Author: L. J. Smith
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Paranormal
Pub Date: March 2010, HarperTeen
Hardcover, 599 pages
Book Source: Purchased from Amazon.com
Synopsis
On the run . . .
Elena Gilbert's love, the vampire Stefan Salvatore, has been captured and imprisoned by demonic spirits who are wreaking havoc in Fell's Church. While her friends Bonnie and Meredith explore the evil that has taken over their town, Elena goes in search of Stefan.
In order to find him, she entrusts her life to Stefan's brother, Damon Salvatore, the handsome but deadly vampire who wants Elena, body and soul. Along with her childhood friend Matt, they set out for the slums of the Dark Dimension, where Stefan is being held captive. It is rumored to be a world where vampires and demons roam free, but humans must live enslaved to their supernatural masters. . . .
Elena will stop at nothing to free Stefan. Yet with each passing day the tension between Elena and Damon grows, and she is faced with a terrible decision: Which brother does she really want?
Back in Fell's Church, Bonnie and Meredith have made some dire discoveries. They hastily try to follow Elena and warn her -- only to be caught up in Elena's most dangerous adventure yet.
My Thoughts
Over a year ago, I wrote my first book review on this blog, and it was for Nightfall, the first book in this latest Vampire Diaries series by L. J. Smith. That book garnered a rather average rating, and sadly, this second installment will receive the same from me. I am still thrilled to see Smith writing again and anxiously await the concluding book in her Nightworld series, Strange Fate, due out later this year. However, I just don't feel that she is doing her original Vampire Diaries series justice with these latest books. (And yes, part of me wishes the series had been left as is.)
So many of the main characters are mere shells of their former selves--in some cases, they are nearly entirely different people. Elena has become almost wishy-washy and silly--not the strong-willed, sharp girl I remember from the original series. In these books, sometimes she is strong, and then other times she comes across as weak and almost helpless. And I'd better not get started on Stefan--suffice it to say he makes me want to gag when he calls Elena his "lovely love." Honestly? So cheesy. He almost seems pathetic to me. Bonnie and Meredith don't seem to have quite the prominent roles they did in the first books, but they may be the characters who have stayed the closest to their original forms--along with Damon. Damon is a character that I enjoyed in the first Vampire Diaries books, and I believe he is far and away my favorite in this latest trilogy, which indeed, Smith was writing to give him a more prominent role.
While this story did at times keep me on the edge of my seat and turning pages to find out what would happen next, I also felt like it was all over the place and often incoherent. Many times I found myself wondering what exactly was going on, the plot was so tangled. It is almost as if Smith has so many ideas for her story that she is trying desperately to get them all into these books in some way. I would say that it was helpful of her to include a summary of the previous book in the beginning, but it was so obvious that was what she was doing that it was rather annoying. (It reminded me of the ridiculous summaries in the Baby-Sitters Club books--each one had a chapter about how the BSC came into existence and described all its members, etc.)
I hate that this review sounds so negative, because I definitely liked this book better than Nightfall. Right now it seems like Smith is just a shadow of her former self but I will stick with her to see if the books improve. Admittedly, as I was reading Shadow Souls, I caught glimmers of the L. J. Smith I know and love. Truthfully I can't see where there would be much to write about in a third book in this series, but I hope that everything will become clearer in that last book. I've been a loyal reader of Smith's books since I read her first Vampire Diaries series back in 1991--I've waited years and years for the finale of the Nightworld books--and more than anything I would like to see her come into her own in today's YA world.
My rating:
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Posts
I have wondered on these books since the tv series started. Thank you for the honest review. I have thought on trying the books. I just may do so here at some point when I get time. Thank you!
ReplyDeletei really want to read the series..but there's a lot of other books waiting for my service to read them..hope i will very soon.nice review!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the review Melissa. Very honest, and I could tell you still really enjoyed it. I haven't gotten to the new Vampire Diaries yet or the Secret Circle. Still working on it :]
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad. I was also pretty disappointed in The Return: Nightfall, and I guess LJ Smith had major problems with her editor while she was writing that book. I was hoping this one would be a lot better.
ReplyDeleteNot that I'm not going to buy it, of course. :)
I actually like the t.v. series quite a bit better than the books, the older ones or the newer ones. I'm pretty certain that's the first time I've enjoyed a story in a show format more than the book format.
ReplyDelete