The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Nightfall (Hardcover)

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Key Phrases: day gown, lapis lazuli ring, The Return, The Vampire Diaries, Old Wood (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The first book in a new trilogy from L. J. Smith!

Elena Gilbert is alive—again.

When Elena sacrificed herself to save the two vampire brothers who love her—the handsome, brooding Stefan and the sleek and dangerous Damon—she was consigned to a fate beyond death. Until a powerful supernatural force pulled her back.

Now Elena is not just human. She has powers and gifts that were bestowed on her in the afterlife. What's more, her blood pulses with an overwhelming and unique force that makes her irresistible to any vampire.

Stefan wants to find a way to keep Elena safe so that they can make a life together. Damon, however, is driven by an insatiable desire for power, and wants Elena to rule as his princess. When Stefan is lured away from Fell's Church, Damon seizes his chance to convince her that he is the brother she is meant to be with. . . .

But a darkness is infiltrating the town, and Damon, always the hunter, is now the hunted; he becomes the prey of a malevolent creature that can possess him at will, and who desires not just Elena's blood but her death.

About the Author

L. J. Smith has written more than two dozen books for children and young adults. She lives in the Bay Area of California, but is happiest in a little cabin near Point Reyes National Park, which has lots of trees, lots of animals, lots of beaches to walk on, and lots of places to hike.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 592 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen (February 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061720771
• ISBN-13: 978-0061720772
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #208 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I was desperate to like it, but my Wings of Desperation broke, March 14, 2009

By	S. Ashflock (USA) - See all my reviews

I've been an LJ Smith fan for such a long time. Like many others, I waited patiently through years of silence and years of fans asking me when Strange Fate would come out, as though I had any clue just because I had a website. When LJ Smith announced that her next book would be a Vampire Diaries sequel, I was disappointed - after all, weren't all those NightWorld fans waiting for Strange Fate? Shouldn't they come first? - but hopeful. More Damon? Hells yeah! I don't even LIKE NightWorld! Bring it on, this new Vampire Diaries!

Unfortunately, I returned this book the day after I got it, feeling nothing short of heartbreak. I know LJ Smith can do better than this, because she has done better before, and this is probably the lowest point in her writing career, by far. If she were a poorer author, I would expect it of her and excuse it all away, but she's not, and so I can't find any excuses in me. She's better than this. She really, truly is.

The book takes place a mere week after the original four. This was big mistake #1, because the original books DO have the dates in them, dating book 5 instantly to the summer of 1992, and yet everyone suddenly has a smart phone with video call capabilities, digital cameras, and personal computers. This is just one of the many gaping plot holes and inconsistencies in this book that shows just how much love and care the publishers gave it before throwing it out into the world. Did they even remember they'd just re-released 4 other books and should probably check for continuity when editing this one? I'm thinking no.

The remaining big problems with this book? The plot and the characterization. NOBODY escapes this book unscathed. It would seem that Damon the enigmatic bad boy, once you're actually in his head, is just a vain and simpering frat boy who smiles at nothing in particular and thinks Bonnie's breasts are disappointingly small. Furthermore, it would seem that all he really wants is to weep at Elena's feet and beg for forgiveness. Sure, redeeming the bad boy is the fantasy of many a teenage girl (and adult woman!), but I don't think that's quite what we had in mind, Ms. Smith. As for the others? Well, Matt's all right (although Damon can't seem to remember his name, leading me to believe he suffered some severe brain damage in the fight with Klaus). Everyone else, not so much. They're like tragic caricatures of themselves, especially poor Caroline. In an effort to find a segueway villain, LJ Smith destroys any and all character development from Caroline to crowbar the new villains in through her. I'll get to Elena in a moment. Let's talk about these new villains.

As others have mentioned, it seems like LJ Smith has been cooped up in the house with every season of Sailor Moon for the past 10 years. The villains are kitsune twins, who look like Pokemon and act like Team Rocket, spout stereotypical Japanese words, and seem to generally fail at being anything other than vaguely annoying and really attractive, in that Hot Topic color-scheme sort of way. There are suddenly random Japanese families in Fell's Church who, of course, randomly provide clues. If I didn't know LJ Smith better, I'd suspect her of some cultural racism because these characters border on parodies of Japanese people and folklore, but I know her better than that, and suspect that this is completely accidental on her part. Lastly, Elena's healing and flying powers (oh yeah, did I mention she has wings?) all have thematic names, which she yells out as she's executing them. Wings of Purification!

Did I forget to mention the angry sentient trees from the angry Old Wood that has suddenly appeared in Fell's Church as though it's been there all along? And giant invisible insects made of jell-o that seem to be causing a rash of possessions in Fell's Church? Because that's all I'm going to say about those.

