Vampires

Great addition to the series. I am so glad there is going to be more in this series of books. L.J. Smith's THE VAMPIRE DIARIES series is very different from the TV series, though both are very enjoyable.

I am happy that Damon didn't really die, as that would have ruined the series for me as he is my favourite character by far.

In this book you see some of Stefan's wild, evil side which scares Elena and makes her turn to Damon, who for the time is being kept secret from the rest. I really thought that Elena would realize that she'd fallen for Damon but unfortunately she still fools herself into thinking that she still loves Stefan.

Eventually everyone else finds out that Damon is alive and they are angry that Elena kept that a secret, especially Stefan. He hurts Damon badly and after an encounter with phantom that the group brought to Fell's Church with their jealousy, Damon has to drink Elena's blood again.

A good book, very addictive. Can't wait for the next in THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: Hunter's series. ( )

To read more reviews in this series and others, check out keikii eats books!

57 points/100 (3 stars/5)

Warning: Unavoidable major spoilers for The Vampire Diaries: The Return.



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Damon's death has changed the entire dynamic of the group. In her grief, Elena can't stop dreaming of him and Stefan is jealous. There is a new demon in town, too. Elena just can't catch a break, and why does she keep dreaming of Damon.

Phantom is the first of the books in The Vampire Diaries series that wasn't fully written by L.J. Smith. From what I gather, Smith started writing it, but the publisher had a dispute with her over the ending, so they took her off the book and had a ghostwriter clean it up and edit it the way they wanted it.

Since Smith actually wrote the majority of this book, it still feels like a Vampire Diaries book. The characters feel the same, the events feel the same, the world feels the same. So what is different? In the The Return trilogy, things were a bit everywhere all at once. Smith tried to do a lot of things all at the same time. They were vying for the same air space. Phantom is very focused on just doing the one thing, really.

In some ways, Phantom is better written than The Return. It is just so much better focused. It didn't jump randomly several times a chapter. The characters were consistent in what they were doing, there were no surprises at the last second because the author realised she needed something different. It was just plain easier to read.

However, it was also worse. All of the life was sucked out of it. It went from a reasonably unique, fun-filled, incredibly varied series to....generic paranormal young adult story. It just..I didn't care. I don't particularly enjoy young adult. It was filled some of the more aggressively annoying young adult tropes. It was basic. There was no...there just wasn't any life in it anymore. There was nothing in it to make me feel like I was reading something I hadn't read before.

The stories written by L.J. Smith were filled with mystery. It wasn't just about young people doing young people things while living in a world where the supernatural existed. They didn't assume that teenagers couldn't handle adult-level problems. The previous books dealt with young adults dealing with problems that they shouldn't have to deal with, but they're the only options. The events and the people just weren't "normal".

Phantom is like the exact opposite of that. It is entirely self involved. It goes from "them" to "me". The entire book was about basically dealing with their feelings. Seriously. They literally are fighting their feelings the entire book, that is all. I'll give whoever dealt with this book credit. It is actually really well done subtle in the beginning. If you don't have much reading experience you may find that this was actually really nice. However, I'll give you the ending because I have to: they defeated the monster by voicing every one of their jealousies. No lie. I'm in awe.

A big part of the story was Elena trying to resume a normal life. At the end of the last book, she had her wing powers taken away, and all the memories of everyone changed so that they don't know she died at all. I don't know why every young adult series does this. "Oh, I just want to be normal!" All the darn time. It isn't fun. It isn't good. This is not what I liked the Vampire Diaries for. I liked it because Elena accepted that nothing is really normal anymore for them. She may not have liked it, but she accepted it, because the person that she loves more than anything cannot be human again. This just.. tried to overwrite all of that.

Plus, Damon. Jesus, this killed every hope I had for a true love trio. I read elsewhere that the publishers dropped Smith because she wouldn't stop with the whole Damon and Elena plotline. So they made it known in no uncertain terms that Damon would not be with Elena. They brought him back, anyway, though. Of course they did. If you're surprised by this, you shouldn't be.

I know what the publishers are trying to do with Phantom with the way it ended. They took out most of what was in the book to make it a series instead of a collection of individual books. They don't want to continue on with Smith's plans, they just want to make it generic young adult fiction with vampires.

Unfortunate. ( )

The Guardians had changed Fell’s Church back to normal and although everyone is sure that there’s no trace of what had really happened, Elena Gilbert can’t help but wonder if the paranoia she has is valid. However, with Damon dead and gone, Stefan and Elena can finally be together without any drama… or so they thought. When Alaric and Dr Celia Conner comes to Fell’s Church for a visit, things start to go weird as Celia almost dies in a freak accident after her name appeared on Bonnie’s arm in blood. Soon afterwards, Meredith’s name appear and she almost dies as well. What happened to the Guardians’ promise to change history? Why does Elena continuously dream about Damon, even though he’s dead? Why is everyone acting so unlike themselves?

L.J. Smith‘s Vampire Diaries series have taken the world by storm as this young adult phenomenon continues where the previous novel, Moonsong, left off. Now, finally back in Fell’s Church, with everything back to normal (apparently), Elena can go on with her life like nothing bad has happened. Unfortunately there wouldn’t be a story if that was the case and we are facing more terrible things as a creature sets its targets on Elena and her friends. As usual though, there are many twists and turns and the same old, same old stuff that makes the Vampire Diaries what it is. Sadly, for a die-hard fan of the book, I guess the monotonous adventures slowly but surely becomes dull… it has for me. It took a while for me to get into this novel, not because I didn’t have the time, but because it’s the same old stuff, only without Damon (a beloved character for all fans of the book)… without his quirky humour and charm to break the intensity of situations, I kind of struggled to get to the action bits. However, I endured through the anticlimactic beginning and finally after what felt like a lifetime, things became more bearable and then it died again near the ending… Like I said, it’s a typical Vampire Diaries book, with a lot less editing and spelling mistakes than the previous one.

What started to get to me was not the editing or the same adventures though, what’s bugging me is the fact that our heroine (the Mary Sue of Mary Sue characters), just can’t make up her mind between the Salvatore brothers. Yeah, sure when Damon died she was forced to go with Stefan and “live happily ever after”, but of course there was a spanner thrown into the works and then she once again has a choice! As kinky as it all sounds, with a threesome with two very hot vampire brothers from Italy, eventually she’ll have to make her choice, right? Well L.J. Smith is milking her fan’s patience for way too long now and sadly it’s making the book unbelievable in plenty of ways. It’s tiring and foolish.

Did I like Phantom? Hell yeah. I’m a die-hard Vampire Diaries fan and with this one done, I’m definitely going to buy myself the follow-up. I may not like where the story is going sometimes and I may rant and rave on L.J. Smith’s choice on plotlines, but when you fall in love with a character, you’re going to continue with the series until you either get offended or it ends. So far, she’s not offended me, so why stop? Let’s be honest though, the last two books in the series were let-downs, so if you’re interested in getting your hands on them, be aware of that little fact. Otherwise, the series has had a good run, L.J. Smith just needs to pick up the pace in some places. Let’s see how the next one goes.

(Originally posted at http://www.killeraphrodite.com/2012/08/book-review-vampire-diaries-hunters-phant... ) ( )

I have just decided to own up to it and say I really like these books. The characters are so well defined with different personalities, etc. that it makes it really interesting. I really like how loyal the three girls are to each other and that it is written in a way to make it believable (three girls together often leads to jealousy, back stabbing, etc. I will keep reading them. ( )