Name: Vampire Diaries #1
Rating: 3.377813504823151 (622 reviews)
ISBN: 9780061020001

L. J. Smith

The Awakening (Vampire Diaries)

Vampire Diaries #1

Tali ⋆.˚🦋༘⋆

"...Katherine made a foolish choice, and she paid the price for it. Elena is different; she knows her own mind."

“Right now I’m thinking that you always get your way. Because you always do, don’t you, Elena?”

kinda crazy how they were two different people from different families, and now they're siblings in the CW series lol 

Bonnie held the list out so they could see it, and Elena and Meredith leaned forward and read:

The Fury and Dark Reunion (The Vampire Diaries)

The Vampire Diaries

Mae Erceg

The Awakening and The Struggle (Vampire Diaries)

Completely different than the television series but still, just as good. Both are equal to me (because they're both so different). Nonetheless, great read :)

Lisa J. Smith

The awakening. The struggle

Vampire Diaries

Actual Rating: 3.5 (for both!) 

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. 

Book 2 was probably my favorite one (maybe even a 4*) just because of the ending! I wasn't expecting it, till maybe a chapter before where I was like "Hmmmm maybe....", I can't wait to see what happens next. I really gotta pick up the next bind up and read more of it, I can't believe LJ Smith went there so early on in the series! (I also really want to find out more about Katherine, so I hope we get that too because I'm a sucker for the flashback scenes!) 

I also can't believe I haven't picked these up sooner, just because I really like Smith's writing style (though I know the later books aren't written by her :')). Because this was a first time read for one of my favourite authors I actually sticky noted the entire book with my opinions and predictions. That might even be the reason I found this book kinda kept me from a complete slump, because it was so fun to sticky note! 

My current favourite brother as of these books is Stefan...so we'll see how that goes through the series...

The danger, romance, and mystery continue in the third installment of Smith'sbestselling Vampire Diaries series.

And, the Reunion

The Fury

The first book in this bind up I enjoyed, but the second one not so much. Idk why, maybe because it took a while to get anywhere (atleast 1/4 of the book ugh) but I just didn't enjoy it as much as the other 3 I've read. 

I listened to the audiobook for the last half, which was nice, definitely made me push through it quicker.  

I'm glad the storyline is completely different than what I know now, but I'm not sure I'm gonna continue, thinking where it's going with it.

Dark Reunion (Vampire Diaries, No 4)

Vampire Diaries #4

Annabella

The tale of two vampire brothers and the beautiful girl torn between them.

The Awakening and The Struggle

I have no reason for doing this except nostalgia

Bailey Torres 

The Struggle (The Vampire Diaries Series Vol II)

Vampire Diaries #2

Tasha Dykstra

☽ jess ☾

The Awakening: 4 stars 
This is a reread from possibly 2010? I never finished the series and it’s haunted me ever since. I enjoyed it apparently I still like vampires and LJ Smith. 🤷🏻‍♀️
The Struggle: 4 stars
I thought this was a reread but I have no memory of it. Apparently I still like Damon, vampires and LJ Smith. 🤫

Two vampire brothers are in love with the same girl and she is torn between them.

The fury

Jennifer Merchant

Kelly Casey

Oh man I am so disappointed. I love the Vampire Diaries tv show. This book is nothing like the show. I absolutely hate the Elena that is in the book. She is a blond vapid selfish b**ch who wants everything to revolve around her until somehow she falls in love with Stefan literally out of nowhere, they had no real interaction before she is like "I love you". Honestly, everything I loved about the show is not in the book. I forced myself to keep reading and honestly the second half of the book is what bumped my rating up to a 2 star. Elena stopped being a b**ch seemingly overnight, and her motivation wasn't that she wanted to be a better person to the people around her but that she wanted to be "worthy of Stefan". I mean, just yikes. However, the story got mildly better. I am even curious to see what happens in book 2 if I ever force myself to read it because there was a pretty big cliffhanger at the end. Oh and by the way I know this was written before Twilight, but it's basically Twilight except for it's way worse. So, honestly I would only suggest reading this if you're curious. Don't read it if you think it's going to be like the show, and don't read it if you think it's going to be better than Twilight, and don't go in with high expectations.

Michelle Xu

It's been a long long time since I've read this, but during my vampire phase following Twilight in middle school, I remember reading this and not liking Elena at all. I found (esp. the first book) to be too shallow--too much high school drama. I didn't start getting into the book until the end of the 2nd book and onto the 3rd and 4th.

Katie

This is such a throwback for YA paranormal romance I sort of feel bad only giving it 3 stars but also the characters suck (and not in the fun vampire way). Elena is a legitimately terrible person, thinking of boys as "possessions" and basically throwing a tantrum when Stefan doesn't pay attention to her. Stefan is a boring Byronic hero, so really the shining star of this series is Damon and he's barely in this first book.

This just feels like a bunch of rising action with no payoff. I really like LJ Smith's writing style, but her plot structures and characterizations are very thin. Her characters have very little depth, and I think that shows in this series in particular, and most of her plots feel like things just happen with no clear resolutions or strong character motivations.

Also Elena told Stefan she loved him after she'd been semi-stalking him for two months and they'd gone on one pseudo-date, so you hate to see that. LJ Smith is the queen of instalove I guess.

Vampire Diaries #1 The Awakening (Vampire Diaries)

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