This brings me back to Elena. The poor girl has taken a real character beating here. Firstly, she wakes up the next morning after the end of book 4 acting like a mute child. She can't talk (or apparently think), her eyes are purple, and she floats around naked like a firefly. She makes out with everybody to recognize them because prairie dogs do it (don't ask me, I don't understand either), but there's nothing sexual in it, except that everyone freaks out and distracts Stefan when she does it to Matt, which... doesn't that make it sexual? Anyway, let's not dwell too long on that. Elena can't wear any of her clothing because she sees the tragic sweat shop laborers who worked on it if she does, so they have to find her sweat shop-free clothing. This isn't the first time LJS has had a message for us, but it is the least subtle time, and it was very grating. Yes, sweat shops are bad, but can we get back to the vampires now? Elena has a similar Tinkerbell moment near the end where she hears magical spirits giving her moral advice on the nature of just combat, and everyone believes in her so that she can gain the power to fly. It's really bizarre, and all of these preachy Elena moments come off like an uncomfortable talk your parents might give you about Bad Things In The World Today.

Speaking of vampires, the vampires really take a back seat here. If you've come for the vampires, don't bother unless you'd like to stay for the kitsune, angels, and angry trees. And weeping Damon begging for forgiveness. There's maybe one vampire scene, two or three if you count vaguely vampiric displays of bloodletting.

I could keep going about the bad - no, REALLY - but I'll end on the good. There are a few scenes, and tiny little moments, in this book that made me smile, little hints of the LJ Smith I know and love. I think there were other scenes that COULD have been good, had they been placed into a different context. LJ Smith has also since released two stories on her website, one bad (Damon/Bonnie, which started out promising and then headed back into Nightfall territory) and one incredible (Matt/Elena, a prequel of sorts), which gives me hope. Maybe this is just one really bad book, one really ridiculous blip on the radar, and this too shall pass. Maybe the LJ Smith I love really is still in there, working hard to make Shadow Souls a success. I'll buy Shadow Souls when it comes out, and hopefully this time, I won't return it in disgust. I'll clap and believe in you all you want, LJ Smith, if it'll just make your writing fly again.

When all is said and done, though this book will NEVER touch my bookshelves, I have a silly little pair of Wings of Redemption for LJ Smith left in me yet. Please support this wonderful author by purchasing her other wonderful books and recommending them to all your friends. Just skip this one to avoid the disappointment it entails, and hope for the best. Better luck next time, Lisa.

36 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What happened?, February 13, 2009

By	M. Cosnek "athena gal" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a bit of a train wreck: there's too much going on, and many events seem to make no sense. Another reviewer is dead-on in describing much of the book as bizarre. I have followed the series since original publication and recently bought the new paperbacks of original books, as they are falling apart.

Some folks may think it unfair to compare the fifth book to the other four in The Vampire Diaries, but what's the point in reading a series if not to find some continuity in the characters? Yes, I know a decade has passed, but there is little left from the previous books-- the amazing characters and their chemistry are gone. I feel like LJ Smith wanted to write another story, and just stuck Elena, Damon and Stefan in here for good measure. There are a few glimpses of the old magic, but they are very few and very far between.

I agree with much of the criticism in other posts about the book, and regret buying it. The book drags on for far too long, with tedious action/torment or near death scenes. Elena and her ever-changing powers, mentality, and "otherness" are too strange and almost absurd. And some scenes feel they were just added randomly and make little sense: the massage being a prime example (yes, I know he can be both brutal and tender.) It also seems like LJ Smith tried to cram every bit of existing folklore into this book: magic keys, angel wings, scary creatures.

To give praise where due, there are some good moments between Damon and Elena. And we do get to know more about the mysterious Mrs. Flowers. But, in the end, this book was a big disappointment. If the series continues, then I'll wait on the library's borrow list.

25 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed..., February 11, 2009

By	M. Branch - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was so different from any other L.J. Smith book I've ever read.I was so very excited, and was counting the days until this book came out. I have read all of her other books and absolutely loved them. Fans of hers won't really recognize her writing in most of this book, to be honest it sounds like weird fan fiction. Every once in a while you catch a glimmer of what made the original books so special, but it's fleeting. The dialogue was cheesy and ridiculous. I keep seeing people refer to a more "mature" writing style, but I disagree completely. I feel like her style has regressed if anything, as many parts of the book are sloppy. I'm sure I'll buy the other books, because something written by her is better than nothing. I definitely won't pay 20$ again for one though! But this book was in a word, bizarre. At some points I felt like the amazing characters she created in the first 4 books, weren't growing or changing in any way, but that they were simply unrecognizable. I also completely agree with other reviewers when they say that Damon was more or less destroyed in the book. She is still my favorite author of all time, I just didn't enjoy this nearly as much as I had hoped!