The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle: Book 2 (The Vampire Diaries: The Return)

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I do believe that there were some good points about this book. For instance, I thought that the storyline, once stripped off all the schoolgirl gossips, petty scheming and stupidity was actually pretty descent. I thought the storyline was quiet original, especially considering the time frame when this book was written. The only downside with the storyline is that in The Awakening, L.J. Smith was still focusing too much on the high school part of the series, with teenage girl bitch fights and gossip, and she only seemed to realize she was actually writing a paranormal romance story at the beginning of The Struggle. So, in all honesty, The Struggle is a far better book than The Awakening. To my disappointment, the writing is just not as good as I came to expect from L.J. Smith. The characters are not fully developed and more often than not unlikeable. The romance also is not written very well. It is very hard to believe in passion between Elena and Stefan. The narration in "The Awakening" is too choppy; multiple POVs are sometimes confusing and distracting. "The Struggle" however is significantly better written, the ending really pulled off the entire second book for me. And I love L.J. Smith, guys.... I do! I've read her Nightworld series many, many times... and her Dark Visions has one of my favourite love interests of all time..... Gabriel *swoons* :D. So hating these bothered me, A LOT, and not just because I love the show!! I don't know why this took me a month to read, it didn't feel that long, I guess it was because of classes...but I really enjoyed these 2 books! I'm familiar with the characters and the general storyline (Atleast from book 1) from watching a little of the show, but it's so different in the book omg.

But the story did get better - once the author stopped concentrating on the Homecoming Queen's dating plan and remembered that she wasn't writing an after-school special but a romantic horror story. Because the horror part was really well written. It was even rather scary in some places. I suspect that the next two books in the tetralogy will be better. Damon is the only character that comes into play that I can understand. He was the one who lurked from afar and didn't try to disguise his obsession with love. His was purely lust. I think this is the first time I have ever rooted for the bad guy to get the girl. I want Elena to be with Damon, Stefan just isn't doing it for me I guess. The series was originally published in 1991–1992 and it revolves around Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert as the two main protagonists. The first three novels in the original series ( The Awakening, The Struggle, and The Fury) all feature Stefan and Elena as the narrators of the series, while the last book in the original series, Dark Reunion, is from Bonnie McCullough's viewpoint. I actually read The Fury and Dark Reunion as some all-for-one-price box set thing from Barnes & Noble, but I’m too stupid to find the set I actually read, so I’m only posting a “review” (if you can even call it that) for the first two.Maybe if I had read these as a young teen, I would have enjoyed them. I just don't think Vampire Diaries has adult appeal. One good thing about reading this series is that I have even more appreciation for today's young adult literature. These books are the perfect example of why I didn't read YA when I was a teen! GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: WARNING!! This review contains spoilers!! And it's long-I had a lot of venting to do! Elena is our spoiled, popular, idiotic MC.... and I hate her, she gets everything she ever wants! She has no compassion and is completely self absorbed - how is this different than any other teenage girl you ask? She is the embodiment of all that times ten!! I HATE her!! The Struggle" was much more fun. Damon's character was still evil, but atleast it was entertaining. Elena was more like the character from the show in it.

Alone, it would have probably gotten a 2.5 star.... up until that ending!!! I did not see that coming. Props for that! So an extra 1/2 star shall be added. The ending was everything I was hoping for and now I can't wait for the next book. The Awakening and The Struggle were only an introduction and the real adventures are yet to begin! When Stefan gets trapped in the well, again we all presume because of Damon but in fact he didn't. Throughout the book Damon is viewed as the 'bad guy' when in reality he hasn't done anything that he's been accused of (apart from killing Tanner which he freely admits).

