks of herself and her social position. Here is a quote that sums up book!Elena beautifully:

After all, what was more important show more than boys? [HEAD MEET DESK] They were the mark of how popular you were, of how beautiful you were. And they could be useful for all sorts of things. Sometimes they were exciting, but usually that didn't last long. Sometimes they were creeps from the beginning. Most boys, Elena reflected, were like puppies. Adorable in their place, but expendable.

So she USES people to shore up her self-worth and ultimately views them as expendable. Nice.

Elena's ex, Matt, who was one of the "adorable yet expendable puppies" in Elena's life, tells her like it is at one point.

"You only want everybody and everything revolving around Elena Gilbert," [Matt] said bitterly. "You only want everything you don't have."

Yep.

And even Matt, who appears to be quite long-suffering, later says when he's pretty sure that Elena may be in danger from a classmate that he was rather apathetic about her safety and that part of him thinks she deserves whatever she gets.

Oh, but it doesn't matter. Because Stefan ended up "saving" Elena. And how does Elena say thanks to him? Oh, she doesn't. Instead, she says:

"I know I should be grateful to you for saving me tonight, but I don't care about that, either. I didn't ask you to save me."

LOL. Okay then!

And that's Elena, a selfish person who doesn't give a shit about anyone. At least she's consistent; she doesn't seem to give much of a shit about herself, either.

Throw in some instalove, whitebread characters (the book has none of the diversity that the show has), and some more yawn-inducing moments from Elena, and I'm done with the series. I'll keep watching the television show, and each episode I will be thankful that it's not as horrible as this crappy book. show less

While I'm not entirely certain I've forgiven the author for making such utterly shallow and somewhat materialistic characters, I have to admit, I really loved the story and it kept me glued to the book.

I normally summarise books before reviewing them, a brief synopsis. I can’t do it with this one, it just devolves into sarcasm every time I try.

Anyone who has read Fangs for the Fantasy for any length of time will know we have something of a love/hate relationship with The Vampire Diaries TV show and are frequent critics. Well, let me take this opportunity to say something good about the TV show and its writers – I am impressed, no, amazed – that you managed to extract anything even semi-redeemable from this book. I thought pulling the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series from that awful film was impressive, but this is downright miraculous. With book reviewing there’s always a strong element of the subjective, though I have to say, show more in the past I have been bemused that some people can be such fans of things I’ve hated. This book doesn’t leave me bemused, it leaves me wanting to hold its fans, comfort them and assure them that they’re good people and don’t need to punish themselves like this.

So why do I hate this book? Let me count the ways!

First and foremost is Elena herself, one of the most unpleasant protagonists you’ll ever have the displeasure to meet. And this is from someone who has read Twilight, Sookie Stackhouse and even The Aurora Teagarden Series (previous candidate for “protagonist we’d most like to chop up and bury under the rockery” prize). You know those YA novels with the ridiculously over-the-top popular mean girls, the Satan Cheerleaders? That’s Elena! I can’t imagine how anyone is supposed to sympathise with this girl. She’s unbelievably selfish and self-absorbed – everything is about her. People who aren’t her friends fawn after her (especially if they’re “plain”) and are treated like servants, she just dishes out orders and expects to be obeyed. Her 2 friends Bonnie (who is characterised by having woo-woo) and Meredith (who isn’t characterised at all) and her ex Matt (the one person who accuses Elena of being a self-centred manipulator, then apologises when her lip starts wobbling and the waterworks begin) exist to serve. Matt goes to the prom with her knowing she’s stalking Stefan, Bonnie and Meredith abandon their dates to go find Elena, everything they do is about Elena. They have no independent purpose in life – they serve Elena and she expects them to.

