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63 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
One star is not low enough to rate this book, March 25, 2010
I'm kicking myself for buying this book and putting the emotional investment into reading it. Shadow Souls is truly awful, and I thought nothing could be worse than Nightfall. I am embarrassed for LJ Smith and all of the readers (including myself) who held out hope that the story of the Vampire Diaries could be redeemed after her last mess of a novel.
Much like the previous book, Smith seems determined to cram a bunch of folklore and fairy tales clichés into Shadow Souls, and this time most of them fit into the messily-detailed dark-age other world she creates. She spends so much time on period detail that is unnecessary- do we really need to know the color of the veils that each of the girls wears during their procession though the city? Magical Auras, demon dogs, gate keepers, fierce falcons- ugh. The book meanders all over the place at times, and so slowly that I had to put the book down in frustrated boredom several times.
I thought Damon had lost all of his charm in Nightfall, but again, I underestimated just how bad it could really get. He maintains that he will die for Elena as they make their dangerous quest, yet there is no real spark or chemistry left between them. And LJ Smith can't seem to make up her mind about the physical capabilities of the vampires. After decreeing that no sex is possible in the last novel, Elena's not-quite-human aura seems to make Damon capable of feeling for/wanting from a woman something he has not felt in 500 years. Am I the only one getting whiplash trying to keep up?
The last pages and a sudden change for one of the major characters is just unbelievable and very disappointing. (It also foreshadows another tedious quest.) LJ Smith has successfully done one thing for me with this book: after waiting twenty years for more of the VD series, and Damon specifically, I no longer care what happens to these characters. They have little in common with the flawed and intriguing people I met two decades ago.
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84 of 106 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The worst book I've ever read, March 16, 2010
I think at this point, it's obvious that the author neither cares about her readers or, perhaps more importantly, her characters. The whole time I was reading this book, I kept waiting for it to get better or at least start to make sense. Elena is laughable in this book, she's nothing like she was in the original four books. She's a whiny, giggling wreck. Her only purpose seems to be to stand around and make men fight over her. She spends most of the book lusting after Damon, but rather than make it believable, Damon stalks around like a cartoon character - I was expecting him to start twirling his mustache and squinting through a monocle. Poor Bonnie and Meredith are relegated to supporting characters. In the original books, they were part of the team, even if they weren't main characters. Here they only serve to point out how wonderful Elena is. Stefan finally show up 400 or so pages in, babbling like a moron. He practically throws himself at Elena's feet, crying, "Darling! Angel!" How this Stefan managed to live for 500+ years without getting a stake through his heart is beyond me. Matt is once again reduced to a minor role and Damon still refers to him as "Mutt". They didn't get along in the original books, but at least Damon was civil to him - the way you would think a gentleman of Renaissance Italy would be. Instead, he acts like a six-year-old boy.
There's a vague sadomasochism vibe in the middle section - Damon, Elena, Bonnie, and Meredith have to enter the Dark Dimension, but only if Damon takes the humans as slaves. A particularly insulting part is the way Elena rescues an old slave woman. The old woman is being beaten in the middle of the street, but no one pays any notice. That is, until Elena risks life and death to go to her rescue. Then, suddenly the crowd comes alive and surges to her defense - "[I]t was one thing to see a merchant beating his worn out drab. . . [b]ut to see this beautiful new girl having her clothes slashed away. . . that was quite another thing" (pg 220). I get it, really, I do. The ugly should be made to suffer, after all, they're ugly and worn out, hardly worth notice. But if a beautiful girl decides to get a little dirty and actually might (*gasp*) get hurt in the process, well, we can't have that!
The last chapter, where our heroes should be discussing what they are going to do next, is instead a slapstick comedy affair. One of the characters goes through a very important change, but it's mentioned in a kind of off-hand way, and then it's nearly lost in the author's eagerness to return to "comedy". I had to go back and reread it to make sure I had actually read it correctly.
This book is a joke and I regret spending the money to buy it.
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57 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not Recommended to Fans of L. J. Smith, March 17, 2010
This book, like its predecessor Nightfall, makes a mockery of the first four Vampire Diaries books--which have been beloved by me and many others for most of our lives! The original books were about love, honor, friendship, mystery, suspense...full of very interesting, well-developed characters and a plot that was engaging and made sense.
The characters and plot in this book are cartoonish and don't even line up with the original books'. This book is all about ridiculous juvenile conversations, out-of-character phrasing/mannerisms/actions for almost every character, and a silly complicated COMPLETELY POINTLESS plotline to tie it all together.
I have often been tempted to think that these latest books were really written by a ghostwriter, but the problem is that very occasionally you can still see a glimmer of the L. J. Smith who used to be. Maybe it's just a sentence or two. But it's enough to convince me that she's still in there somewhere, so I shall cross my fingers and hope that one day soon she will write a good book again. Because that day is certainly not here yet.
In conclusion, this is certainly not the worst book, or even the worst vampire book, I've ever read, but it is definitely the worst book I've ever read that was written by an author who used to write GOOD books!
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