With the help of charming and devious Damon, Elena rescued her vampire love, Stefan, from the depths of the Dark Dimension. But neither brother returned unscathed. Stefan is weak from his long imprisonment and needs more blood than Elena alone can give him, while a strange magic has turned Damon into a human. Savage and desperate, Damon will do anything to become a vampire again, even travel back to hell. But what will happen when he accidentally takes Bonnie with him?
Stefan and Elena hurry to rescue their innocent friend from the Dark Dimension, leaving Matt and Meredith to save their hometown from the dangerous spirits that have taken hold of Fell's Church. One by one, children are succumbing to demonic designs. But Matt and Meredith soon discover that the source of the evil is darker and closer than they ever could have imagined. . . .
Smith was born in Villa Park, Orange County, California. In interviews, she has said she realized she wanted to be a writer sometime between kindergarten and first grade, “when a teacher praised a horrible poem I’d written”, and began writing in earnest in elementary school. Smith received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1987, followed by teaching credentials in Elementary education and Special education from San Francisco State University.
She taught kindergarten and special education for several years before becoming a full-time writer. Her first book, The Night of the Solstice, was published by MacMillan in 1987, followed by, Heart of Valor in 1990, and the 4-volume Vampire Diaries series in 1991-2. Three trilogies followed: The Secret Circle (1992), The Forbidden Game (1994), and Dark Visions (1995). The first installment of her popular Night World series was published in 1996, followed by eight more over the next two years. In 1998, Smith began a decade-long hiatus from writing, returning in 2008 with a new Web site and a series of new short stories. The Vampire Diaries series was reissued in 2007, followed by re-printings of The Secret Circle trilogy and Night World series in 2008/2009. The Night of the Solstice and Heart of Valor was also reissued in 2008. Three new Vampire Diaries installments were published in 2009 and 2010.
Smith lives in the San Francisco Bay area “with one dog, three cats, and about ten thousand books.”
Here's hoping LJ has Elena choose Damon, FINALLY. Once and for all. After all this time and all this build up between them, it would be a complete waste to end it with Stefan/Elena. I think Elena has grown out of her love with Stefan.
Elena belongs with Damon.
I hope Stefan gets his wish to become human and I hope Damon turns back into a vampire. And I never really liked Bonnie but I think she should be with Matt.
I think I hate all the characters in this book and I've no idea why I even bought it and read it. I don't even care that it ended on a giant cliffhanger, I will not read the next pile of shit 'trilogy' to find out what happens. I'm sick of L.J. Smith's shit.
Spoilers galore in this review, because honestly, spoilers can't ruin this book for anyone, the book ruins itself.
The POV swings in this book were utterly confusing and tiring, the plot was a pile of shit and the descriptions were fucking stupid. You could really tell L.J loved the posh Dark Dimension shit because there was tons of description on Lady Ulma's mansion and the 'Celestial Court' building, and a ridiculous amount of description on the barren wastelands that they travelled across, and she generally used ridiculous language that you never hear anyone use, let alone a 18 year old who doesn't seem all that smart, for all her perfect-ness. It was just tiring reading this book. Truly tiring.
Let's see why I hate all the characters: Elena is an indecisive bitch who is perfect in every way, so much so that she is allowed to have two love interests and it's perfectly okay.
The love square is truly ridiculous: Stefan loves Elena, Elena loves Stefan and Damon, Damon loves Elena and Bonnie and Bonnie loves Damon. Why not just have it going all the way around and have Bonnie and Stefan fall in love? Then there could be foursomes every other weekend. More seriously though, Elena gets hugely pissed off with Stefan for acting all, you know, JEALOUS and uncool stuff like that over her and Damon, yet when she notices Damon and Bonnie being flirty HELL HATH NO FURY. Elena Gilbert, number one hypocrite, but it's okay because Elena is perfect in every way and has pretty hair. Also, did I mention Elena killed her parents? But that's okay because she's perfect and pretty and that.
The fact that in the end they wave a magical wand and EVERYTHING FROM THE LAST 7 BOOKS HAS NOT HAPPENED is just great. Why the fuck did I read any of these books then? Except, of course, now Damon is dead. Except, of course, the cliffhanger is that he isn't. Oh, and Elena is probably going to be immortal because she has some magic water in an Evian bottle. PRODUCT PLACEMENT. Anyway, she'll probably drink that and live forever and apparently there's enough for 'maybe 4 or 5 people' if I remember correctly, so that's Bonnie, Meredith, Matt and Mrs. Flowers! YAY, THIS SCOOBY DOO GANG CAN GO ON FOREVER, YAY. Oh god, I can't imagine a world where that group of pricks exist for all of time and are indestructible. Fuck.
