The Vampire Diaries by L J Smith

The Vampire Diaries (The Vampire Diaries, #1)

by L.J. Smith

Elena is the school beauty, but she's bored. Until a new boy turns up in her class. Stefan is dark and mysterious - and she's determined to get to know him better. But Elena reminds Stefan of someone from his tragic past, and he's just as determined to resist her. Until a series of attacks in the area terrify the school and town and Stefan, the outsider, is held responsible. Elena is the only one who offers to help and, falling in love with her, Stefan tells her his terrible story. He is a vampire, on the run from his evil brother, Damon, who is also a vampire, but doesn't share Stefan's qualms about drinking human blood. And Damon is the one Stefan suspects of really being behind the recent attacks...Can Elena help prove his innocence - without revealing his secret?

Reviewed by celinenyx on

3 of 5 stars

Share
This will be a rather short review because there just isn't that much to tell about this book. It is written before the big vampire young-adult craze broke out, before there was any Twilight. Over the years this genre has grown, and has brought forth numerous great titles.

And while reading this book I could really feel like this was one of the first books in this genre. After being so spoiled with so many lovely books this was a little bit disappointing. When you take away the oh-my-he-is-a-vampire surprise there is nothing much left of this story. Then it's just another high-school teenage book with all accessory clichés.

Main character Elena is indeed one of the most annoying narrators I have come across. I usually don't really mind if the main character if you can't relate to the main character, but this was a little bit too much. She is queen of the school, and sees this like some sort of chore. She keeps complaining on how hard it is to be so popular. I kept wishing I could hit her and then shake some sense into her. But even though she got on my nerves, I had a sadistic pleasure in seeing her ignored by her crush, the mysterious Stefan.

The romance was quite predictable of course, but enjoyable nevertheless. We have seen the whole distant guy thing on various occasions before, but for some reason it never seems to get old. It was quite enjoyable to see Elena practically throwing herself at Stefan, and still be rejected. Of course, we all know that phase won't last.

There were a lot of parts in the plot that I personally found a little bit off or illogical. The characters don't really react like normal people would do, but hey, that's why we call this fiction. It was very easy and fast to read, and it was enjoyable in a kind of distant way. I didn't feel for any of the characters, but it was fun to see what stupid things they kept doing. I will probably finish the second part in this series, as I'm curious to see if any of the characters grows a pair of brains any time soon, but I won't rush into it.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • Finished reading
  • 12 December, 2010: Reviewed