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3.1 AVERAGE
3.1 AVERAGE
I'm not even sure what can be said about this book that is good.
I read the first four books of the series in Spanish, and I honestly can't remember the prose being this bad. After I started reading this I thought, damn, this read like a fanfic. I went hunting for reviews shortly after and was happy to find I'm not the only one who thought so.
The prose was terrible, not as terrible as some I've read, but certainly I can't remember disliking the style as much in the first 4 books. Either I was spared because of a wonderful translation, or it was just way better in those.
The little lovely love thing and the annoyed me to no end. And Damon... well, he acted like an idiot all through (and I'm not even talking about the Malach)- I wasn't even convinced. I was fairly sure I liked him enough by the end of book 4- I kept wondering as I read this one whether I was not confusing my liking of him with the tv character, because I also couldn't remember disliking him this much. Oh, it had some points in there, somewhere, but most of it? Most of it sucked.
And you know when I really really stopped taking it seriously? At the first mention of something Japanese. And it totally lost me completely the first time it used a Japanese word. By the end I was skimming through, because really, if I wanted to read a fanfic, I would not pick a 400 pages one.
Am I going to finish reading the series? Yes.
Am I going to like it? Well, I hope so, but I cringe every time I see something Japanese thrown very randomly in the middle of something. And if Stefan goes back to his lovely love things, ugh.
I read the first four books of the series in Spanish, and I honestly can't remember the prose being this bad. After I started reading this I thought, damn, this read like a fanfic. I went hunting for reviews shortly after and was happy to find I'm not the only one who thought so.
The prose was terrible, not as terrible as some I've read, but certainly I can't remember disliking the style as much in the first 4 books. Either I was spared because of a wonderful translation, or it was just way better in those.
The little lovely love thing and the
Spoiler
angel thingAnd you know when I really really stopped taking it seriously? At the first mention of something Japanese. And it totally lost me completely the first time it used a Japanese word. By the end I was skimming through, because really, if I wanted to read a fanfic, I would not pick a 400 pages one.
Am I going to finish reading the series? Yes.
Am I going to like it? Well, I hope so, but I cringe every time I see something Japanese thrown very randomly in the middle of something. And if Stefan goes back to his lovely love things, ugh.
Why do I keep reading these? This series is by far the worst I have ever read. The writing is talentless, for one thing. The author uses little colourful vocabulary, even for a teen novel. I find she is the embodiment of authors trying to dumb things down for teens, and only making them less smart. Every now and again she picks a big word. Great. Then she uses it on every. Single. Page.
Her characters are also incredibly dry and agitating. Elena is not a real person- I have never met a person so two dimensional in my life. Her hair is a more interesting character than her personality. And for how many times the author describes its beauty, it might as well be. Bonnie is beyond annoying, as unrealistic as Elena. Meredith is too moody and flat. I feel LJ Smith pick one character trait for every character then instead of adding more, she just inflates the one and makes them unbearable.
The biggest problem I have with the books so far is the ridiculousness of the things that happen. Elena grows three pairs of wings and it turns into something like Pokemon: “Wings of Purification!” could go along with all of those names they shout out when they throw the Pokeball and the thing comes out or however that works. When Elena tries to use the wings she just shouts “I believe! I believe!” and it turns into a terrible rendition of Peter Pan trying to save Tinkerbell’s life with “I do believe in fairies.”
Then the trees grow, Damon pulls out a sword from nowhere, girls start dressing in tinsel, Matt won’t undress or kiss Elena to save his life, wait. What? That’s right. Matt has to kiss Elena or Damon will kill him, and take off her freaking clothes. Instead he decides he will commit suicide in order to preserve Elena’s purity. Like that would happen. Elena’s speech was ridiculous. People cheered, like it wasn’t cheesy enough before that. I had to laugh when Elena said “Damn” and people were stunned that she swore. Wow, a teenager swearing. And wasn’t it shocking when she said “bullshit?” I thought the world was going to disintegrate.
The end killed me too, when Matt, Elena, and Damon head off on a road trip and she makes them sleep outside the car. I thought she was no longer modest. I’m sure no one would complain if they just slept in their separate seats. I’m not even going to get into how dumb the “larger than a fox, but smaller than a wolf” things were. Or the flying jelly-fish. Or Elena floating along tied to Stefan’s car like a balloon. Or the tree that almost ate everyone- Harry Potter, anyone?
Or Elena kissing people. Actually I will talk about that one. I found Caroline insulting. Though straight myself, I have a respect for homosexuality that I think the author violated. Caroline’s claim that kissing her was immoral went a little too far on the author’s part, even if Elena’s greeting was beyond weird.
The only reason I’m still reading the series is because I have more hope for the new author. I'm sad for LJ that they fired her from her own series... but still.
