The Awakening / The Struggle is a Teen & Young Adult Vampire Fiction novel by L. J. Smith. Read summary below.
The Awakening / The Struggle (Vampire Diaries) Summary
A brand-new look for the #1 New York Times bestselling series that inspired the hit TV show The Vampire Diaries!
A deadly love triangle.
Elena Gilbert is a high school golden girl, used to getting what she wants. And who she wants. But when the boy she’s set her sights on—the handsome and haunted Stefan—isn’t interested, she’s confused.
She could never know the real reason Stefan is struggling to resist her: Stefan is a vampire, and Elena’s in danger just by being around him. What’s more, Stefan’s dark, dangerous vampire brother Damon has just arrived in town.
And wherever Damon goes, trouble always follows.
Perfect for fans of Midnight Sun, The Beautiful, and Crave, this paperback bind-up repackage of the first two books in the New York Times bestselling Vampire Diaries series by L. J. Smith—The Awakening and The Struggle—features a stunning new cover and will introduce new readers to the heart-stopping suspense, fierce romances, and jaw-dropping surprises that captured millions of fans and inspired the hit TV show.
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The Awakening / The Struggle (Vampire Diaries) Review
3.0 out of 5 stars Good but not great
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2009
Verified Purchase
I bought this book when I heard about the CW series because I was planning to watch it and books are usually better than movies, tv series, etc. So far I read The Awakening and The Struggle and I’m about to begin the other two books of the series and to be honest I’m going to do so because I want to know how everything ends, not because I’m too exited about this story, as a matter of fact I’m liking the TV series better.
The story is dark, but that is not what I don’t like about it…the main characters are the ones I have problem with. This is the story about a love triangle between a very popular high school girl and two very old vampire brothers. Elena is extremely beautiful, an Ice Princess, she is selfish, vain and think the world revolves around her…ok, she gets more mature as the story progresses but even after that I don’t like her. Stefan and Damon are brothers, both very old vampires who lived as humans during the Italian Renaissance…both made vampires by Katherine a beautiful young lady that falls in love with both of them and provokes a war between the brothers…she ends up committing suicide in an attempt to bring peace between the brothers and that only make things worse. They have hated each other since then and are mortal enemies.
Stefan refuses his nature and hunts animals what makes him weak…Damon on the other hand is ok with his life and kills and use humans without mercy. Stefan comes to this little town of Fells Church in an attempt to have a normal life and finds out that Elena looks a lot like Katherine and tries to avoid her and Elena wants to have the new guy for her at any cost. Damon finds out about Elena and installs himself in town trying to have her too and reviving his rivalry with his brother.
My problem with Stefan is that even though he knows what his brother is capable of and being himself and old an experience vampire, acts like the high school boy he’s representing. He doesn’t do what is necessary to protect Elena, he says that he would leave if he knew that Damon would leave her in peace, but since that is not going to happen he stays to protects her, only that he fails big doing that and in a way is Elena the one who is protecting him. Damon is the one that is consistent with his personality and apparently the only one who knows what he’s doing even though he’s the bad guy is the one I like the most.
In general I think that so far there are many flaws in the story. For example, they wear rings that Katherine gave them so they can walk during the day. The stones of the rings work the magic but it is never explained why those stones are special, who made those rings…and if every vampire uses that kind of jewel to be protected from the sunlight. They also have Powers that are stronger when they drink human blood…some of them are mentioned but it is kind of a vague thing because you never know the real extent of those powers and sometime they work and sometime they don’t. The story is told from a third person point of view in a way that you always feel like an spectator and not really connected to it…at a point I felt like I didn’t really care about what happened to the characters.
So in conclusion, I can tell the story is good…that overall I enjoyed it so far but is not that great book that makes you forget the world and you can’t get enough of it. For those asking themselves why this series is not more popular than Twilight…well I think what I wrote above is part of the reason…Twilight not only is bigger, but the mythology is well developed and explained. The characters make more sense, the romance is more intense and emotional and you can identify better with the personality of some characters among other things. Not that I want to compare because really, both stories are very different but in my opinion, for the Twilight fans reading this, Twilight Saga is a lot better.
About L. J. Smith Author Of The Awakening / The Struggle (Vampire Diaries) Book
Lisa Jane Smith Author Of The Awakening / The Struggle (Vampire Diaries) Book, She is the New York Times #1 Bestselling author of The Vampire Diaries, The Secret Circle, The Forbidden Game, Dark Visions, Wildworld and Night World series. She has written over two dozen books for children and young adults, and has enjoyed writing every one of them. She lives in the Bay Area of California, with a backyard that is full of flowers, which she adores, especially with many different shades of roses.
She loves to visit a friend’s little cabin in the Point Reyes National Seashore area, which has lots of trees, lots of animals, lots of beaches to walk on, and lots of places to hike. Once, while hiking, she saw a snow-white buck which allowed her to follow it nearly half a mile. She also likes to collect things: angels (they remind her of her late mother), tiny boxes from different countries or of fanciful shape, nineteenth century children’s literature, and books about quantum physics—especially about the mystery of the dark energy in the universe. A militant optimist, she is also part of the Velociraptor Sisterhood (a fancy way of saying that she likes to read, write and discuss books with strong female characters), and she has traveled extensively in Europe and the Far East. The two countries she loves to visit most are Great Britain, with its historic monuments and amazing country landscapes, and Japan, with its bustling urban life and exquisite mountain scenery.
Her favorite current writer is Terry Pratchett, the author of the Discworld series, for its wild and witty satires on life, death, war, love, assassins, coppers, and Australia. Her favorite classical writer is Jane Austen. Her favorite poets are Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson. Her favorite movies are The Seven Samurai and Avatar (analyze that!). She doesn’t have a favorite TV show, because she doesn’t have time to watch TV (and only owns one for playing movies).
The Awakening / The Struggle (Vampire Diaries) pdf, Paperback, Hardcover Book Information
- ASIN : 006114097X
- Publisher : HarperTeen (May 31, 2022)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 512 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780061140976
- ISBN-13 : 978-0061140976
- Reading age : 14 – 17 years
- Lexile measure : HL680L
- Grade level : 9 and up
- Item Weight : 13.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.31 x 1.15 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #11,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #42 in Teen & Young Adult Vampire Fiction
- #101 in Teen & Young Adult Fantasy Romance
- #109 in Teen & Young Adult Paranormal Romance
- Customer Reviews: 4.6 out of 5 stars 2,492 ratings
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