Bonnie. Bonniebonniebonnie. I fucking hate Bonnie. She's terrified of everything, and everyone has to factor in Bonnie's reaction to stuff before they do anything and it's fucking absurd when lives are at stake or whatever. Also, her jumping into that hole after Damon and then complaining when he left her somewhere safe was so mindblowingly stupid that I realised nothing could make me hate her more because surely that should have made me explode with rage, but it didn't because I was past that point.
Meredith. Apparently Meredith has known she is a 'hunter-slayer' (term only invented in this, the 7th book of the series) all her life and it has influenced none of her actions for the past 6 books when there were vampires EVERYWHERE, most of them doing evil shit like killing her best friend, destroying her town, going on a mass-murdering spree. Also, apparently Meredith is part vampire! She has kitten teeth! And she has a twin brother who is a vampire and can age and that! This so does not fuck with her story in the previous books. So doesn't at all. Also, another cliffhanger, Meredith declaring she has to find and kill her brother. I DON'T CARE. I'M NOT GOING TO BUY YOUR NEW TRILOGY.
Stefan is a dick. Stefan basically doesn't care about anything in the entire world except Elena despite having lived for like, 500 years or something with no Elena in his life. His character in general is completely boring and it's actually impossible to imagine him without Elena giving him 'purpose', if you can call it that when he's basically only living as a romantic interest to someone who is in love with someone else as well as him. He's a completely useless character.
Damon. What the fuck was the point in him becoming a human in the last book? There was no point. Also, his dying went on for far too long with that 'inner child' and Elena shit, but that's really more of a complaint about Elena, so. Damon is possibly the only redeeming feature of this book because he's the only one with a vaguely interesting personality, but even he acts/thinks like a twat sometimes. It's probably L.J.Smithicitus.
Shinichi died by saying something. He's been the big evil bad guy for the past 2 books, and he dies just by saying 'I wish I didn't do this' after absorbing his sister. Fucking brilliant. Ooh, he's so scary he can be killed with fucking regrets. Great.
Small aside: I didn't understand Sage. What was his purpose? Who was his father? Do I actually even care? No, not really. He was only introduced in the last book, you can't really use him as another cliffhanger for me to buy your shitty new trilogy centring around this dickwad set of characters.
Another aside: The wolf shit was fucking stupid. A pack of wolves just completely accepting a DOG as their new alpha male without so much as a fight? Realistic. Also, someone pregnant with werewolf babies is now going to be a werewolf for the rest of their life? What? Why? But don't the babies produced have to kill to trigger the werewolf gene? Huh?
Anyway, all in all, I'm glad this pile of shit trilogy is over and if I talk myself into buying the next book when it comes out somewhere along the line (out of some OCD annoyance at not having read 'the full thing' or something) then you may punch me repeatedly in the face.
I can not wait to read this one! Personally I hope it's better then the other two new ones. I'm personally rooting for the Damon/Elena relationship because for one thing, they were a match made in heaven. And for another, it's like forbidden love which makes it all the more interesting. I've never liked Bonnie, but have always loved Damon and personally think they would make a horrible couple. Bonnie and Matt have more sparks! I will seriously cry my eyes out if Damon and Bonnie end up together. At the same time, Stefan would probably kill himself if Elena chooses Damon. I say whatever though because Stefan has no sense of humor (Unlike Damon who has tons) and his little 'lovey love' thing makes me gag. He can have Meredith though because I'd still hate to see Stefan die. Also, if Damon stays human I'm going to be mad! Stefan should turn human, Damon should turn back into a vampire, and Elena should be a vampire so she could go live with Damon! Not Bonnie though... She can run off to college with Matt. ;)
I read all 13 Vampire Diaries books for a video project and I'm team burn the entire boxset. Check out my thoughts on the series on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nLU4l-qJX8o
I HONESTLY CANNOT WAIT! STEFAN BETTER BE WITH ELENA!! OR I WILL KILL SOMEONE SERIOUSLY!!!DAMON & ELENAstefan and elena are meant to be, why can't anyone see that?? I personally think Damon should get with Bonnie, and I think Matt needs a girl. I know this book will be 5 stars, I can't wait! I'm so sad that this is the final chapter of Stefan & Elena's life, I'm depressed now :'(
Oh, by the way, this is a LONG review. And i gave it four stars because everything is riding on this book for me, and if it doesn't fit the bill I so desperately hope it does, bad things will happen in my mind.
