i read The Vampire Diaries books so you don't have to 🦇

What a serious downgrade from the show 🤣 The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. Today I'm comparing the first book in the series, to the show.
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key words (ignore)
legacies, the originals, elena gilbert (nina dobrev) Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley), Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder), Katherine Pierce, Jeremy Gilbert (Steven R. McQueen), Jenna Sommers (Sara Canning), Bonnie Bennett (Kat Graham), Caroline Forbes (Candice King), vampire hunter Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis). Klaus, Enzo St John.
Books- The Awakening, The Struggle, and The Fury. "The Return" trilogy, Nightfall. Shadow Souls and Midnight. The Hunters, Destiny Rising. analysis and review of the show vs the book series, julie plec, and the key characters. TVD. Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl, Emily in Paris- teen dramas.

[@thewatcher2538]

i think it's so interesting how the company that owns the books fired the writer because she wanted a delena endgame.

[@foreverlazy552]

WHAT?! I heard the oppopsite - LJ Smith, the OG writer, wanted Stelena to be endgame.

[@thewatcher2538]

@foreverlazy552 nop she got fired and then the new writer made that happen

[@foreverlazy552]

@@thewatcher2538 That's wild because all these years I've always heard that LJ wanted Stelena and the new ghostwriter was the one to go for a Delena endgame.

[@pandamaci1515]

I saw a video some time ago (don't ask me who it was I don't know 😢) that this book series was written by many co- authors of the company that fired Smith under the name of L.J Smith that's why it's so unhinged 😂

[@SerenaSkybourne]

Wait really?!

[@briannaobrien4419]

I almost choked on a candy when you said the show was better than the books 😂 like the amount of times this happens is so little, I'm so excited to watch this video

[@SerenaSkybourne]

i literally NEVER say this

[@nanalove3819]

@@SerenaSkybourne I think one of the only other time I saw someone says this, it was for the show You.

[@BrielleHobbit]

I have to say, even though most people do the same thing, Ian Somerhalders performance really makes people forget the effed up things Damon did! I will never forgive or forget that in the show Damon r@p3d Caroline and never had to face any consequences on the show or in the fandom!

[@mchjsosde]

Yo what... I never finished the show but I know people that did and no one mentioned this

[@BrielleHobbit]

In season one Caroline thinks he's hot so starts talking to him out of jealousy, he then compels her to be his "girlfriend". And there is legit a scene where she wakes up naked all bit up and he compels her to be quiet and he is going to kill her! But it is very swept under the rug

[@KamalianCiranoush]

I remember the posts on tumblr at the time and how Damon's stans defended him, refusing to believe this actually happened because Caroline "arched her back"... after she was compelled, mind you. It always disgusted me how people would defend Damon no matter what he did, to the point that it put me off the show and I just never finished it.

[@BrielleHobbit]

Unfortunately as the series goes on it does not get better! Damon becomes best friends WITH CAROLINES MOTHER and gives her eulogy. It's disgusting. There was absolutely no reason to have a sexual component to that story arc, but they wrote it in and then handled it horribly!

[@Jessica.Shawnte]

i kinda forgot about that because i never go back to watch season 1.. i never really liked that season

[@semapeker2426]

Is it just me it Elena's obsession for Stefan reminded me of Bella's obsession for finding the truth of Cullens and Edward?

[@scot_lad5862]

I heard somewhere that the author for twilight got the inspiration for some of their characters from the vampire diaries, but I’m not sure if that’s true or not but I’m leaning towards not

[@primrosett]

​@@scot_lad5862 she has always claimed that she's never read any other vampire media, as far as I'm aware. Tbh I think its just cause they're both in that supernatural YA romance genre. Ya romance tends to be melodramatic in general, throw in that they're both vampire-based, and they're gonna read similiar.

[@SerenaSkybourne]

I love how my editor is also roasting the book even though she has never read it lmaoo

[@SerenaSkybourne]

I still can't get over Bonnie having red hair, that's so weird to me

[@angelaholmes8888]

Yeah it is weird I absolutely enjoyed kat Graham as bonnie I didn't like how the character was treated on the show

[@carriesnaps3508]

Right? I genuinely can't imagine anyone but Kat Graham being Bonnie.

[@IshtarNike]

Pretty sure she's white and of Irish descent which is where the magic comes from in the books. Is it weird? Or do you mean you think she's black with red hair? Just checking because I don't think you mentioned her race just her hair colour 😅

[@mchjsosde]

​@@IshtarNikeI think kat graham would look awesome with some dark auburn hair, I kinda wish they implemented that into the show

[@IshtarNike]

​@@mchjsosdeyes, that's actually a great point. Black people can have red hair too. That would have been awesome. Would also have been hilarious to see the anti-woke guys cope hard about it the way they did with The Little Mermaid.

