Elena Gilbert, a sophomore in high school, is beautiful and popular. Every girl wants to be her and every guy wants to be with her. She has blonde hair and wears the most fashionable clothes. She’s the Barbie doll with power in Robert E. Lee High School.

But underneath all that perfection and glory, Elena feels empty inside. Her parents had been killed in a road accident and she’s living with her aunt and aunt’s boyfriend. When the mysterious Stefan Salvatore arrives on the first day of school, Elena becomes captivated by him. Just like every other girl in school who has fallen for the handsome, brooding guy.

The shocking thing for Elena was that Stefan completely ignores her. Which guy in their right mind would not look at the beautiful Elena? Or even die for the chance to talk to her? She tries to strike up conversations with Stefan but is only left hurt and disappointed. The question burning in her mind is why doesn’t he like her???

The Awakening is the first book in the Vampire Diaries series. As I read it, it was similar to that of the Twilight books. Elena writes things in her diary. It’s a story of romance between a human girl and a vampire guy. There’s a love triangle involved. I expected it to be as intriguing as Twilight where the story will hold my attention to the end. However, I found it slightly boring although it was a quick and easy read. This book was also published in 1991 so we cannot assume it copied Twilight.

Elena is not a likeable character. She thinks only of herself and will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. On a positive note, she’s a determined sort of girl. She’s strong, defiant and won’t take no for an answer.

On the other hand, the Stefan character is quite dull. He doesn’t do much except try to avoid Elena. She describes his eyes as containing the deepest kind of sadness, the most painful kind of sadness a person can ever have. Stefan’s older brother, Damon is more exciting. Damon’s described as “sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him.” When Elena meets Damon, she is surprised to find herself drawn to him. Well, who wouldn’t if he’s such a hot guy?

Do you watch the The Vampire Diaries TV series which is based on these books? I’ve watched a few episodes and noticed differences between book and TV. For instance, Elena on TV is a brunette and she’s not queen bee like the Elena in the book. TV Elena seems much nicer too. Stefan’s the same and Damon would be someone to look out for.

I’ll be looking forward to reading the next book in the series, The Struggle.