The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion

In this second compilation from L.J. Smith, readers are presented with The Fury and Dark Reunion -- books 3 and 4 of the Vampire Diaries.

I was thrilled by the first half of the book (The Fury), and thought it provided a bittersweet but satisfying conclusion to her Vampire Diaries "trilogy." For the sake of remaining spoiler-free, this last installment of the originally planned series follows Elena and Stefan (and Damon) full-cycle through their complicated relationship, including some genuinely unexpected plot twists and surprises that I didn't see coming. The character development is at its best in this book, with all of the main players showing growth and much more likeablity. I am a huge Damon fan, but then again, I always did have a thing for bad boys. ;-)

However, I can't offer the same praise to the second half of the book, originally the fourth installment called Dark Reunion. In a classic case of "jumping the shark," LJ Smith deconstructs the emotionally charged resolution of the trilogy (probably at her publisher's insistance) and relaunches the story line with a silly and unnecessary addendum. The whole plot of this fourth book feels like an afterthought. Instead of the love triangle and romantic tension taking center stage in Dark Reunion, the entire book plays out like an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with all of the supporting characters of the previous three books becoming "Scoobies" and banding together to fight evil in Fall's Church side by side. Unfortunately, the formula change didn't work for me, not at all. And the Big Bad Evil that is thrust into the story just seemed like an example of further shark-jumping.

I'm happy that the "reset" opens the doors for LJ Smith's spinoff series The Vampire Diaries: Revisited (which I believe "stars" my favorite Salvatore brother, Damon), but I wish that the author and publisher could have found a better way to set the stage for new stories without compromising the impact of the original Diaries.

I loved this book!I have been reading L.J. Smith for a while now and I have to say this is one of my favorite series from her (so far anyway). I am also curious about the new TV series that is on...I am going to have to check it out! I definitely recommend this book (and the whole series!).

GREAT BOOKS, COULDN'T PUT EM DOWN. CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE TO COME OUT

I did not know about this book series until they made it into a show on the CW. I am one of those people who always think the book is 100 times better than the movie/show but this is one exception. I am so on board with the show but the book for me is not a great read. Elena comes of as a snobby brat in the books and then her character later turns softer after she falls in love with Stefan but it begs the question, what did he see in her in the first place when she acted like a royal "who know what"? Maybe because she looked like Katherine? I just wasn't impressed by the way the author made her in the book however I am a fan of the TV show Elena because they made her heartfelt and humble right from the get go. In the show it is so easy for Stefan to see what a great person she is without having to compare her to Katherine.
As the books progress (this particular book and especially the third book) it just starts to get weird and too fanatical for my taste. I truly hope the show does not follow too closely to the books because their writers can do so much better following a different plot.
To sum it up: DEFINITELY watch the show but you can pass on the books! Reading the books might just ruin the show for you.

This book was fun to read. I recommend it as a read in between your favorite series. Can be slow at times though.