[@bethbaxter2922]

I’ve seen the show but only read book 1 but I prefer Deamon x bonnie because I love them becoming BFF in later seasons and it just seemed really cute, like there’s this awesome scene where he’s so happy to see her and she jumps into his arms, it’s adorable

[@stelladeleste1336]

I am probably alone in this but these came out when I was a young teen and I adored them. They were absurd and didn't age well, but at the time they were so fun. This was before the show, before Twilight, in the days of V.C. Andrews, and they were loved by many. L.J. Smith was contracted to write these, so they had a different vibe than most of her other series.

[@IshtarNike]

Not alone. I really enjoyed them and I'm a guy lol (not that it should matter but in the 2000s it kind of did). I feel like the books and show are so different that I don't compare them. After I saw the first one or two episodes it was clear they'd basically just taken the character names and run with them. They're almost entirely different beyond the most superficial parts. I almost wouldn't bother comparing them tbh lol. But it's a legitimate task tbh.

[@SerenaSkybourne]

AWWWW thats rly cute

[@foreverlazy552]

I read the books in high school because my best friend would shut up about the show and my cousin had told me about the books so I was like, okay fine might as well start with the source material. I think I ended up only reading the first two and I just really couldn't get into it after, but I also don't think the show aged any better in comparison.

[@bitchlasagna1]

As someone who is a big advocate for PLL Book supremacy over the show, I’ve considered reading the books for TVD and Gossip Girl but have overwhelmingly heard it’s better to just watch the show

[@SerenaSkybourne]

in this case yeah, save yourself lmao

[@nostradamus1162]

the gossip girl books are sooo early 2000s and quite full of bodyshaming, eating disorders (blair) and idk, overall didnt age gracefully 😅

[@thaboiinblue]

It wasn’t even JUST that Bonnie is white and a redhead in the books and looks nothing like Kat Graham (I saw the first season before I read the first several books), it’s that she wasn’t even a witch in the books until they changed it later! Bonnie’s “powers” consisted of her being a conduit for ghosts to speak through her and she had ZERO offensive abilities books 1-5 at least. Don’t know what they did later, I didn’t even finish book 6, lol.

[@jijiian]

I'm looking forward to part 2! The CW also made "The 100" way, way better than the books.

[@amourtabb7859]

Its really funny that they switch Katherine and Elena's personalities. It made no sense in the tv show how the boys would talk about Katherine like this big threat when they never really knew her as a vampire and what she was capable of. Did Katherine end up betraying the boys the same way in the book?

[@emmamartin4045]

They knew her as a vampire. At least, Damon did.

[@rica3947]

they only ever knew her as a vampire, she was turned long before she even met them.

[@amourtabb7859]

@rica3947 its hard for me to articulate in a comment I know they her when shes a vampire but in season 1 they shouldn't really know what Katherine in truly capable of but they still talk about her like the boogie man🤣

[@Jessica.Shawnte]

@@amourtabb7859i know what you’re saying.. they only knew Katherine for a short bit of time

[@amourtabb7859]

@@Jessica.Shawnte right

[@shhimreading906]

i imagine the reason they switched elena and katherine’s personalities was because it would be “impossible” to have a main character who had flaws. as we know, all main characters must be good people and it’s inconceivable that someone who isn’t a saint could be the teenage female MC of a YA love triangle-she just wouldnt be quirky and relatable enough otherwise (egad!)

[@iz3762]

i need this part two asap! i hear the books eventually get so deranged and i would love a deep dive

[@demitwice]

i've never actually watched the vampire diaries, but i did want to read the books because as a child of the 2000s, 90's young adult books always made me... fascinated. i read the first book and it was terrible! so bad! i'd argue even twilight is better

[@morganf1968]

The twilight books are way better. At least I had fun reading them I can’t say the same about the tvd books

[@mj5697]

Woooaah. Just last night I was thinking about reading the books, because I heard Elena and Katherine are sisters, but here you are doing the lord’s work 😂

[@SerenaSkybourne]

I am doing my service 💪🏻

[@michanone]

"The show was so much better." Oh, YES!!! I had a chance to listen to the first audiobook. And it was such an underwhelming experience. I couldn't even finish it, I fell asleep after the first third. 😅 Well, the show had this amazing actors like Nina Dobrev, Daniel Gillies and Ian Sommerhalder and Joseph Morgan. Those actors didn't just play a character, they became the person! Of course you can not do that in a book and you have to see it as a different universe. Although a bad universe.

