Dark Reunion
Feb. 21st, 2009 02:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morrigirlI can summarize Dark Reunion, volume 4 of The Vampire Diaries, in one paragraph. Six months after Elena's death, a new supernatural threat appears in Fell's Church. People start dying again, blah blah blah. Elena contacts Bonnie in a dream and instructs her to summon Stefan and Damon because they, as usual, are the only ones strong enough to take this thing on. With the (Scooby) Gang reunited, the five of them take on the bad guy and defeat him! Along the way we find out that Tyler Smallwood is a werewolf, Bonnie and Matt kind of start developing feelings for each other, and Elena returns from the dead. The end.
Really, the only purpose of this book was to bring Elena back. I don't think Lisa planned to write a fourth book, but readers, myself included, were so upset by Elena's death in the third that I think she felt she had to give Elena back to us. I remember crying when Elena died, and I remember crying when she came back.
I didn't cry this time, but I did feel some of that twelve year old fan girl joy when she returned. This volume was nice because it brought all of the supporting characters to the forefront. Without Elena hogging the spotlight we learned more about Meredith, Bonnie, Matt, Stefan, and Damon. Each character is filled in and given more depth. They cease to be satellites and turn into actual people.
Damon in particular proves a far more complex character than the one who appeared in the first three books. In Dark Reunion, Damon struggles to reconcile the person he once was with the person he is becoming. Once a murderous, marauding mercenary who killed for the pleasure of it, now Damon finds himself acting nobly. He acts to protect the brother he claims to hate on more than one occasion, and we learn that the one murder in Fell's Church that Damon claimed responsibility for was committed in self-defense. Watching the cold, pragmatic killer in him duke it out with his protective, honorable side was fascinating, and at the end of the book we were given very little indication of what side of the fence he was going to fall on. Damon is supposed to take center stage in the fifth book, so I hope we get to see if he is finally able to come to terms with himself.
Lisa had to do something to make him sympathetic after he RAPED Elena, even though, in this book, Bonnie refers to it as Elena having "succumbed" to him. What-the-fuck-ever.
Okay, I'm all caught up. My memory has been refreshed, and my opinions changed. Now, I like Meredith more than Elena and, to be honest, don't really want to read anymore about Elena. I find Damon more interesting than Stefan. I grew to like the characters more as the books progressed. But, all in all, the series was not as great as I remember it.
Oh well, it's on to The Vampire Diaries, The Return: Nightfall for old times sake. I hope fifteen years and all the character development that went on in volume 4 will make this installment better than the first four.
Really, the only purpose of this book was to bring Elena back. I don't think Lisa planned to write a fourth book, but readers, myself included, were so upset by Elena's death in the third that I think she felt she had to give Elena back to us. I remember crying when Elena died, and I remember crying when she came back.
I didn't cry this time, but I did feel some of that twelve year old fan girl joy when she returned. This volume was nice because it brought all of the supporting characters to the forefront. Without Elena hogging the spotlight we learned more about Meredith, Bonnie, Matt, Stefan, and Damon. Each character is filled in and given more depth. They cease to be satellites and turn into actual people.
Damon in particular proves a far more complex character than the one who appeared in the first three books. In Dark Reunion, Damon struggles to reconcile the person he once was with the person he is becoming. Once a murderous, marauding mercenary who killed for the pleasure of it, now Damon finds himself acting nobly. He acts to protect the brother he claims to hate on more than one occasion, and we learn that the one murder in Fell's Church that Damon claimed responsibility for was committed in self-defense. Watching the cold, pragmatic killer in him duke it out with his protective, honorable side was fascinating, and at the end of the book we were given very little indication of what side of the fence he was going to fall on. Damon is supposed to take center stage in the fifth book, so I hope we get to see if he is finally able to come to terms with himself.
Lisa had to do something to make him sympathetic after he RAPED Elena, even though, in this book, Bonnie refers to it as Elena having "succumbed" to him. What-the-fuck-ever.
Okay, I'm all caught up. My memory has been refreshed, and my opinions changed. Now, I like Meredith more than Elena and, to be honest, don't really want to read anymore about Elena. I find Damon more interesting than Stefan. I grew to like the characters more as the books progressed. But, all in all, the series was not as great as I remember it.
Oh well, it's on to The Vampire Diaries, The Return: Nightfall for old times sake. I hope fifteen years and all the character development that went on in volume 4 will make this installment better than the first four.
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no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 10:50 am (UTC)OH MY GOBLIN! TOTAL TWILIGHT CREATION! EEK!
"Once a murderous, marauding mercenary who killed for the pleasure of it, now Damon finds himself acting nobly."
Spike/Angel!
"The Vampire Diaries, The Return: Nightfall "
did u read it? was that the last of the series?
no subject
Date: 2010-11-10 02:50 am (UTC)However, The Return books have proven so successful L.J. Smith has been asked to continue writing new Vampire Diaries books. I think HarperCollins have contracted her for at least three more. It's a shame. Smith has totally lost all the craft and technique she had back in the 90's.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-10 10:04 am (UTC)that's not surprising. it has a built in audience of tWeenage morons because of Twatlight.
"Smith has totally lost all the craft and technique she had back in the 90's."
*Stephen King* cough*
no subject
Date: 2010-11-11 02:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-12 02:20 am (UTC)u didn't go through a Stephen King phase as a teenager??
I like: Dead Zone, Firestarter, Salems Lot (BEST), and the short story collections best.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-12 02:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-12 11:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-14 03:38 am (UTC)