The way Elena treats her friends is appalling. Not just the servants she deems unworthy of friendship (though those are servants – and flirting with a boy even while his girlfriend watches in tears? Totally ok), but Bonnie and Meredith as well. After the second or possibly third attempt to stalk an unwilling Stefan, they both suggest that maybe, just maybe she might want to let it go – to which she loses her ever loving shit and storms off telling them both she’ll find new best friends (and they still follow her! Aaargh!) The way she speaks to them is appalling, it really sounds more like a boss to employees they don’t like very much. And Matt? When she breaks up with him she tells him what he feels (because it’s easier for her to pretend he doesn’t care) and then uses her ex as a servant to help her snare her new man. And then is actually jealous of him because of his friendship with Stefan. She had a friend, Caroline, who has turned into someone I’m supposed to hate, I guess, and stopped fawning after Elena but I want to cheer her on. Go Caroline, escape the terrible Elena servitude. Of course, Elena doesn’t care WHY her friend is angry and forgets about her for weeks on end, focusing on Her Man She Will Claim. And it’s not just friends – with someone in town attacking young people, Aunt Judith is often worried about Elena. Does Elena care? Not a jot! Judith’s worries are brushed aside with contempt – she stays out until 2:00am without calling and when Judith is upset it’s a side reference at best.

And her approach to the romance? Now, I’m the first to say I find the whole “eyes crossed across a crowded room we now love each other forever let’s find a chapel” story annoying. But Elena? Elena fixates on Stefan because he doesn’t fall in love and worship her. He walks past her without falling for her supreme beauty. Oh how dare he, how very dare he! She goes into SHOCK because he didn’t fall down before her. She tears up when he isn’t instantly hers. She then decides that this man MUST be hers no matter what. She invents a fictional boyfriend she met on holiday (leaving her ex to believe she cheated on him – but that’s a lesser being’s feelings, irrelevant!). When visiting Stefan’s home he asks he to stop going through his things, including a box, because they’re private. The very second she’s left alone? She goes through his private things. Of course she does. She comments frequently how lonely and isolated Stefan is – oh how sad – and then spreads fake rumours about him around school to drive other people away! She notices his loneliness and tries to make it worse so he will turn to her! Ye gods girl, what is wrong with you?! What does she do on her weekends, find sad puppies to kick? At this point, the fact she collects boyfriends as status symbols and thinks boys are all important as they show how popular and pretty you are (sentiments which would be interesting starting point for growth and challenge - if they were challenged, but they’re not. And it is interesting that she has a view of dating that we often see in misogynistic straight men – but we don’t really see why making the protagonist have similar dehumanising opinions to be somehow empowering) just adds more crap to this enormous heap.

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#1 The Awakening - ★★★★★
#2 The Struggle - Review Coming Soon!

I had The Awakening and the Struggle (the first and second books from the Vampire Diaries series) on my shelf for years.

When I say years, I mean it. It all started when I was in high-school, around 6 years ago, and I was in love with the Vampire Diaries TV Show. When I found out there are books as well, I begged my mum to buy them for me. And once I had them, I never got to read them, because teenage logic...

I recently noticed the Vampire Diaries books sitting on my shelf, forgotten, and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to read it in October, because of the whole spooky vibe. So there it is now - even show more thought the wheel didn't choose it, I did, because it deserved the attention!

Elena Gilbert is a popular girl in high-school and she always gets what she wants. Boys want to be with her, girls hate her, or want to be her best friends. And when this new boy Stefan comes into town, all mysterious, Elena wants him. But Stefan is hiding a deadly secret that Elena might now be ready for just yet. And her life, as well as the life of everyone living in Fell's Church is in grave danger... Elena finds herself between two brothers - one who came for a new life, and the other, who came for revenge...

Reading this book, while already knowing what the plot it, I thought I found find it boring. But no. I still enjoyed every single page of it, and I still devoured this book in one day.

From the first chapter, this book is intense and captures your attention. It is written in third person, but it also contains diary entries that belong to Elena and capture her deepest thoughts that she doesn't dare share with anyone else.

I loved Elena!

Her character is exactly what I was expected and what I have known to love - brave and fierce, and also willing to sacrifice her own happiness and safety for the people she loves the most.

