A deadly love triangle Elena: beautiful and popular, the girl who can have any boy she wants.
Stefan: brooding and mysterious, desperately trying to resist his desire for Elena . . . for her own good.
Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him.
Elena finds herself drawn to both brothers . . . who will she choose?
Why didn't I read this series when I was 12? I’m 31 now and enjoyed it, but I think this would have been much more magical at 12.
Elena comes off on the pretentious and shallow side at first - the self-titled “queen of the school”. But she slowly blossoms throughout the book and you eventually start to like her. Her obsession turns to devotion, and her conceited demeanor transforms into a single-minded determination to become someone worthy.
Stefan is handsome, brooding and your typical tortured vampire. He's haunted by his past love who he and his evil brother Damon dueled over, and centuries later he's still not over it all-until of course, he meets Elena.
Damon although evil - I found to be a very captivating character. Even in the first installment of this series, it is difficult to dislike him. He is the embodiment of sexuality and temptation that I can assume will only become more appetizing as the series enfolds.
My only gripe would be that I found Elena and Stefan's relationship to be slightly rushed and not very credible. One moment he’s avoiding her like the plague - the next moment she’s telling him she loves him. I just don’t think that’s a positive note for kids to read about when they’re young and impressionable. I feel that the “love” word should have a bit more substance than that.
With that said, I can definitely see why this series is popular - especially with the tween crowd. There were foggy cemeteries, dead teachers, dark and stormy nights, girls being held in thrall, you know, all that great classic stuff. Ms. Smith’s writing is succinct and to the point - but you can still enjoy all the details that are necessary to create the dark atmosphere surrounding Elena and Stefan. I will forewarn, the ending is a cliffhanger, so there is no doubt that I will be picking up the next book in the series.
This is a story of love, betrayal, revenge, second chances... but also so much more. Although it is geared for a teen/young adult crowd - I think adult readers will find it a fun, enjoyable read.
12 comments:
Great review. How do you feel it compares to the tv show?
Juju - Believe it or not I actually like the tv show better. I think they made Elena a more likable character.
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Amy J
djsfoxylady@gmail.com
LOL-I didn't realize the show was based on books. I'm going to have to check into them. I'm loving the show.
I'm 32 and was lucky enough to read the series the first time around as a freshman in high school. I was thrilled to see them re-issued (along with my favorite LJ Smith series The Secret Circle). I'm okay with the tv series, but I miss Meredith!
I cant wait to read this.
I agree with your assessment of Stefan & Elena's relationship. I also found it rushed and awkward. I sorta remembered feeling the same thing when I read Twilight once upon a time.
Someone brought up Twilight and I was going to ask how much these books resemble Twilight....but it sounds to me like these pre-date Meyer's books? Hmmmmm. Very interesting.
Love the review, Nely!!
I'm glad that they still have some appeal for an adult, because I bought them for the challenge. I'll know sometime this month.
Michele at RR - these most definitely pre-date Twilight - by like a good 10 years. It seems Ms. Meyer might have used these as inspiration for her Twilight saga.
♥Nely
I read these after they were re-released - and was very excited when they made them into a tv series. I completely agree that Elena is more likable on the show. ParaJunkee
PS Your template is be-u-tiful
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