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3.1 AVERAGE
3.1 AVERAGE
The story picks up where the last one leaves, however if it's been awhile since you've read these books then you may need to recap otherwise it may take you a bit to get caught up. The first thing you will notice is the sheer size of the book, and personally I feel as if this could have been either trimmed down or split into two books. It's huge for a young adult novel and with a plot like this it's easy for someone like me to get distracted or tired of it quickly. The characters are the same as before so there is no change there, and the writing style is pretty close to the same. There are small differences that made it disappointing to me though. There is a lot of focus on the sexual aspect of teens' lives, which yes happens but I do get tired of reading about such things. The plot attempts to be fast pace all while loading you down with info, thoughts, and actions that are occurring so to say the least most of the time I was extremely confused and had to reread some of it. Overall I was fighting between giving this a 1.5 and a 2, it wasn't an enjoyable experience for me at all.
This book was not that great to read, but it wasn't terrible either. I don't know if I liked it or if I was compelled to keep reading out of sheer confusion and needing to know what the hell was going on. The story seemed sort of outlandish, even considering the genre. The narration was really confusing for me as well. I didn't connect with it.
I've never been a fan of Elena, and I share Caroline's feelings toward her in that I do not understand her appeal and why everyone adores her. She is probably my least favorite protagonist ever and she's an oxymoron. Every character is more likable than Elena, even the villains and Damon; Caroline being the exception.
The writing was kind of a mess to me. There were some typos that really got to me, like "thing" instead of "think" and "Albert" instead of "Alpert." (And those are just two that I remember off the bat.) Stefan said "lovely little love" more times than I was comfortable with and there were too many additional characters who were thrown into the mix for me to follow or care about.
The major fail of it all was that this story was supposed to take place a week after the fourth book, and yet somehow in the early 90's we're video chatting, using cellphones and browsing on the internet. Really?
*If there was an option for half stars, this would get 2.5 but.
I've never been a fan of Elena, and I share Caroline's feelings toward her in that I do not understand her appeal and why everyone adores her. She is probably my least favorite protagonist ever and she's an oxymoron. Every character is more likable than Elena, even the villains and Damon; Caroline being the exception.
The writing was kind of a mess to me. There were some typos that really got to me, like "thing" instead of "think" and "Albert" instead of "Alpert." (And those are just two that I remember off the bat.) Stefan said "lovely little love" more times than I was comfortable with and there were too many additional characters who were thrown into the mix for me to follow or care about.
The major fail of it all was that this story was supposed to take place a week after the fourth book, and yet somehow in the early 90's we're video chatting, using cellphones and browsing on the internet. Really?
*If there was an option for half stars, this would get 2.5 but.
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The beginning of this book is extremely confusing, I disliked Elena portrayed as a spirit deeply. It takes a while for anything interesting to happen in the plot, which became very agonising. Compared to the first 4 books this one is rather poor. This is why I have only given the book 3 stars, but there are also parts of the book I loved. One of these being the absense of Stefan, enableing Elena to see Damon in a different light, therefore allowing their relationship to grow. I have always been rooting for Damon, there is something mysterious but lovely about him and the way he cared for Bonnie in this book only backed up my thoughts. I also enjoyed the ending of the book, everything started to piece together and get so much more exciting. I believed when reading this book that I would not read the next 2 in the series because it was as if L.J.Smith had rushed the new books to try and keep up with the TV series. I have decided to read the next in the series just because the end leaves Damon and Elena's relationship open and on the blurb of the next book it says "The tension between Elena and Damon mounts until Elena is faced with a terrible decision: which brother does she really want to be with?". Therefore I am definately going to read "Shadow Souls", I enjoyed "Nightfall" because of the way Damon is depicted but it was at times agonising and confusing.