Hmm. I absolutely adore these two series, and I say "two series'" because, well, it in truth has to be two series'. In the first four books, Elena meets Stefan and Damon, falls for Stefan, becomes a vampire, dies whilest being a vampire, and is a---ghost?---in the fourth book. Then she's brought back to life somehow, still not quite sure how, at the end of the fourth book. Okay. Happy ending right there. Then three more books come out, clearly stating in their titles "THE RETURN". Why am I saying this? Because, let's face it, everything is different for Elena now, and Stefan practically becomes a non-entity while Damon steals the show. And, you know what, I'm happy in a way, because Stefan never really did it for me in the first four books, and I will put the Vampire DIaries in my "Never Read Again Nor Recommend To Anyone Because the Ending was Plain Torture" book series list, along with the Hunger Games series and maybe the Immortals series, if Elena does not end up with Damon. In the first four books, fine, Damon wasn't just the bad boy, he wasn't even a consideration for Elena because of his "You're mine" attitude towards her. That, I feel, was the only thing to hang on to in the first four books, as the relationship between Stefan and Elena was never fully developed and has rather been annoying for the entire series, both of them in fact. In the Vampire Diaries published in the 1990s, Elena needed to love and be loved by someone who could show her the gentleness and beauty in the world. Now, in the 2000s, Elena needs to show this to Damon, and, in a way, has already. But when she gets Stefan back at the end of the sixth book, Stefan and Elena's emotional connection are, I feel, not only lacking, but... inadequate. You, even if you like the "Stelena" duo, don't feel the fire in their relationship anymore, as the "Delena" relationship now has that flare. So my point is: DAMON AND ELENA are the ones who belong together now, not Stefan and Elena or Damon and Bonnie. (Bonnie's character, I don't know, has never really interested me. She reminds me of a faithful little chihuahua, not a potential love interest). This is what I hope will happen: yeah, Damon and Elena make the couple that should be made (and yeah, umm, don't they kiss in the sixth book? A lot? Show deep feelings for each other that make you so freaking giddy you have to stop reading and squeal, even if three lines down the page they get into an argument?) Ummm, Alaric and Meredith... eh... I honestly don't care what happens to them. Their relationship is kind of... uninteresting. Bonnie and Matt, sure, okay, have them end up together. Not for any deep, emotional, I-love-you-so-much-and-I-can-never-be-without-you way, but just because they both need a shoulder to cry on, I think. Oh, Damon should become a vampire again, Elena maybe going to become a vampire, (like, hint at it and not actually write it in), and Stefan I feel nuetral towards. He wants to be human, well, okey-dokey then. He wants to stay a vampire to always and forever protect ELena, even though she isn't in love with him anymore? Super. I know Stefan is supposed to be a major character, but I lack all feeling towards him, and have lacked said feeling since the beginning of the Elena/Stefan/Damon story. This being said, if Elena ends up with Stefan, or Bonnie with Damon (blech), I will stare at the walls and mope for hours, maybe even days, because that feeling that you've lost someone dear to you? I'd feel that in abundance. And oh, I read the book synopsis on amazon, and I have to say that I think it hints that Bonnie and Damon are going to end up together. Ver, very sad.
Okay, I know Elena isn't going to end up with Damon....but I want her to so bad! This is what I think will happen: Elena will turn into a vampire again and stay with Stefan and Bonnie is going to end up with Damon (Yuck). How do I want it to happen? Stefan will somehow trade with Damon and he will become human while Damon is transformed back into a vampire. while fighting Stefan will make some huge sacrifice and die for Elena or Damon. Bonnie will end up with Matt and Elena and Damon will finally be free to love eachother! THE END. But it wont happen that way, L.J. has already set the stage for Damon and has made him grow fond of Bonnie (calling her his 'little bird') it an earlyer book. and now she's even got him human for Bonnie...GAH I don't want they to be together! they aren't right for eachother. *pout* all I can do is wait and find out, holding onto my tiny shred of hope for Elena and Damon.
**After Reading**
...SPEECHLESS! OH MY GOD! I can't wait for the next book to come out! I still want Elena to be with Damon and now they have more of a chance! I will SHOOT someone if Bonnie gets Damon, she is SO NOT WORTH HIM! She is such a 'oh i'm helpless and always sweet and forgiving..LOVE ME!' Blech! I bawled at the end and kept saying 'Damon Damon Damon' Over and over. He should get Elena, he NEEDS her. Bonnie, well, she just needs to die. She never will be good enough for Damon. EVER!
The whole book I was either really pissed at L.J. because Damon was being sweet to Bonnie or really excited and happy because he was showing his interest and love for Elena. It was always up and down, up and down. Elena bonnie, Elena Bonnie. I can tell you right now I will be thinking about this book non stop for about a week. I really don't think I can wait for the next one to be published. How could she do this to me!!!
I really, really, really, really, really can't wait for this book to come out. Midnight's release date has been changed at least 6 times and I just want to read it. I hope Elena's going to end up with Damon. She really does belong with Damon and not Stefan. If Damon doesn't change back into a vampire and Elena chooses Stefan in the end, I swear I'll cry harder than I've ever cried in my life.
