Product Description

A thrilling new story arc following on from the brilliant original Vampire Diaries books - now showing on ITV2 - by L. J. Smith, the best selling author of Night World.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #152 in Books
• Published on: 2010-03-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Features

• New
• Mint Condition
• Dispatch same day for order received before 12 noon
• Guaranteed packaging
• No quibbles returns

About the Author
Lisa Jane Smith is the author of more than twenty books for young adults, including the bestselling Night World and Vampire Diaries series (now a hit-series on ITV2). She lives in Northern California, in a rambling house in a small town.

Lisa knew that she wanted to be a writer since she was about six, when a teacher praised a poem she'd written. She wrote her first book in high school, finishing it in her first year of college. Then she became a special education teacher before she was able to become a writer full-time.

Customer Reviews

Very strange, but highly enjoyable
I was obsessed with these books at a young teenager. They were one of the first vampire series I read and were the start of what was, and still is a huge love of mine: vampire fiction.

I recently re-read the first three books and while I enjoyed them for the sake of posterity, I found them to be slightly juvenile, partly in the writing, but mostly in the characterisation.

Don't get me wrong, I loved these books as a teenager along with The Secret Circle series and have recently got them all in the library in the school where I work as an English teacher and am always recommending them to my students, but as an adult they weren't something that gripped me particularly.

That is where this book differed, I was actually really drawn in to the characters this time, especially Damon and Elena.

I also think that the whole feel was much darker and more adult than the rest of the books, for example, the idea of vampires being sexual beings is kind of skirted over in the original books, due to the age range that they were aimed at. But that is a theme which is explored in more detail in these books, both with spirit Elena and Stefan's exchange, as well as Damon's growing desire not just for her blood, but his desire for her as a woman.

This book also had a more grown up and mature version of Elena in many parts, who has begun to embrace her darker side and do what needs to be done, even if it is something that will degrade her or go against her conscience. This was a refreshing change from the puritanical girl we saw before.

I also think the large focus on Damon's character is a huge plus for this book. The whole depressed moody vampire who hates what he is was bored and overdone even before Edward Cullen exploded onto the scene, and Damon's character is a refreshing change. Yes, in places he gets a bit soppy, but the reasons behind it are in character and it is nice to see the depth in his character in this book.

If your idea of an interesting vampire is more Lestat or even Eric from the Sookie Stackhouse novels, then you will love Damon.

Also, I always found Stefan kind of uninteresting, so the book benefits with him being absent for a lot of it.

Matt, Bonnie, Meredith and Caroline's characters are pretty much the same, thought Bonnie and Damon's encounters are amusing.

A lot of reviews have spoken negatively about the plot and the bizarre nature of a lot of what happens in the book, but for me it is this which made the book really engaging and unusual. The vampire genre is so saturated with the same old thing it was actually really gratifying to read something relatively unpredictable and bizarre, as well as within it's own mythology.

The only negative thing I have to say from my own perspective is that there is a point in the book where the secondary characters (Matt, Bonnie, Meredith) are running from one disaster to another in a row with nothing in between, which gets slightly silly, and that this often takes away from the dual narrative of what is happening with Elena and Damon (which in my opinion was more interesting) but that is quite minor and maybe just my preference.

In closing, if you liked or loved the original series as a child or as an adult then I would recommend the newest edition to you, but be prepared for not loads of Stefan if he was your favourite, much darker themes and a lot of random supernatural occurrences.

Personally, as an adult, this book is by far my favourite one.

The best Vampire Diaries yet!!!!!
I really loved the first two double duo installements of the Vampire Diaries so of course I wanted to read this follow up, and I was not disappointed!!!

It is a little more edger than the last two, with more dark and seductive elements to it which I found fit further into the Gothic theme of the books. For fans there is more adventures with Meridith, Matt, Bonnie, Elena, Damon and Stefan and of course the regulars such as Caroline and a welcome bigger appearence from Mrs.Flowers (Stefan's Landlady).

It is to note though, that although I, myself, love Elena and Stefan together, his absence from most of the book allows for the relationship between Elena and Damon to grow and develop. Having believed like Elena, that Damon is not as much of the bad guy as he makes himself out to be, this book helps to shed light on this instinct and investigate it further.

With the appearence of two new evil and sinister characters set on destroying Fell's church, Damon's inner struggle with evil and good is played upon heavily in this book and it is not as simple as choosing a side...

I welcomed the refreshing look on the evil bad boy Damon and his struggle with his feelings toward Elena too. Without spoiling anything, whether Damon feels for Elena is purely beacuse she is something he can not get or that she is his little brothers vs. that he may actaully want more than just her blood are brought to light and a sensitive side of Damon is shown but not without consequences.

I would go as far as to say, that while the first two double installements were not really for adults, the shift to more adult matters in this book and hopefully the next allows it to be an adult book in my mind.

I Loved it and could not put it down, I can not wait for The Return: Shadow Souls which is out out in May. I have mines pre ordered :).

Cassandra220689

Highly anticipated and very dark Return
(Part of the Vampire Diaries Series)

Elena is back from the dead (again!) but with a mind similiar to that of a newborn.
Her memory of her friends is gone. All she knows is that Stefan is the love of her life and here to help her. However, she also remembers Damon, Stefan's evil brother, who is not allowed anywhere near her.
As Stefan helps Elena remember who she is and looks after her Elena discovers that she has returned from the dead with supernatural powers.

With new visitors to Fell's Church things start to get a little strange as Caroline turns to one of them to help her plan her revenge on Elena.

As the story progresses Elena is slowly becoming her old self again. Elena's human friends: Bonnie, Meredith and Matt grow suspicious of Carolines strange behavior whilst trying to support Stefan's efforts to help Elena.
Meanwhile Damon is back to bad and preparing to plot against Stefan who he is occupied helping Elena. He wants Elena to be his Princess of Darkness and is willing to do what it takes to get her all to himself.

And as Stefan departs Damon feels he has succeeded but quickly Damon realises the consequences of his actions and that what seemed like an easy win has come with a price higher than he is prepared to pay.
Soon even Caroline grasps the unpleasant side of teaming up with the bad guys and as the adventure takes many twists and turns which keep you glued to the pages, a lot of new angles of the story and its characters come to light.

The Vampire Diaries is a great series of books and the return was highly anticipated on my part.
And I can happily say that L.J. Smith did not disappoint in the slightest and has written a very recommendable read for any fan of the original series of books.
The characters have grown and the story has become fairly dark in comparison to the original books.
The character of Damon in particular seems to receive quite a lot of focus in this book making it an even more exciting and new read.

The only negative comment I would make (and what partially spoilt the first 30odd pages for me is that L.J. Smith did not think of re-running the past events of the fourth book at the beginning of the story before jumping into the new adventure, which made it a little difficult for me to grasp the situation and get into the story.
In fact, that's why I did not award five stars to this book because the story seemed chaotic at first purely due to lack of explanation.

So if it has been a while since you've read the fourth book in the series - read it again prior to starting on this book!

"The Return:Nightfall" is definately more grown-up and less teenage fiction and I am unsure what age group it is aimed at.

Never the less, if you like vampire fiction this is a great series to read. However, I believe this is more of an enjoyable read for fans of the Morganville Vampire Books than lovers of the Twilight Novels. Purely because it has taken quite a dark turn with its return to the bookshelves.