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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
I will do a full review either later today, or another day altogether as I have many other things to get done at the moment (seeing as I am at work). But in short, the beginning of this book honestly scared me and made me think I was not going to like it because of all the plot twists and dramatic character changes. However, I think [a:L.J. Smith|50873|L.J. Smith|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1266517290p2/50873.jpg] did a fantastic job of pulling everything together towards the end to make the tale complete. I finished the book early this morning while I was waiting to clock in for work, seeing as I showed up over 45 minutes early (I hate snow, and I was super paranoid!) and was so intrigued in the ending of it, that I even read the first 20 minutes into my shift to completely finish it. I did thoroughly enjoy it, though. Despite the fact this series has been interesting from the beginning, I am not too sure about the next trilogy: The Hunters, and plan on seeing if I can borrow them on Kindle, or can at least purchase them for cheap in case they are bad like I've heard.
As I said before, full review to come. Keep reading, guys.
As I said before, full review to come. Keep reading, guys.
i give everything three stars as long as i don't find it completely boring/horrible but these do just...keep getting weirder and more nonsensical
like OKAY our justice system sucks, no doubt and obvs this was a special situation with all these ppl connected to the case in positions of power but...they interrogate matt for a few hours or whatever and then just. have a trial. like WHAT. and everyone who came to rescue him couldn't have known that would be happening or that caroline would be there and bringing saber would make her and everyone shift into werewolf form??? i know they always talk about having multiple plans, but. this did not make sense
elena talking about her past self: "she'd been an ignorant little idiot" for not believing in vampires or other supernatural things?? she had a completely normal life before stefan and damon came to town, i think it was okay to be oblivious
when damon wants to kiss her: "he had comforted her; he had taken the terrible pain away. how could she sanely say no?" very easily lmao he's not owed a kiss for doing basic decent things
ALSO damon has done so many worse things than just be rude to elena, in fact being rude is really his default state - or at least it was in the first four books, i feel like lj smith made him softer in this series but like, it came out of nowhere, rather than gradually, so it's never really worked for me - why is damon basically telling elena that she's doing badly on this quest or whatever the thing that finally has her be like "omg i'm completely done with him"
i don't understand the meredith plotline at all. she wasn't turned...fully? but she's supposed to have a little blood every week? i mean i get that you turn when you die with vampire blood in your system right? but she didn't die, idek if she had vampire blood in her system, just that klaus attacked her and her brother. what a weird twist. same with her being a hunter-slayer, it was only hinted at i guess in the first book in this trilogy when shinichi talked about her secret. but it's like...okay, she knew this and didn't think it was something to acknowledge when klaus and katherine were around?
"he's never understood that she could be in love with damon and that it would never change an atom's worth of her love for him" girl, you never even tried to explain it to him - i didn't even think stefan really knew anything about it bc as far as he knew they were like only reluctant allies at this point - you just made out with damon behind his back over and over and over. that's what i don't like about the love triangle - well, actually i find this idea she has of having both of them (she said something negative about katherine's handling of the situation but she too was also trying to have both of them...and also not being straightforward about her feelings the same way elena hasn't been. most of the elena criticism i see is completely unfounded, but this is one thing that makes me crazy, that she won't be honest with either of them) a little icky because well, they're brothers and sharing the same girl is...not it lmao, it can be a solution to other love triangles, but i don't think this one!
anyway i'm glad to be done with this part of the series, i just really hope the ghostwriter gets it a little better, bc even if the first series was a little dumb at times, it was not on the level of awfulness this second series has been, idk what happened to lj smith, like she was trying to bring in so many new elements, and also dragged things out - seriously, the length of the books in the first series was GREAT, and i really think at least a hundred pages could have been cut out of each book in this trilogy.