I waited for this book for a year, and it left me more than dissapointed. The book before this one was one of the best, so I don't know how LJ Smith could go wrong with this one. I just have oh so many problems with this book. Let's start with the first: ELENA. Elena has been with Stefan, who loves her for everything she is, since the first book. But in this book, she has become more like Katherine than herself. She WHINES about loving both brothers. Yes, Damon is witty, and he is the bad boy who is reformed for only her, but that's about as far as it goes. I would see him as more of an ally than a love interest. Stefan's world IS Elena, and they can even link souls. I don't see where the confusion is?? Earlier in the series, when Elena was whisked away to Heaven (or wherever she may have been), Stefan was on his knees screaming for her. It's the one scene I'll never forget. Damon surely was not doing that. So please explain to me this hang up!!?? Also, in the last two books, Damon makes two references to Elena being a virgin, which, you know he can't wait to change. At the end of this book Elena says Stefan will love her 'chastely'. This bothered me, because both she and Stefan alluded to wanting to be physical together in this book, but Elena told Stefan she was scared, therefore, he chose to wait for her to be ready. Again, why the sudden allegiance to Damon? In this book, Damon is dying, and Elena is kissing him in front of Stefan. I just think that's tacky. The book ends with Stefan thinking Elena loves Damon and not him. Can we say heartbreaking!? I don't understand AT ALL the allure of Damon. There is supposed to be another Trilogy coming, but LJ Smith is not supposed to be writing it. Maybe that's a good thing, because I'm about done with her. Here's my second problem with the book: The TV Series. I've been reading the book series since WAY BEFORE the TV Series came to be, but I do like the TV Series. Here's my problem. The characters in the books and in the series are two different sets of people. Damon is mostly the same. In the book series, Alaric is a college student. Bonnie is a white with red hair. Caroline is white with red hair (and also a wolf, not a vampire). Stefan and Elena are not as strong willed as their counterparts on the TV Show. I find myself liking the Stefan and Elena on the TV Show, more than the ones in the book. I can't imagine the Elena on the TV Show saying some of the things Elena says in the books (Darling??). And I can't imagine the Stefan from the TV show saying some of the things the Stefan in the book says (lovely love). While Stefan and Elena definitely have their strong moments in the book, they aren't as much as on the TV Show. Those are my gripes with this book. It makes me downright angry that I waited a year for this dissapointment.
So basically if you're too lazy to read this longggg letter, let me sum it up for you:
L.J. Smith has been "fired" from writing her own books because the owners wanted Stelena, but she wanted Delena.
Here’s an email my (not MY like ME Dana, but ... oh never mind) friend received from L.J. Smith. “Hi Emily—
Thank you for your beautiful email. I completely understand why some fans get overeager—and especially if they think there is bad news for them. I hope that you will enjoy Midnight, as it is truly the story of Damon finding his deepest feelings for both Elena and Bonnie—and his feelings are definitely not platonic. In fact, to be blunt, without Bonnie and something that Bonnie does at the end, Damon would be permanently dead.
But right now I have to tell you something that makes me so sad and devastated—as bad, in fact, as I have ever felt except for when my mother died. It’s confidential, but it’s been so long now that I just can’t keep up a charade with good-hearted readers like you.
To put it briefly, I’ve been fired from writing the Vampire Diaries. And I’ve been fighting and fighting this since last fall, but there is absolutely no recourse. Midnight is the last L. J. Smith book in the Vampire Diaries series.
It probably sounds completely impossible to say that I am fired from writing my own books. But the truth is that they’re not mine, even though I write every word. When I was called by an agent and asked to write the vampire trilogy, that agent wasn’t from a publisher, but from what is now Alloy Entertainment, Ltd. And they are a book packager. A book packager sells books, already made with covers and all, to publishers, like HarperCollins—my publisher for The Vampire Diaries and The Secret Circle. And both these series were written “for hire” which means that the book packager owns the books the author produces. Although I didn’t even understand what “for hire” meant back in 1990, when I agreed to write books for them, I found out eventually, to my horror and dismay. It means that even though I have written the entire series, I don’t own anything about The Vampire Diaries. And from now on, the books will be written by an anonymous ghostwriter, just as Stefan’s Diaries are. It will say “Created by L. J. Smith” on the cover, but I am not allowed even to change a word in the ghostwriter’s book.
You might wonder why the book packager and Harper would do this to me. I am not sure either, but usually a book packager gets very submissive, non-assertive writers to write for them—not to mention that most of them, writers or ghostwriters, have had a lot of publishers turn their books down. Book packagers are used to do a lot of editing on their author’s books—because the books need intense editing.
