The Struggle TV Tie-In (The Vampire Diaries, #2)

by L.J. Smith

Damon, the evil vampire brother is detemined to make school beauty Elena his queen of darkness. Even if it means killing his own brother to possess her. Stefan, Damon's brother and Elena's boyfriend, is desperate for the power to destroy Damon - but knows that means succumbing to his thirst for human blood. Elena, irresistibly drawn to both brothers, knows her choice will decide their fate. But who will she choose...?

• ISBN10: 0061963879
• ISBN13: 9780061963872
• Publish Date: 1 September 2009 (first published 1 October 1991)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperTeen
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

2015 rating: 4 stars

2020 rating: 2 stars

This book is a lot better than the previous book, however, it is still pretty bad. It is only about teenage angst and not at all about a good plot. I think I could be ok with his book if there would be a reason why both Stefan and Damon are so obsessed with Elena that all this would happen. I understand it in the tv show, but I need the explanation here as well and not have the tv show fill in the gaps that don't make sense yet. (For example, Stefan could have gone away as soon as he realized that Damon was there, or when he discovered that Elena was so similar to Katherine as if seems that he did not go to Fells Church especially for her in his POV)

[zooloo1983]

This book worked better for me, and I am getting used to the American narrator, as it does sound quite dated. The book follows on straight away from The Awakening. This book is perfectly titled as the The Struggle. We see Elena struggle between Stefan and Damon, which we all knew would happen, but it is quick.

Elena and Stefan are already in complete and absorbing love, however, Damon with his bad-boy persona, has a hold over Elena. Things are going to get dark.

It would be a romance story of teenage angst if secrets weren’t kept and Elena is keeping a lot from Stefan. A lot of times I was groaning at her questionable behaviour, especially as Elena kept professing she didn’t want to keep secrets! Woman!

The main story with this book is about Elena’s diary that was stolen from the first book and the discovery of who has stolen and why. This did have vibes of Carrie when you find out what these people have in store for Elena, but wait….there is a knight in shining armour on their way and he might just be dressed in black, be Italian, and might not be Stefan.

Alaric has shown up, and he is a lot younger in the books than in the show, his past is in the dark, not even we know at this stage who he is and how he will play out. I think I prefer adult Alaric from the show, but it is nice to see some of the characters from the show.

Bonnie has had a foreboding message to keep Elena away from a bridge when they are trying to find Stefan who was missing at the beginning. They have to keep her away from this bridge, but the story is getting near to the end and unfortunately, the bridge is in sight.

Events happened, shocking events, all involving Stefan, Damon and Elena. Elena has a decision to make, she can hear Stefan and Damon arguing but who is she going to?

It is a waste of time comparing the show against the book now, they are two separate entities. I loved the show, so when I listen to the book in my head that is who I see, not how the characters are described. I can’t think of Bonnie as a redhead or Elena as a blonde. Doesn’t work for me now!

Off I trot to book 3!

[angelarenea9]

This book was quite as frustrating as the one before. It's one redeeming quality was that it was short.

[celinenyx]

When I finished The Awakening, the first part of this series, I thought the book had a severe case of First-Book-In-Series-Disease. All the symptoms for FBISD were there; there is a lot of getting to know each other going on, the plot is rather weak, the whole mission of the book is us getting to know the world and the context. In the next books, the series pick up and the real story-line starts.

Yet it seems I have diagnosed the Vampire Diaries incorrectly. The Struggle picks off where The Awakening stops. And then it continues at exactly the same pace. It took me three-quarter of the book to discover the real story arch. To me, the plot seemed to go nowhere. Elena is still one of the spoiled and pettiest characters I have ever met. She puts on a big "oh I can't trust anyone" fuss and constantly keeps secrets from the great love of her life. That she has a hard time keeping his vampirism from people she knows, I can absolutely understand. But that she can't even tell her boyfriend that someone has stolen her diary is completely beyond me.

There is nothing wrong with the overall concept behind the story or the writing on itself, but the main characters annoy me. (You know something is wrong when you start hoping the girl dumps her boyfriend and ends up with the big bad guy that kills people. At least he has something interesting to do.) The main issue I have with this book is the message it gives. If you have to believe Elena, using people at your desire, even though you're hurting them while doing it, is perfectly fine. You needed them, right? Not being the queen of the entire school is absolutely horrific too. Not having everyone say hi to you when you walk through corridors is disastrous. Sucks to be normal, huh.

In one scene, she almost had my sympathy. When she thinks she has out-smarted said big bad guy, he does the completely logical thing to do as proper villain; go after your family. His target: the little innocent sister. Elena between them as a proper heroine should. Yet her sole thought while protecting her little sister is that she must help her, because she's still a baby! Apparently, it's completely normal to let an older sister fight off the murderer you've send upon them, yet it's unacceptable when the fight is unfair. And there was I hoping for a redeeming quality.

This is not a "bad" book. The writing on itself is pretty good, clear and polished with a smooth dialogue flow. Even the story is not that bad. If only Ms Smith would concentrate on things that do matter. The high-school part of the book was in complete unbalance with the vampire part. It feels like she thought one day "hey, this is just another book about the popular girl at school, lets throw in vampires so it's more interesting!". I wish there was more vampire and less high school. I think I would like the book a lot better then.

[inlibrisveritas]

Once again it's nothing special, at least not to me. It's fairly interesting and it can keep your attention as long as you like or semi enjoy a little drama (or if all you care about is attractive vampires...). I'll continue to the next two, and maybe the second half of the series but it'll only be for reference sake.