The Struggle by L. J. Smith

The Struggle by L. J. Smith

Released: June 26, 2007
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: The Vampire Diaries, Book 2
Edition: Bind-Up of Books 1&2
Preceded By: The Awakening
Followed By: The Fury
Page Amount: 238
Pages in Bind-Up: 492
POV: 3rd Person
Buy it here: Barnes & Noble•Amazon

OVERALL:
Plot-17/20
Characters-17/20
Creativity-19/20
Writing-18/20
Pace-8/10
Ending-10/10
=89/100  B
★★★★/5

This is the second book in The Vampire Diaries series, I will not post any intentional spoilers but please do not contnue reading if you have not read The Awakening. 

SUMMARY:

Elena: the golden girl, the leader, the one who can have any boy she wants.
Stefan: brooding and mysterious, he seems to be the only one who can resist Elena, even as he struggles to protect her from the horrors that haunt his past.
Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Determined to have Elena, he'd kill to possess her. 

Collected here in one volume for the first time, volumes one and two of The Vampire Diaries, the tale of two vampire brothers and the beautiful girl torn between them. -Goodreads.com

REViEW:
After the major cliffhanger at the end of The Awakening, I could not wait to sink my teeth into The Struggle (no pun intended). I really wasn't disappointed. The plot in this book seemed far more developed than the first. The plot was realistic and made a ton of sense. This book went very fast too. I was more interested in what Elena had to say in this book and I really enjoyed her role in the plot. 

I enjoyed the characters a lot more than I had previously. Elena is popular and acts like it, but she seemed a little more down to earth to me in this book. Being a huge Stefan fan, I wish there was more of Stefan in this book, but I'm sure he's going to star in the next installment. Damon was just as I had expected. I personally think he has a heart and a motive for everything he does. I'm really interested to get to know him better. 

Ohmigosh... the ending was AH-MAZING! I was completely shocked. About 20 pages from the end, I was thinking that the ending was going to be lame and nothing would really happen. I couldn't have been more wrong. On about the last page the ending comes with a big BANG! It was great and totally unexpected. I sooo want to run out and buy the next book now!

My Favorite Part: The ending, no doubt.

ALL iN ALL:
Do I recommend this book? Yes, it was interesting to read about Damon and Stefan after watching the show.

Thank you for reading! I love your comments! Thank you to all my followers! I absolutely love that you like my blog enough to follow it. Thanks!!

It's a Book Thing
Review by Macy ♥

The Awakening by L. J. Smith

The Awakening by L. J. Smith

Released: June 26, 2007
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: The Vampire Diaries, Book 1
Edition: Bind-Up of Books 1&2
Followed By: The Struggle
Page Amount: 253
Pages in Bind-Up: 492
POV: 3rd Person
Buy it here: Barnes & Noble•Amazon

OVERALL:
Plot-18/20
Characters-17/20
Creativity-19/20
Writing-16/20
Pace-8/10
Ending-7/10
=85/100  B
★★★★/5

SUMMARY:

Elena: the golden girl, the leader, the one who can have any boy she wants.
Stefan: brooding and mysterious, he seems to be the only one who can resist Elena, even as he struggles to protect her from the horrors that haunt his past.
Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Determined to have Elena, he'd kill to possess her. 

Collected here in one volume for the first time, volumes one and two of The Vampire Diaries, the tale of two vampire brothers and the beautiful girl torn between them. -Goodreads.com

REViEW:
I picked up this book because I loved the TV show. I expected the books to be identical to the show. The books are completely different than the show but was very interesting to read after watching the show. The Awakening's plot was pretty intriguing. I had to question Stefan's past and was very interested when he began confiding in Elena. I wish there was a more romance in this book, but thats only because I was expecting it to be like Twilight.

I liked the characters, but I had some issues with them. Elena was a little too stuck-up to me. It's probably just because I'm more of a Bella than a popular cheerleader. I did like how Elena grew throughout the story, but thought it was kind of sudden. I have to be honest, I love Stefan. He was well written and I could picture him being very attractive and a typical brooding vampire. I really think Damon is super interesting. Sure, he's the "bad brother", but I just find him really attractive. I mean, who doesn't like a bad boy? I really enjoyed the sense of mystery he brought to the book. 

I expected the ending to end with a big bang, and was a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I loved the ending, but wish there was more too it. I liked the simplicity and the cliffhanger though. It was very well done and makes me want to sink my teeth into the next book right NOW! 

My Favorite Part: Damon and Stefan... they are just jaw-dropping.

ALL iN ALL:
Do I recommend this book? Yup, it's nothing like the tv show but just as exciting.
Will I be reading the sequel? Yes because I really like this series!

Thank you for reading! I love getting comments, so feel free to comment! I love hearing what people think and like getting recommendations!

It's a Book Thing
Review by Macy ♥