Books and Ashes

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening & The Struggle
L. J. Smith
Released: 26th June, 2007

Book Summary:

Elena: the golden girl, the leader, the one who can have any boy she wants.

Stefan: brooding and mysterious, he seems to be the only one who can resist Elena, even as he struggles to protect her from the horrors that haunt his past.

Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Determined to have Elena, he'd kill to possess her.

Collected here in one volume for the first time, volumes one and two of The Vampire Diaries, the tale of two vampire brothers and the beautiful girl torn between them.

What I like: The idea around the book was something that got me interested, and more importantly what had happened to the brothers and why was Damon so determined on revenge against Stefan? The side characters were developed and they weren't just there to occasionally help move the plot, they were actually people who I could see had motives and goals and they weren't all like-minded which was something I really enjoyed. The plot idea was something that really interested me and while it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for I liked it.

What I didn’t like: In the first book Elena just didn't seem very relatable, not that she had to be, but she just seemed determined to have things done her way and only her way which put me off for a bit. There were tropes in it that I'm very familiar with and think are overdone especially with how they were handled:

Overall review: Even thought there were things I feel could have been done better I enjoyed the dual book overall, especially the second book. There was tension and character development and you learn things about each of them and overall I felt it was an enjoyable read. There will come a day when I get the chance to finish the rest of the series and I'm excited to see what happens!

Recommend?: Yes! I enjoyed it and I'm certain that many people who enjoy reading books about vampires will enjoy it.

Goodreads: 3.6/5

Buy it at

Barnes&Nobles: 4/5 BookDepository: —/5

My Rating: 3.6/5

Rated Material

Cover=4
Story=3.5
Idea=3.7

Character= 3.2

Also posted on my Tumblr and on Goodreads.