Customer Reviews

The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries #3: The Craving

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Right so I love L.J. Smith when she's at the top of her game, really I do. I've read most of her books (I think I missed one or two but I'd have to check - all of the big ones and even some not as well known, I've read). So I'm having a really hard time here. I was in the middle of the last book she'd written (The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Midnight) and just couldn't get through it. I was really feeling like the Vampire Diaries as a book series was dead for me. I'd stopped, read other books, gone back to it, stopped again. Then I get the e-mail from Amazon reminding me hey this is on your Kindle. Okay maybe this is what I need - those last two Stefan's diary books were pretty good.

Yes! The vamps are *cough* alive and well. And this is why I have such a problem with it. It's clearly not L.J. Smith. Her name does appear on the books - along with two others. I'm unclear on how much input she had in this arc of the series but given that she has now been fired from the books and how totally different the style is from her recent Vampire Diaries books I can only assume not very much. If I am wrong, I apologize but sadly this version is 100% better than the last arc she wrote alone which I seemed to be buying solely on some sort fan devotion and not because I felt they were good. This though is truly good.

The Salvatore brothers both end up in New York. Coincidence? Or is one maybe planning on toying with the other? Stalking the other? They do both end up connected to a high society family - surely that is a coincidence? And as always they end up wondering if they are really each others biggest problems or if they need to play nice with each other -- if there are things out there so much bigger and badder they are, so maybe they at least need to pretend to be friends again if only long enough to figure out what in the heck is happening around them.

So long as these books keep going this route, I'm in - whoever has taken over has figured out what was missing. Hopefully now that L.J. Smith is free of them she can find whatever it is she was missing in her future books, which I am also in for.

I devoured this book in one sitting. The plot twisted and turned. The climax surprised me and was the perfect twist.

On the other hand, I would have liked to see a little more development in Damon and Stefan. Even after reading all three books, there just didn't seem to be enough to explain why they acted the way they did. There was some, but not quite enough. Hopefully, future books will continue to build the boys' personalities.

I also thought in places the action happened too quickly. It was like "this happened and then this and then this" with no chance to build suspense. Slowing down the action would have helped quite a bit.

All in all, I was happy with the book and cannot wait for #4.

I've loved this series of books. I've only read the Stefan Diaries series,which is just as well by the sounds. By all reports the other Vampire Diaries books are vastly different (in a bad way) from this series. I can assure fans of the TV series that these books are great and give a great insight into the dynamic behind Stefan and Damons relationship. Only negative is that they are far too short!! Hope there is a volume 4 on the way ASAP.

I agree with what another reviewer said about not being able to get through the other set of VD books. I thought they just got worse and worse. I am really enjoying this set of Stefan's Diaries though. They are written so much better and I can't put them down. I do wish they were longer. I kinda thought they would follow the show a little more than they have but that's ok cause they are still a great read. I didn't want to read them at first because of L.J. Smith's name being on them but I am a huge fan of the show so I decided to give it a try. I felt that she ruined the last set of books but that is just my opinion.

My thoughts on the audio go as follow. This was one of those audio books that the narrator took away from the story for me. His voice just didn't come off as scary vampire. It's a bit hard to explain. Then again I might be partial to hearing the Stefan voice on the TV show and just couldn't separate one from the other. I think this series I will continue to read instead of listen too. It will make it easier for me to follow the story instead of saying that's not Stefan's voice.

On to the book portion of my thoughts. So this is the 3rd installment in the series and my least favorite of the 3. It lacks a bit of what book 1 & 2 had. The Salvatore Brothers are in New York and the fighting is full-speed ahead. The tables have turned and Damon has begun to call the shots while Stefan fights his being. Now the brothers have attracted too much unwanted attention their way. If you watch the TV Show its pretty much those glimpse that we see when they go back to the beginning. Of course with this series you get much more details about Stefan's past and Damon as well. You understand the pull with Katherine.
This is where the famous love triangle begins.

So yes I say read these if you want to learn and understand their past but I wouldn't recommend the audio. It just wasn't one of my favorites. - Yara

My thirteen year old is in love with this series. My 16 year old sneaks and reads it too!! Big hit!

I love this series, hearing the stories behind how they became vampires is really cool. These are great short books that talk about what happened to make Damon as well Stefan become a vampire as well as details about how all it went down. Its really great to read behind the show.

First of all, I'm a huge fan of L.J.Smith and The Vampire Diaries show. I don't like Stefan that much but I thought it would be fair enough to hear the story from his point of view =).
The first two books were great, really enjoyable, the only reason I gave this sequel 4 stars because there were some really boring parts in it, in which he would keep reminding us of what happened in the previous volumes, it was really boring. After Damon got into the story, things got better of course.
Overall, I really enjoyed it, especially at the end, it was worth reading and I would definitely read it again =).

This little series is based off the show, not really the actual series like I had thought. It was still good to read the three, you got a better sense of who Stefan was, which was great. But overall, it was just okay to read :)

Smith has created a romantic series within the mysterious and intriguing world of vampires, in regards to Stefan and Damon. This latest piece revolves around Damon residing in Manhattan and his determination to never hurt another human being. Manhattan is a city that never sleeps and it's easy for him to hide among all of the dram surrounding him. Thinking that he has escaped his brother Damon they unite and come to an agreement and then decide to team up and devour New York. Unfortunately, their escapades about the city put them in a spotlight and gives them more attention than they had planned. As a result, a new enemy is seeking revenge of the pair. As the story unravels the story of Stefan's diaries enlightens readers about the relationships between him, Damon and Katherine. These stories unfold on the popular CW TV show. This is a great series for any vampire fan or romantic