Elena's friends, Meredith and Bonnie are the friends every girl needs. Funny and caring. A few pages in, and you will get to love them too.

Stefan - the mysterious new guy in school. The guy that tries to stay away from the girl he really wants because he's a danger to her. A little bit of Twilight vibes, but we can get past that. Because there is one thing that Twilight didn't have, that you can find reading The Vampire Diaries...

DAMON

Even though we only get a glimpse of him in this book, we can feel his presence throughout the whole book. We can feel his connection with Elena, as weird and spooky as it may be. All that danger that he carries with him, we all want to see whether there's anything good in him at all. His story is the most intriguing one, I think. His hunger for revenge makes you really understand both sides of the story and choose a side for yourself.

So, are you team Stefan, or team Damon?

I loved reading this - it was an amazing experience and it reminded me of my high-school days, of those innocent happy memories. My teenage life didn't include vampires, but hey - it was still awesome!

Pick the Vampire Diaries up if you love Young Adult spooky books, if you loved Twilight and if you love vampire, love and mystery stories in general.

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Buddy read with Devanshi!

Ok. Anyone who knows me knows that I love two things: Peter Pan and vampires (not necessarily together, but can you imagine!!??) So it comes as no surprise that I love The Vampire Diaries television show. I’ve been a big fan since I was about 12 or so and recently decided to rewatch the show in its entirety. This brought on the nostalgia of when I was reading the books, also at the tender age of 12. I didn’t remember a lot about them (I was a particularly skimmy reader back then) so I figured, why not reread the books as I rewatch the show?

The moon had not yet risen, and she could just make out the old graveyard and Wickery Bridge beyond it. The old graveyard dated from Civil War days, and many of the

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headstones bore the names of soldiers. It had a wild look to it; brambles and tall weeds grew on the graves, and ivy vines swarmed over crumbling granite. Elena had never liked it. “It looks different, doesn’t it? In the dark, I mean,” she said unsteadily. She didn’t know how to say what she really meant, that it was not a place for the living.

First of all, I was surprised by how good the writing is. Idk what I expected exactly, but well-done prose wasn’t it. It really feels like a spooky movie from the 90s and I really appreciated it.

Unfortunately, the rest of this wasn’t as good. The plot suffered significantly from iffy pacing. Instalove was a plague throughout. And worst of all, I absolutely hate the characters.

Scratch that. I absolutely hate Elena and Stefan, though really only when they’re together. Or when they’re pining after the other. Or when they breathe in each other’s general direction.

Confession time: while I love TVD, I don’t love Elena Gilbert. I think she’s really annoying, actually, and kind of a Mary Sue idiot. But book Elena makes her a saint. A paragon of excellency. The best written protagonist of all time.

Primarily, this is because book Elena and show Elena aren’t the same person. They’re entirely different in every conceivable way. Different hair, different eyes, different skin tone, different personality and priorities, different past traumas, different siblings, different friends, different aunt. Book Elena is a mean girl who literally vows to make Stefan her boyfriend solely because he snubs her and she’s used to every male on the planet being obsessed with her. It’s the most ridiculous thing in the world. She acts like it’s some big thing when she just needs a reality check. But then Stefan reveals that he loved her the whole time even though they don’t know each other and have never actually held a conversation for longer than 2 seconds. And from there, it’s true love.

Every other character is different from their show counterpart too: Stefan is like 600 years old and still hung up on Katherine, Bonnie is a meek redhead, Caroline is a frenemy rival, and some girl named Meredith who isn’t Meredith Fell is the sarcastic best friend. The only character who’s actually the exact same is Matt.

This isn’t a problem. I don’t mind that the show changed the source material so much. They actually made better, more well rounded characters than the original, and improved the plot too. But it’s strange that the showrunners felt the need to change everything so much but keep names and the title of the series the same.

I’m definitely going to continue my reread and hopefully make it passed where I dropped the series back in the day. If not for the nostalgia, for my undying desire to know what happens differently.

Evil will never find peace. It may triumph, but it will never find peace.

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