aka YA Literature

Monday, January 21, 2008

The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith

I think I've been reading too many YA vampire novels. I guess I hoped I was hooked on this "genre" after reading the Twilight series. However, none have really lived up to that, and I've only thought they were all mediocre stories. And the other day I was trying to help an English teacher choose indepent reading novels for her class list, and I realized that I was not much help because I hadn't read most of the books I was suggesting to her. If she had wanted teen vampire fiction, then I would have been utterly helpful.

Anyway, I say all this to lead into a vampire book that I actually quite liked. The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening & the Struggle by L.J. Smith actually had an interesting and non-obvious plot, well-developed characters, and really good suspense. It was dark and not completely high school-cliquish, the way a vampire novel ought to be IMO. I was more scared reading this than I ever was reading Twilight. It's about a human high school senior named Elena who is beautiful and popular. When school starts, a hot, mysterious new boy (Stefan) is attending school with her. Elena is attracted to him and tries to pursue him, after dumping her cute and extremely nice and reliable boyfriend Matt. Of course, Stefan is a vampire who was born centuries before. He is trying to escape the ugliness of vampire life by blending in as a high schooler in small Fells Church, VA. Weird and creepy things start happening to Elena and others she knows. A homeless man is found dead with his throat ripped open, and a girl is almost attacked in the graveyard on homecoming night. Stefan is blacking out when these events occur, and he thinks he is doing it (and so does most of the town). He tries to stay away from Elena because she reminds him of someone he once knew and because he is trying to protect her from himself. But she is strong-willed and their attraction is great, so eventually they succumb to their attraction. But all is still not well! Stefan's evil older brother, Damon, has followed Stefan to Fells Church and is also determined to have Elena for himself.

11 comments:

Texasholly said...

I want to read this, but our public library nor my school library owns it. Weird.

Anonymous said...

Ooh, squeal! I remember reading this series back when I was in 7th grade. I got so excited when I saw that it was being republished. Now I can force it on every Twilight fan I see!

Trisha

Sheryl said...

I think it was genius to reissue these books, especially with the love for vampire fiction that Twilight has created. And the updated covers of these books are so much better than the originals!

Anonymous said...

I'm on the 3rd book 'the Fury' right now :)
What an amazing series! I agree with you completely about the suspense!
What are some other vampire novels that you would suggest? (apart from the bible -twilight- of course :p)

Sheryl said...

Thoughts? I have posted about Vampire Academy and Marked on our blog. They are really not as good, in my opinion. Blood and Chocolate is werewolf but pretty good. Although it's not vampire at all, I really liked A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb.

Anonymous said...

i read the republished series and it was fantastic! i loved the new ending. it was exciting, and horrifying and definitely got me thinking at times. i highly recommend it!

Anonymous said...

this is an absolutely amaizing series!
when i first read it it reminded me of the TWILIGHT series. but then later there were a lot of different twists in the plot. if your into the whole vampire thing. READ!

Unknown said...

i luv this book. after what happened in dark reunion i so want a sequal. mt heart almost burst out of me during the whole story.

Anonymous said...

i luv this book. i need a sequel. my hart will burst 4 all vampires 2feed if not.

Unknown said...

I. NEED. A. SEQUAL. if not i'll die

Unknown said...
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