Her characters are also incredibly dry and agitating. Elena is not a real person- I have never met a person so two dimensional in my life. Her hair is a more interesting character than her personality. And for how many times the author describes its beauty, it might as well be. Bonnie is beyond annoying, as unrealistic as Elena. Meredith is too moody and flat. I feel LJ Smith pick one character trait for every character then instead of adding more, she just inflates the one and makes them unbearable.
The biggest problem I have with the books so far is the ridiculousness of the things that happen. Elena grows three pairs of wings and it turns into something like Pokemon: “Wings of Purification!” could go along with all of those names they shout out when they throw the Pokeball and the thing comes out or however that works. When Elena tries to use the wings she just shouts “I believe! I believe!” and it turns into a terrible rendition of Peter Pan trying to save Tinkerbell’s life with “I do believe in fairies.”
Then the trees grow, Damon pulls out a sword from nowhere, girls start dressing in tinsel, Matt won’t undress or kiss Elena to save his life, wait. What? That’s right. Matt has to kiss Elena or Damon will kill him, and take off her freaking clothes. Instead he decides he will commit suicide in order to preserve Elena’s purity. Like that would happen. Elena’s speech was ridiculous. People cheered, like it wasn’t cheesy enough before that. I had to laugh when Elena said “Damn” and people were stunned that she swore. Wow, a teenager swearing. And wasn’t it shocking when she said “bullshit?” I thought the world was going to disintegrate.
The end killed me too, when Matt, Elena, and Damon head off on a road trip and she makes them sleep outside the car. I thought she was no longer modest. I’m sure no one would complain if they just slept in their separate seats. I’m not even going to get into how dumb the “larger than a fox, but smaller than a wolf” things were. Or the flying jelly-fish. Or Elena floating along tied to Stefan’s car like a balloon. Or the tree that almost ate everyone- Harry Potter, anyone?
Or Elena kissing people. Actually I will talk about that one. I found Caroline insulting. Though straight myself, I have a respect for homosexuality that I think the author violated. Caroline’s claim that kissing her was immoral went a little too far on the author’s part, even if Elena’s greeting was beyond weird.
The only reason I’m still reading the series is because I have more hope for the new author. I'm sad for LJ that they fired her from her own series... but still.
BAD. Nonsense. This series sucks lol I can't believe such a good show came from this. Random storylines that come from nowhere and make no sense. I'm saying I finished it, but I really didn't. I CANNOT get through this muddled mess. I've tried and tried for months so it's gonna count for my yearly reading challenge. Not finishing this series. 0/5 stars.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood
This was a good book, but i think she should have ended the series with the last book. The first books are usually the best when your not forceing yourself to write.
2.75 stars
This was disappointing .. I really like the original series and idk what happened after. From the reviews I read, it's all downhill from here which unfortunate because I loved this series.
This wasn't a great read but it wasn't terrible enough for me to stop reading it.
This was disappointing .. I really like the original series and idk what happened after. From the reviews I read, it's all downhill from here which unfortunate because I loved this series.
This wasn't a great read but it wasn't terrible enough for me to stop reading it.
The first half of this book was a 3 and the second half a 5. The first half was extremely slow and honestly, I read four or five books in between. The second half was amazing, intriguing, and mysterious. I love how everything played out at the end and how everything was linked. I also loved the amount of description of Elena's power and of the kitsune.
Compared to the first 4 books this was awful! I can't even bring myself to give it 1*. This novel was everything I detest about teen fantasy/paranormal romance novels. I will read the next installment reluctantly in the hope it may redeem itself.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Okay, so the four stars is generous - this is a quality-two, maaaaaybe two and a half, but my enjoyment was a solid four. Oh, L.J. Smith, never stop being so crazy! I mean, this book is almost comics-canon-esque in how it attempts to reconcile a book written today picking up a week after the plotline of the book written ten-ish years ago! The miraculous discovery of cell phones, which appear and disappear when plotually convenient! The slight name-dropping of shoes and bags and clothes so that we know these people are "with it"! D'awwww.
This book is ambitious, moreso than I think what Smith has attempted before, and I think it partially succeeds. It's pretty clear that this book is setting up a new take on the Vampire Diaries (wow, there's an awkward abbreviation) universe, especially with the SPN Pilot episode "we've got work to do"-style ending. She's setting up a caper! On the run! Or something.
This book feels like a hybrid of the early nineties Smith (the classic Vampire Diaries, Secret Circle, etc) with the new swathe of young adult horror novels (Cassie Clare, Holly Black, etc). I feel like Smith is retconning a lot of world-building onto her universe to make it wider and more complex (a la the new skool stuff), and it's handled relatively deftly, but it still feels, you know. Retconned. (See also: Damon's abuse of the Italian language. And have I mentioned the cell phone hilarity? Because the cell phones are hilarious.)
I will admit to missing the smaller world, a little bit. It was part of the original books' charm - that here was this crazy stuff happening in a relatively contained universe. Still, that doesn't leave you many options of where to go next. Let's hear it for expanding that universe, even if the Sunnydale = Fell's Church jokes are nigh on irresistible.