like OKAY our justice system sucks, no doubt and obvs this was a special situation with all these ppl connected to the case in positions of power but...they interrogate matt for a few hours or whatever and then just. have a trial. like WHAT. and everyone who came to rescue him couldn't have known that would be happening or that caroline would be there and bringing saber would make her and everyone shift into werewolf form??? i know they always talk about having multiple plans, but. this did not make sense
elena talking about her past self: "she'd been an ignorant little idiot" for not believing in vampires or other supernatural things?? she had a completely normal life before stefan and damon came to town, i think it was okay to be oblivious
when damon wants to kiss her: "he had comforted her; he had taken the terrible pain away. how could she sanely say no?" very easily lmao he's not owed a kiss for doing basic decent things
ALSO damon has done so many worse things than just be rude to elena, in fact being rude is really his default state - or at least it was in the first four books, i feel like lj smith made him softer in this series but like, it came out of nowhere, rather than gradually, so it's never really worked for me - why is damon basically telling elena that she's doing badly on this quest or whatever the thing that finally has her be like "omg i'm completely done with him"
i don't understand the meredith plotline at all. she wasn't turned...fully? but she's supposed to have a little blood every week? i mean i get that you turn when you die with vampire blood in your system right? but she didn't die, idek if she had vampire blood in her system, just that klaus attacked her and her brother. what a weird twist. same with her being a hunter-slayer, it was only hinted at i guess in the first book in this trilogy when shinichi talked about her secret. but it's like...okay, she knew this and didn't think it was something to acknowledge when klaus and katherine were around?
"he's never understood that she could be in love with damon and that it would never change an atom's worth of her love for him" girl, you never even tried to explain it to him - i didn't even think stefan really knew anything about it bc as far as he knew they were like only reluctant allies at this point - you just made out with damon behind his back over and over and over. that's what i don't like about the love triangle - well, actually i find this idea she has of having both of them (she said something negative about katherine's handling of the situation but she too was also trying to have both of them...and also not being straightforward about her feelings the same way elena hasn't been. most of the elena criticism i see is completely unfounded, but this is one thing that makes me crazy, that she won't be honest with either of them) a little icky because well, they're brothers and sharing the same girl is...not it lmao, it can be a solution to other love triangles, but i don't think this one!
anyway i'm glad to be done with this part of the series, i just really hope the ghostwriter gets it a little better, bc even if the first series was a little dumb at times, it was not on the level of awfulness this second series has been, idk what happened to lj smith, like she was trying to bring in so many new elements, and also dragged things out - seriously, the length of the books in the first series was GREAT, and i really think at least a hundred pages could have been cut out of each book in this trilogy.
Why do they have magic virgin powers? Why does Elena have no self-preservation? Other than those points, I really enjoyed this ending to the mini-series. I found the adventure very nice, and I liked seeing sage. I did not expect that twist ending with the Villain, but I enjoyed it none the less.
This book was an interesting one. Of course I loved the Delena moments and I’m hoping Damon finds his way back to earth. One of my favorite quotes from this book was “she could not imagine a universe, no matter how many dimensions there were, without a Damon in it. There was no world for her, if there was no Damon”.
Also I enjoyed the character development of Meredith in this book and can only hope that Caroline becomes herself again because that whole situation is just weird.
Also I enjoyed the character development of Meredith in this book and can only hope that Caroline becomes herself again because that whole situation is just weird.
Very disappointing! It was so hard to finish. I barely recognized the beloved characters, and the story was just convoluted (kitsune, really? what is this anime?), overblown, and mostly ridiculous. The writing and dialogue throughout was just as bad. It's a shame how downhill this whole Return series went.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Okay, this is getting embarrassingly bad. It is only my own stubbornness and promise to myself that is keeping me from giving up. I said I will finish all the books, and I will. But this is just... not good.
And I can see why each book has to finish on a cliffhanger (still just annoying and not dramatic) because who would continue reading these. I think they should have just been done after the original trilogy (and even that wasn't spectacular, if I'm being honest).
And I can see why each book has to finish on a cliffhanger (still just annoying and not dramatic) because who would continue reading these. I think they should have just been done after the original trilogy (and even that wasn't spectacular, if I'm being honest).
Rating~ 3 stars.
I read this when I was 12/13 I think and the rating is based on what I thought then.
I read this when I was 12/13 I think and the rating is based on what I thought then.
A strengthening love triangle and horrific demonic happenings. Elena Gilbert is confronted with both of these problems as she struggles to understand her feelings for Damon and tries to save her beloved Fell's Church before everything falls apart. Romance, adventure, and Japanese folklore create an intriguing novel that explores the possibilities of love, courage, determination, and evil. Bonnie, Meredith, and Damon really grew as characters, becoming much more intricate and complex. The storyline alternates between Fell's Church and the Dark Dimension, giving us a full viewpoint on everything. As for the ending? Shocking and one of the worst. cliffhangers. ever.
Also, I really wonder who they're going to get to ghostwrite the series now that LJ Smith has been (unfairly) fired.
Also, I really wonder who they're going to get to ghostwrite the series now that LJ Smith has been (unfairly) fired.