The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening by L.J. Smith - Review

Well friends, this one isn't going to be pretty. I'll try and keep things short, sweet and to the point, but let me preface my review by letting you know that this was such a hard book for me to finish. I had to try so very hard not to quit this book midway through, but I wanted to finish it out and give it a chance.


I was first drawn to these books by L.J. Smith because I am a huge fan of the CW show, Vampire Diaries. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should definably check it out! While the show does tend to be a little over the top dramatic and sometimes quite cheesy, it's so easy to fall in love with the characters on the show. Also, who wouldn't want to look at Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley and the other sexy men on the show who happen to forget about shirts... a lot. That being said, I wouldn't read the books… I think I am in the minority because I absolutely did not like these books. While this may have had something to do with the fact that I did begin by watching the show that is very, very loosely based on the books, I still did not enjoy this read and I’m about to bring down the hammer…

In the books, Elena is a selfish and mean (for those of you who watch the show, she is basically Caroline circa season 1) and she quickly falls in love with Stephen and Damon, who quite obviously are vampires. I’m trying not to be too harsh here, but that is really all that the story bears telling. I think this was one of the first times where I really wanted the main character to be put in her place, or quite honestly, killed by a vampire. But you know those girls that hang with vamps, they just don't seem to die. I do appreciate Smith's different approach to vampires as well as her attempt to make the main character not very likable, but it just didn't work for me.

I went on to read a few other books in the series to see if I was possibly just needing to get over the first book hump, but I was sorely disappointed. The characters are under developed and the plot was a patchwork at best. As a reader, you were left with so many questions and almost felt a little confused. I think this book was a shell of what could have been great, had Smith tried something that little closer to what the plot became once it was turned into a show CW show.

1 out of 10

Happy Reading :)