But I’m not submissive, and I always fight editing. In Midnight, I had to fight to keep many Bonnie scenes in the book. I’m not at all sure they liked the things I was doing with Bonnie and Damon—they kept trying to cut such scenes. And of course they didn’t like Elena’s behavior at all. They want strictly Stelena books.
So last fall when I gave them the book Phantom, they didn’t bother to give me edits. Instead, I was given a letter addressed to the ghostwriter by name, telling her to completely rewrite my book. They wouldn’t even listen when I pleaded and promised to do Phantom as they required. The simply took the series and gave it to the ghostwriter . . . to write not only The Hunters trilogy, but whatever comes after that.
They have always tried to minimize my participation in The Vampire Diaries. On the very first original books in 1990 my name was almost invisible on the cover. And now they have my manuscript of Phantom, and the book the ghostwriter writes from it may even sound like I wrote it in places, because they have the right to use my work as they see fit. But the book after that … that will be pure ghostwriter. I would guess that they think you readers won’t see or care about the difference in writing styles and skills.
I have said this to another Bamon fan, and I’ll say it now. I had so many plans for Bonnie in The Hunters trilogy. First of all, in Phantom, I had her showing a lot more emotion, grieving right along side Elena because—well, because Damon does something almost unbelievable for Bonnie in Midnight and he doesn’t get out unscathed. I won’t spoil it if you don’t know. But they wanted Bonnie to have just put it all behind her—and with Bonnie’s character, I don’t think so! She is always completely openhearted with her emotions; even though she has matured so much in Midnight, she’s still Bonnie, who says exactly what she thinks, even if she hasn’t had a dose of Black Magic wine.
I wanted to write Moonsong, and give Bonnie an admirer who is just as sweet and even more naïve than she is—a pure white wolf with radiant blue eyes, who happens to be a werewolf with moonlight colored hair and the same blue eyes when he’s human. I wanted to show Damon’s surprising reaction to Xander the good werewolf (not at all happy about it—so much that he “accidentally” almost kills the poor innocent wolf) .
I also wanted to show how Damon rescues Bonnie from a vicious wolf-pack attack, and then let her fly away with him. And I wanted to show how Bonnie, who knows a little medicine from her sister Mary, helps Damon deliver Caroline’s twin babies when she goes into labor deep in the woods. But that’s one scene that I would have had to fight tooth and nail for, because even the glow that Damon and Bonnie share at seeing new life come into the world wouldn’t be enough for them to call it decent. They would undoubtedly have tried to make me cut it. But I still want to write it, so badly.
I even had the last book in that trilogy plotted out, where Stefan’s worst nightmare comes true and he takes so much blood from Elena that has to be taken to the hospital for a massive transfusion. He then decides to Influence Elena so hat she will forget his existence, and he does so, to Damon and Bonnie and Meredith’s consternation. I wanted to show how this affected each one of the characters, and how Bonnie once again begins to write in her diary, since Elena’s diary is also forgotten, along with Stefan. I like to write things from Bonnie’s point of view, as I did in Dark Reunion. But none of these things will happen, beause I won’t be around to write it. And I just can’t keep up the pretense any long with wonderful fans like you. I can’t pretend that Bonnie and Damon’s relationship will continue to grow as Damon learns to respect her as well as to love her. She has become “his girl” but I can’t follow up on that. I had to tell the ghostwriter that he would address Bonnie as “little redbird” when he speaks to her.
Sorry for the long rant, but the charade is over for me. I don’t know how Phantom will turn out, with a blend of my manuscript and the complete rewriting of it by the ghostwriter. But I dread it, and even more do I dread what the next books will be like. I’ve worked so hard to make Vampire Diaries a good series, only to have the unthinkable happen to me. And I have no one but myself to blame for not being submissive enough.
Ok. So it took me a few days to get back into these books. i haven't read them for almost a year. it didn't take long however, these books...it's just amazig how completely unique they are. I always loved these. I love the concept. i love the characters. i love everything about them', except for one small thing. it is sooooooo overly descriptive. i usually love that, but i found at one point in the book when she took like about 10 pages to explain something and it went on and on and on. i absolutely love these books regardless, and this book wasnt my favorite of the series, but good. So this book was supposed to be the last of the series also, but from the ;ast chapter, you would think there was going to be another book. I'm not wanting to give anything away right now, but it that was how these books were supposed to end i was a little bit dissapointed, because something BIG happens. Also, for some reason i just love reading about lady ulmas estate. It's so FUN so read about how lush and perfect everything is there. i love to read about the outfits, and jewelry, and events, and everything. Also, love the idea of damon and bonnie as a couple. would that not be amazing? it would be ah-dorable. :D good book. or matt and meredith :D
I have read all of the Vampire Diaries books, as well as many of LJ Smith's other books. I have been disappointed with The Return trilogy as a whole, but this particular book was just infuriating. The ending was so irritating I almost threw the book.