Also, I hope we get more than just kitsune in the next novel. Let's hear it for Smith and her already-almost-more-diverse-than-Supernatural use of multiple cultures' mythologies, but if we don't get more kinds of Big Bad, then the whole Japanese mythology is going to feel very slapped-on-because-convenient, as opposed to first-in-a-wider-world-of-things-that-go-bump-in-the-dark.
As for the characters, I felt a little shortchanged on the humans, and Stefan was in full-on Edward Cullen mode. "My little lovely love"? Are you kidding me? I still love Bonnie and Damon interacting, and the author's bias is hugely evident yet again: everyone is more interesting around Damon than Stefan. There's more to work with, rather than just noble and self-sacrificing and In Love With Elena.
Elena-with-her-mind-back grows on me. She's got more depth than I remember, and her Bella-esque devotion to Stefan is balanced by, you know, actual personality and skills. Elena-as-a-spirit-childe was mostly just amusing, but that assessment is wildly biased by her - ahahahaha, it still makes me laugh just thinking about it - Go-Go Gadget Wings of Plot Devices. Wings of Redemption (or whatever)? Seriously? Whoever said that wingfic was gonna be the next young adult trend is dead on.
I found Matt annoying, and I miss his mancrush on Stefan. Meredith and Bonnie were present but felt kind of irrelevant for much of the book. If we lose Meredith and Bonnie and up our Matt quotient in the next book? I will likely lose interest very, very quickly.
I remain, in a very seventh-grade-lingering sort of way, intrigued by Damon. Once again Smith fails to sell me on him actually being eeeeeevil, which makes the tension of will-he-won't-he (disembowel, crush, betray, etc) so much less, but I really liked the setup for the tension with does-he-or-doesn't-he-remember his whole Wings of Redemption experience.
So, yeah. An uneven effort but still a guilty pleasure favorite set of characters, and count me in for book two.
This book is ambitious, moreso than I think what Smith has attempted before, and I think it partially succeeds. It's pretty clear that this book is setting up a new take on the Vampire Diaries (wow, there's an awkward abbreviation) universe, especially with the SPN Pilot episode "we've got work to do"-style ending. She's setting up a caper! On the run! Or something.
This book feels like a hybrid of the early nineties Smith (the classic Vampire Diaries, Secret Circle, etc) with the new swathe of young adult horror novels (Cassie Clare, Holly Black, etc). I feel like Smith is retconning a lot of world-building onto her universe to make it wider and more complex (a la the new skool stuff), and it's handled relatively deftly, but it still feels, you know. Retconned. (See also: Damon's abuse of the Italian language. And have I mentioned the cell phone hilarity? Because the cell phones are hilarious.)
I will admit to missing the smaller world, a little bit. It was part of the original books' charm - that here was this crazy stuff happening in a relatively contained universe. Still, that doesn't leave you many options of where to go next. Let's hear it for expanding that universe, even if the Sunnydale = Fell's Church jokes are nigh on irresistible.
Also, I hope we get more than just kitsune in the next novel. Let's hear it for Smith and her already-almost-more-diverse-than-Supernatural use of multiple cultures' mythologies, but if we don't get more kinds of Big Bad, then the whole Japanese mythology is going to feel very slapped-on-because-convenient, as opposed to first-in-a-wider-world-of-things-that-go-bump-in-the-dark.
As for the characters, I felt a little shortchanged on the humans, and Stefan was in full-on Edward Cullen mode. "My little lovely love"? Are you kidding me? I still love Bonnie and Damon interacting, and the author's bias is hugely evident yet again: everyone is more interesting around Damon than Stefan. There's more to work with, rather than just noble and self-sacrificing and In Love With Elena.
Elena-with-her-mind-back grows on me. She's got more depth than I remember, and her Bella-esque devotion to Stefan is balanced by, you know, actual personality and skills. Elena-as-a-spirit-childe was mostly just amusing, but that assessment is wildly biased by her - ahahahaha, it still makes me laugh just thinking about it - Go-Go Gadget Wings of Plot Devices. Wings of Redemption (or whatever)? Seriously? Whoever said that wingfic was gonna be the next young adult trend is dead on.
I found Matt annoying, and I miss his mancrush on Stefan. Meredith and Bonnie were present but felt kind of irrelevant for much of the book. If we lose Meredith and Bonnie and up our Matt quotient in the next book? I will likely lose interest very, very quickly.
I remain, in a very seventh-grade-lingering sort of way, intrigued by Damon. Once again Smith fails to sell me on him actually being eeeeeevil, which makes the tension of will-he-won't-he (disembowel, crush, betray, etc) so much less, but I really liked the setup for the tension with does-he-or-doesn't-he-remember his whole Wings of Redemption experience.
So, yeah. An uneven effort but still a guilty pleasure favorite set of characters, and count me in for book two.