The Awakening / The Struggle (Vampire Diaries, Books 1-2)

Not the TV Show
If you, like me, saw the TV show before you knew there was a book, let me inform you that this is not the same story as the show. The characters are different. Their relationships are different. Even the city is different. That made it more interesting to me, but it took me a while to stop imaging the TV show characters in the book.

The Romance
Oh, come on. You all know it’s in here. It’s basically the entire plot and… it’s why I had issues with this book. I mean, I get that the characters are supernatural. I get that love is a weird thing, but it did not develop appropriately in this book to be realistic. At least, not coming from Elena. As such, the rest of the plot felt illogical and unbelievable. Shame.

The Pacing
I have some serious issues with the pacing of this book because it wasn’t smooth, and it didn’t make sense. It took forever for anything to actually happen and when it finally did, it was like a jolt. There’d be one quick scene and then nothing again for a few chapters. It was frustrating because I kept hoping it would pick up at some point and it didn’t.

Narrator
Holy woah! There were points when the narrator sounded just like Nina Dobrev and my mind would just pause and be like: “What?!” Because it’s not her and the characters aren’t even the same between the TV show and the book. Still, it was a bit eerie. :p

Stefan
You know how I said the characters are different from the tv show. Well, Stefan is really different and I do not like it! He is such a pansy in this version. He is supposedly cuddly and comforting and what not, but he is literally pathetic! The worst part is the bad boy facade he apparently gives off with his style because it doesn’t match and it really bothers me. Elena is more dominant than him in this and that just didn’t seem right for their relationship.

2.0

I will admit that at 27, I'm a fan of this television show - not sure about the books though. I would have left well enough alone and bided my time waiting for new episodes with other activities, but I couldn't resist - I wanted instant gratificaton, so I turned to the audio version of the book to listen while commuting. Bad idea. Firstly, the plotline and characters are wholly different, which I would then command the CW to say that the show is not based on the book, but 'inspired by'. Secondly, the narrator. She has a pleasant and youthful enough voice for reading, don't get me wrong. It's her vocalization of the different characters that causes my teeth to grind when I'm stuck in traffic and listening to the story...suffice it to say - I have learned my lesson about audiobooks, but; the jury is still out on the content.