The whole Meredith side plot was not needed and seemed to be there only to add length to the book. The same thing with Elena and Bonnie's out of body experience.
As the story wrapped up, everything came too easy. If they needed something, they found it in Mrs. Flowers's house without even having to search for it (a kiln in the backyard?). Elena's wings "happened" to work at just the right time.
Whoever edited this book should be fired. It read like a first draft from an inexperienced writer. There were several grammatical errors that any good editor would have caught. Yes, there are always a few in a book, but there were more than a few in Midnight. The overuse of exclamation points made the already unbelievable story seem melodramatic.
Like all of the Return trilogy, this book continued to undermine the vampire lore that LJ Smith spent so much time creating in the first few books. How can Damon (as a human) be able to tell by Elena's tears she was still a maiden? Plus, in the first several books, it said that sharing blood was as far as a vampire could go, so if Elena was loyal to Stefan, she still had to be a maiden.
The characters transformed from wonderful, well-written, believable characters, into flat, boring, one-dimensional stereotypes. Elena came off as flighty, selfish, and stupid, a far cry from the original Elena Gilbert. She seemed more like Katherine than Elena.
I have read and read and read the previous books in the series, but I doubt I'll ever pick up Midnight again.
Ugh. Kill me please. I was hoping to be able to give it at least two stars, but given the amount of strength it took me to finish it, I think one is more than enough. I won't dwell on the absurdity of the plot, the flatness of the characters (especially Stefan - seriously, he's as useful as a piece of furniture. Maybe even less.) or the fact everyone, and I mean everyone, seemed to be in the middle of a love triangle. (Which all together formed a what, love octagon? Even Gossip Girl is less complicated.)
The worst part is that the series isn't over YET. And that Elena still has to choose between the two brothers, which is the only reason I keep reading this series. Why can't they just have ménage à trois and give me back my dignity?
Oh my gosh, i can't wait to read this book!! Every since I started reading the books, I've always been Team Stefan (phh Edward, you've got nothing on him...). Whenever I finished reading other book and the couple I wanted to end up together didn't exactly live happily ever after I'd always think, "Uh. That sucks. At least I can count on L.J Smith making Elena and Stefan end up together." If Elena ends up with Damon I'm throwing this book in the trash... well, after through it at the wall a few dozen times, of course. And if Elena ends up to Stefan, Damon & Bonnie will have a chance! I didn't even know there were fellow Damon & Bonnie fans until reading the other comments... Hello March 15th- Welcome to my calender :)
Cannot wait for this book! My heart will be broken beyond pieces if Damon and Bonnie end up together, I don't even care if Bonnie and Matt do! If L.J Smith is reading this please don't!! I love all the book you've made especially The Forbidden Game.
I except a dramatic but heart warming ending for everyone.. not Bonnie LOL!
P.S LOVE THE COVER!
P.P.S- Is the sister of one of the foxes?l.j smith
I do not like the vampire diaries book series simple....no offense to the people who love it but I do like the tv show plus my least favorite character is Elena she is so annoying
Wow! It starts from three days after dark dimensions kicked off with damon as human as ever although he still has his telepathic powers. Elena brings him human foods which leads to a confrontion before the fourth chapter! Damon, damon tut tut!
Little "redbird" Bonnie walks in on them holding each other and elena calls damon darling which bonnie reacts to and runs down to matt and meredith who are in the kitchen. A nice and easy start to the book and gets you into the vampire diaries mode before anything too bad happens:) After the sorting out of that little mistake, the gang (matt, meredith, stefan, elena, mrs flowers and yes, damon) discuss the situation of Fells Church.
SPOILERS:
Meredith is a vampire-hunter who hunts demons such as vampires. It has been in her family for generations and she has only recently took up her family legacy. She also is part-vampire (long story involving Klaus attacking her) and she has a full vampire twin brother called Cristan.
Elena is the murderer as she destroys an entire moon(small planet) in a part of the dark dimensions called the Nether Worlds where they travel to find the source of the worlds biggest star ball which belonngs to whatever is controling fells church.
Damon dies after being attacked by a giant tree and after a long, sad, loving goodbye, he passes away in Elenas protective eyes.
Damon wakes up in the last two pages, indicating another trilogy! thanks for reading, H
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The main reason I read these books was because of Damon/Ian. I loved him so much that I read every book even though I hadn’t enjoyed them much. OMG! This book was so good. But I’m sad because the series was ended. I know there are more books but those were written by some ghost author. And I don’t want to read it.
