Novel: Vampire Academy: The Awakening (Vol 1)
Author: L.J. Smith
Short summary: Boy is a vampire. Girl is a prom queen (literally). They fall in love. His past comes back to haunt them. Chaos ensues.
With the CW constantly playing commercials for the new Vampire Diaries, I figured I'd go out and get the book. How bad could it be, right? Right?
Pretty bad, it turns out. I'm not going to say it's awful, because it’s not, but it’s just…not very good. Nothing about this book sets it apart from others of its kind. It’s predictable, boring, dry, with several cliché, stereotypical, flat characters.
Basic plot: There’ s a new guy in school (the vampire with a tragic past – he caused the murder of his former love, centuries ago) who meets the girl (high school prom queen, also with a tragic past – both of her parents died the year before the story takes place). She’s popular; all the guys want her (and she was dating a football player). All the girls want vampire boy (and he tries out for the football team, makes it, and becomes the quarterback).
At first the vampire tries to stay away from the main girl because she’s, apparently, the exact replica of his former love and, you know, he’s a vampire with deep deep issues and he doesn’t deserve the pretty girl…or whatever. She's in love with him, in love for the first time (even though she's super popular and dated lots of boys she's never REALLY liked any of them). Gee, this sounds familiar.
She decides to chase after him. Very soon after, he gives in. They kiss and it's magic and fireworks and confessions of loved are made. She professes her love for him. He doesn’t say the words “I love you” but she knows he feels the same way because of his actions (like the psycho stalker vamp he is, he’s saved her several times from both death AND rape, and he’s kept a token – a ribbon she wore the first night he saves her) and she can feel his love. Then his past comes back to haunt him and he feels guilty about putting her in danger…blah, blah, blah. Really, getting serious déjà vu here.
Oh, did I mention that this girl is “special”? She is. She’s always felt like she didn’t really belong (even though she’s the most popular girl in school with tons of friends, and she’s involved in several different school clubs – like the prom committee), and it turns out that she’s super strong because she can resist “The Power.” Oh, yeah, the vampires have special powers.
…And she hangs out at the cemetery.
One more thing, she's blonde.
Don’t forget that he doesn’t drink blood from humans, only animals. Still not sounding a bit familiar?
This “novel” is not worth the time or the effort. The plot is bad. The characters are flat, not a likeable character in the bunch. The writing style is plain, boring, and not at all unique. Not to mention the several grammatical errors and typos (first one appears within the first ten pages).
Skip it. Really. Skip it.
* I suppose it should be noted that this is a teen (young adult) fantasy fiction novel, and I am no longer a teen. There' s chance that being twenty-one has managed to skew my opinion...maybe. BUT I did like Twilight.
