Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion

The Vampire Diaries - The Fury, 1991, 245 pages and Dark Reunion 275 pages, Young Adult, Books 3 and 4.

The Fury has the most action out of all 4 books. In this book, Elena is dealing with being a vampire and her feelings towards Stefan and Damon. She sees something good in Damon that no one else has been able to see. I believe that this book should have really been the end of the series. We find Elena and her friends dealing with the fact that she is now a vampire and still trying to figure out what the evil is in the Town. The ending is tragic and the ultimate sacrifice was made for love.

In the fourth and final book, Dark Reunion, we encounter a new evil not seen in the first three books. The brothers, Stefan and Damon, have to work together and it shows that brotherly love can overcome evil in the end. We see more of Elena's friends as Elena only makes brief appearances. The characters are still shallow and never seem to be fleshed out. It was not a bad book and the ending was good but I believe that the series should have finished as a trilogy with The Fury being the last book.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (The Fury)
3 stars out of 5 (Dark Reunion)

The Vampire Diaries - The Awakening and The Struggle

The Vampire Diaries - The Awakening and The Struggle, 1991, 253 pages The Awakening and 239 pages The Struggle, Young Adult, Books 1 and 2 of 4

A deadly love triangle involving Elena, the human golden girl; Stefan, the "good" vampire who loves Elena; Damon, the "evil" vampire who is determined to have Elena.

The Awakening starts off the series with a sense of foreboding and excitement. The character we seem to know the least about is Damon and he is the one I find the most intriguing. I love his dark, mysterious and macabre ways. He is the kind of "person" you are drawn to even though they are terrifying.

The character I like the least is Elena who is self-centered, spoiled and vain. She is the Queen bee in the first book but falls from grace in the second as she is now dating Stefan, who is a murder suspect. I find her more relatable in The Struggle as she has fallen from grace. There is plenty of high school drama and feuding and am sure that the intended audience - young adults, will find this series quite enjoyable.

Rating 3 out of 5