The secrets revealed in this book were definitely unbelievable. I liked the twists and the way how the story moved.
Apart from Elena’s love for both Stefan and Damon, I loved everything about it. Damon is a precious thing that needed to be taken care of. And I will.
And now I need to catch up on TV series as I’m way behind it.
Elena is such a selfish, thoughtless character. Stefan is so blind and in love. Damon is just warped. And Bonnie is dumb, weak and helpless. The only person who carried with an interesting story line was Meredith, and that was never explained in depth as i could have been. The TV show is much more promising and well written. As for Midnight... I am disappointed, although, not surprised.
Dear God! Thank you. I can't believe I had the nerves to finish this pile of sh...rubbish. L.J.Smith thank you again for the cliffhanger-NOT. People,please don't read it. Please,pretty please. Finally we know what the deal is with Meredith. I don't want to say anything about Damon and to spoil this book for those who (against better judgment) decide to read this.
خدا رو شکر بعد ده سال دست از گدا بازی برداشتم و وایسادم کتاب صوتیش با یک سوم قیمت کتاب چاپیش بیاد و بعد ۳۵ درصد تخفیف بخوره تا بتونم به قیمت همون ده سال پیش که گذا بازیمو شروع کردم بخرمش و این بازی کثیفو تمومش کنم. خب اگه طرفدار الینا نباشین این کتاب واقعا سخته چون نصف کتاب توصیف زیبایی الینا و شخصیتا دائم خدا رو شکر میکنن که خدا عمر و چشمی داده بهشون که زیبایی الینا رو ببینن. الینا که در موقع خشم مانند الهه انتقام بود ، موقع غم مانند الهه غم بود و مورد دستشویی رفتن مانند الهه💩و نویسنده قشنگ اینجوری بود که بیاید سریع از بخش های بی اهمیتی مث مرگ و خون ریزی و دنیاهای فانتزی رد و شیم و یه چن صفه دیگه از الینا تعریف کنیم . اوه ...یکی داره میمیره.حالا وصیت چی بکنه ؟ بگه سه تا تیکه چوب بیارید؟اشهدشو بخونه؟نه.انقد قربون الینا بره تا بمیره. اگه طرفدار دیمن هم باشید متاسفانه باید بگم از چیزی که دیمن بهش تبدیل شده رنج میبرید . شایدم تاثیر ده سال بزرگتر شدنه . ده سال پیش اینجوری بودم که دیمن لطفا بیا و منو خون آشام کن(هنوزم میگم البته ولی چون پایه تر از بقیه بود)دیمن تو چقد باهوش و جذابی و الان ۵ دیقه یه بار اینجوری بودم که چی تفت میدی مرد ؟ اصن نمیفهممت . برا استفن سیب زمینی ۵۰۰ ساله هرکز دلم تنگ نشد و نخواهد شد.همونطور که میبینید حتی ۵۰۰ سال سن هم احترام نمیاره پس دیگه الکی تو اتوبوس از جاتون پانشید واسه ۷۰ سال . این گونه کتاب سه جلد اونور تر از جایی که باید به پایان رسید. برای همه کسایی که تا جلد ۶ جلو اومدن طلب صبر میکنم. متاسفانه شما در مرحله بی بازگشت قرار دارید. تند بخونید بره دردش کمتره. پ.ن حاوی اسپویلر⚠️ و پند اخلاقی: اگه فک میکنید عاشق خون آشام کلاستون شدید صبر کنید تا داداش بزرگترشو ببینید.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Okay, this is getting embarrassingly bad. It is only my own stubbornness and promise to myself that is keeping me from giving up. I said I will finish all the books, and I will. But this is just... not good.
And I can see why each book has to finish on a cliffhanger (still just annoying and not dramatic) because who would continue reading these. I think they should have just been done after the original trilogy (and even that wasn't spectacular, if I'm being honest).
This is the first time that I gave up on a book. It started off pretty good but my enjoyment declined rapidly. The longer I read the more noticeable were the bad writing and characters lacking personality. All the characters talked like they're from the sixteenth century. There was a lot of sighing and gasping, calling each other "my love". Everyone reacted to things so dramatically that often I was left feeling like I've missed something crucial because I didn't feel the same way. I was a little bothered by the lack of plot in the beginning, but the story flowed pretty easily in spite of it. After that things went downhill pretty fast in spite of the much awaited plot development.
I feel no love for the characters in this series. Elena is a pretty useless main character. She's always crying and thinking about her conflicting feelings toward Stefan and Damon. Bonnie has the thought process and the language capabilities of a six year old girl. Stefan is one of the weirdest vampires, never during this book did he display any kind of vampire abilities. I honestly don't know why he's even in the story. Only Meredith was even remotely interesting, but as far as I've read her character wasn't explored the way it could and should be.