There was supposed to be action/suspense, but I didn't think it ever got that exciting. The author isn't that great of a writer (I've heard from those who have read her stuff that in the later books her writing improves) but I found Elena's diary entries too angsty "I can't bear the thought of losing him","we didn't touch each other much-we didn't-but we talked and looked at each other a lot. I want to touch him. More than any boy I've ever known." There's also a point where the bad brother vampire Damon refers to Elena as a "beauteous damsel"-beauteous?? Ooh-you really seem scary now!! Characters [ edit ] Key = Main cast (Occurs as a main figure throughout the entire novel) = Recurring cast (Character appears several times in the book but is omitted from long periods) = Guest cast (Characters occurs in only one or two chapters of the novel or is mentioned often in a method that effects the plot) Character Elena is the most popular girl in school, her boyfriend Matt a classic all-American sporty, nice boy. Then she sees the new boy, Stefan, dark, sensual, and totally oblivious to her. She determines to have him, and promptly gets rid of Matt. There are a few complications, though: one, Stefan is a vampire from the Italian renaissance period; two, she looks a lot like Katherine, the girl he was in love with who made him a vampire before killing herself, thinking he and his brother Damon, whom she also converted, would then stop fighting over her; and three, Damon is also in the city, and he has his sights set on Elena. Now, I can finally talk about the last couple of chapters. Yes, the scene where Elena drives her car of the bridge (accidently of course).

What it boiled down to for me: A teen vampire novel populated with obnoxious, under-developed characters and a plot that just screams "OH LOOK AT ME AND MY DRAMA QUEEN SELF!" Particularly in the first novel, "The Awakening", I found the main character - Elena - to be selfish, spoiled, and revolting. Perhaps it's because the popular, pretty girl foil is simply something that I can't related to, or perhaps it's because the idea of making my friends swear in blood that they won't stop until they 'get me' a boy is totally and completely absurd. It all happens as the result of a fight which in turn means Elena drives off angry... This is our big glimpse at the 'other power' and it is a good 'glimpse'. Elena's there thinking "The power fills the whole sky" and there I am picturing a massive thing covering all of the sky, just wow. Vampire Diaries book series nominated for 2010 Kids' Choice Award". Archived from the original on 2014-04-13. The Fury ( ISBN 978-0-06-199077-9) reveals that the Salvatore's former lover Katherine von Swartzchild was the evil force in Fell's Church and that she ran Elena off the bridge where Elena turned into a vampire. The Fury introduces Katherine as a villain with the plot revolving around a newly turned Elena trying to cope with the stresses of becoming a vampire. Stefan and Damon work together to try to stop Katherine, who has been possessing animals and killing people all around Fell's Church. Discovering Katherine's secret lair beneath the graveyard, Stefan, Damon and Elena fight her resulting in both Elena and Katherine's deaths.Well, short answer, no, he hasn't... Directly. I feel really sorry for Stefan in this book because Damon is the one (or the one suspected) behind everything. Stefan doesn't know this so he's slowly getting weaker because of his guilt. The Struggle continues where The Awakening ends; Elena is looking to talk to Damon, knowing that he has something to do with Stefan's disappearance. Okay, you ignored my advice and are going to read them anyway? That’s cool. Read them while lounging at the pool (preferably with some sort of rum drink in hand to counteract the awful you are about to experience); Stefan spends half the book ignoring her ( yes, for a good reason, but still) then when he does finally talk to her...BANG! They are together and "in love"??? 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...

I felt like there was more action in this book, compared to the first one. It made me more engrossed with the story and I was very excited for all the twists. Elena and Stefan have nothing more then a ghost of a memory and some heated attraction for one another? Third, idk I just think watching the show first ruined the books because characters I liked from the show didn’t exist in the books and characters I liked in the books didn’t exist in the shows. Stefan's Diaries #4: The Ripper due for release 8th November, 2011". Archived from the original on 2014-03-03. I had posted this as a two but am changing it to a one .....muahaha... because I am not as nice as I used to be!UK cover for The Hunters: Moonsong revealed + short synopses for Phantom and Moonsong". July 28, 2011. 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 thought the wheel didn't choose it, I did, because it deserved the attention!