katikat | L. J. Smith's "Vampire Diaries I", #24

This omnibus carries the first two books of Smith's tetralogy - "The Awakening" and "The Struggle". I would give the first one two stars, the second one four. The first one was namely too much of a sugary teenage romance - I'm probably too old to read young adult stuff anymore.

There were some things that really annoyed me in these books: Elena was perfection incarnated, the prototype of a Mary-Sue, she had everybody wrapped around her little finger, she always got what she wanted (be it the title of the Homecoming Queen or every boy in school) and when she didn't, she let the waterworks flow, adopting the "you hurt me so" expression. And of course, when two half a century old vampires arrived in town, she was the love of their life at first sight, they wanted to spend their eternity with her and only with her, no other woman had ever mattered *snorts*

But the story did get better - once the author stopped concentrating on the Homecoming Queen's dating plan and remembered that she wasn't writing an after-school special but a romantic horror story. Because the horror part was really well written. It was even rather scary in some places. I suspect that the next two books in the tetralogy will be better.

And yes, this is the series that the CW's adapting for TV. I think it'll fit their programing plan perfectly - it's Gossip Girl with vampires, after all...