The only one I cared about was Damon and I think that was mostly because I keep picturing Damon from the TV show. But Damon really disappointed me in this book so that by the middle of the book I was left with no motivation to read. Following the pattern of the book getting harder to read with each passing chapter left me cringing with the idea to read further. So I didn't. I skipped to the end and read the final two chapters just to see how the book ended because I will read the next book since I'm very curious what the new author did with the series. Hopefully the writing and the characters are better and I can continue on with the series considering I've gotten this far.
God Almighty, I don't know where the hell this series took a turn for the INSANE. I loved this series. That was until slimy things that I have never heard of and foxy supernatural creatures started taking over and people were going seriously batshit crazy. It's like Smith reached out into the depths of a black hole and pulled lint from the pages of beastiaries to keep this story going.
And the Dark Dimension. It would be great to read that in a fantasy series that focused on that one place. Not an earth centered world tinged with supernatural creatures. And all this silly madness about these "Wings" magic.
I kind of just skimmed through it all. My eyes focused on whenever I saw Damon's name though. He made it that much better.
And all this "my love" speak started to get on my nerves. Elena may have died and come back, but she isn't some 600 year old stuck in the Victorian era woman. There IS a lot of responsibility on her back, but her immaturity comes out all the time and her speech doesn't match. I just....I don't know what to make of this. I'm thinking I might just wiki the last book, especially since it is supposedly being written by a ghost writer.
Holy hell Smith, holy hell.
I hate to say it, but the television series is 100% better than these new books. And most of the time I prefer the books.
GAH! Why do I allow myself to keep reading these books!
Seriously, I'm severely disappointed and yet have to read the next book to find out what happens. How is that even fair? I get so attached to specific characters and despite the absolutely horrendous writing, poor story, and disgustly obnoxious other characters I still have to find out what further happens.
This book felt very forced. The storylines came out of nowhere without any history or reason or information. We were just supposed to accept a story with no information, which was hard to do. Twists that had no logic and were just a convienence to the author were unacceptable.
I honestly feel like this story was meant to be a three book series, it got a sudden boost somewhere along the lines and the author tried to milk it and stretch the story out as much as she could. When you write such a long series you NEED to have an outline, general points that you meet, and LOGIC. Somewhere along the lines, probably between book 3 and 4, this series lost that.
I would not recommend this book, nor this series, nor this author.
"Sie war normalerweise keine Heulsuse, aber sie konnte die Tränen nicht aufhalten, die ihre Augen füllten." (S. 20)
For real? In den letzten drei Bänden und auch in diesem Buch hat Elena nichts anderes gemacht, als sich selbst zu beweihräuchern, Tagebuch in den unmöglichsten Situationen zu schreiben, sich irgendwelche Jungsprobleme aus dem Horizont der Möglichkeiten zu fischen oder - wer hätt's gedacht - ZU WEINEN.
" 'Ich bin völlig nutzlos', bemerkte Elena bekümmert. " (hab leider die Seite vergessen) Oh verdammt ja, das bringt es nun wirklich auf den Punkt. Eine solch nutzlose, schwachsinnige Protagonistin findet man nicht oft.
Was soll ich sagen, auch dieser siebte Band war einfach schlecht. Alles wirkte sinnbefreit, an den Haaren herbeigezogen, um möglichst viele Ideen zusammenhangslos in schlecht ausgearbeitete Szenen zu verpacken, der Schreibstil noch immer eine Katastrophe und die Charaktere - erschießt mich ...
Der größte Kritikpunkt ist allerdings ein anderer (auch wenn Elena einfach zum Kotzen ist): Kursives Schreiben. Was geht da bitte in dieser Reihe schief? Keinerlei Kontrolle, wenn es darum geht, Worte zu betonen. Entweder werden Sätze durch diese Formatierung ins lächerlich Dramatische gezogen oder die Übersetzerin hat das Abschalten vergessen.
Honestly, what a journey. I remember having to wait - desperately - for this book to come out. And specifically, I remember exactly where I bought it: WHSmith’s at Waterloo station. I started reading it on the train home, then I got home and I didn’t stop. I remember sobbing at the ending, and then thinking ‘I can’t wait for the next adventure’.
This book will always be bittersweet because it is the end of Vampire Diaries. LJ Smith was fired after this, and a ghostwriter was installed to carry on. It’s painful, but I consider this book to be the ending, no matter that there are officially 6 more published. ‘Midnight’ was the final adventure.
And what an adventure!
I may not have sobbed the way I did the first time, but god, this book was just heartbreaking and funny and - iykyk - one hell of a ride.
I’ve really enjoyed my little trip down memory lane; these books will always hold the most special place in my heart.