[@erynz]

i agree with it being cringe and hard to digest. normally with high school books set in high school written for high schoolers its juts one of those things where of course the book is going to contain high school things. the whole "i dont want to relive being in high school while i read this" doesnt quite make sense with the specific book you're reading. just a thought. its sort of par for the course that you'll relive high school when reading a high school book about high schoolers written for high schoolers

[@Ras_188]

Well said, I hate it when people criticise the books for those reasons. Most people just watched the tv show and then read the books with unrealistic expectations.

[@angelaholmes8888]

Yep the show is way better than the books i love the early seasons of the vampire diaries ❤❤

[@carriesnaps3508]

Your timing is impeccable, cause I've also started reading this series recently. But I'm still stuck in book one cause I already know the next ones will get wilder and I'm just not looking forward to them. So thank you for your service! 😅

[@SerenaSkybourne]

we suffered together hahah

[@trinaq]

I had no idea that the show was even based off of a book series until recently. Talk about living under a rock! 😂🤣

[@SerenaSkybourne]

hahaha you're forgiven

[@sleepysadpoet]

I read the originals by the original author before they switched to a ghost writer. Turns out she had signed all rights over and didn't own the characters. After the original trilogy you can tell it's a different writer.

[@meenan1718]

I had read two books, its one of those books you can stop laughing at. Its fun read when you can poke fun out of it better not take it too seriously. I had blast laughing.

[@AHufflepuffAndASwiftie]

I am SO glad I'm not the only person who feels this way; I couldn't even EVEN finish the 1st book when I started it! I gave up on it pretty fast! I started watching the show before I actually knew it was a book series (& I liked the show a lot, mostly b/c it was kinda similar to Twilight at the time (I was a HUGE Twi-hard, admittedly 🥺 before I realized how much of a push-over & how OBSESSED Bella was as a MC & how controlling Edward really was 😅). But, anyway, I picked up the 1st book at my local HS library (yes, I was still in HS when S1 came out) to see how different it was from the show I liked SO much, & my God, I HATED Elena in the book!! I just remember her as just being selfish & downright MEAN to people around her; I HATED HER as a MC in the book SO much that I gave up on ever finishing Book 1 (& I'm not usually the time of person who just gives up on books, let alone the 1st book of a Series, I assure you!! I just found her character to be EXTREMELY unlikable from the very beginning for NO reason @ ALL!! & normally, when a character, especially the MAIN character, is unlikable there's usually a VERY good reason why & they usually grow & change throughout the novel & with her (even though I never finished Book 1), I saw NO growth or change in her character WHATSOEVER, so I'm glad you saw that, too!! (Again, I don't know how she is in the later books, but . . . ) One interesting thing, I'd like to say is that although Bonnie & Damon DON'T end up together in the show, the show DID do a REALLY good job at showing a REAL, GENUINE, PLATONIC friendship between them as members of the opposite s*x that you don't get to see a lot of in movies & T.V. shows, I think!! 👯 I was SO afraid that the show was gonna ruin them by making them sleep together in a “moment of weakness”, but, happily, they never did; Damon TRULY loved Bonnie as a FRIEND only!! 🥰😍 Oh, funny story: the actor who plays Jeremy (Steven McQueen, I think?) said in an interview one time that he was GOING to read the books to prepare for his role, but when he found out he “was supposed to be a 4-year-old little GIRL”, he decided against it, which I found to be HILARIOUS!! 😂

[@thaboiinblue]

I kinda despise both versions of Elena, lmao! Books is VERY obnoxious and her POV was quite insufferable. “I own boys” and all that. YUCK!!! Show Elena is KINDA better, but I find her extremely ridiculous in how she puts herself and others in danger constantly and needs people like Damon to shut down her idiotic plans which ALWAYS fail. I also hate how everyone treats her like she’s a saint when she has BASIC human kindness at best. She’s said to be “so selfless” and she has Jeremy’s memories erased. She’s said to be “so caring” so she tells Caroline she needs to respect her father’s choice to unalive himself rather than become a vampire RIGHT AFTER taking away her brother’s agency by having his memory wiped without his consent. She also cared WAY too little about Bonnie when she and Damon got trapped in the prison world AND cared about herself and her relationship with Damon WAY more when Bonnie was seemingly trapped forever! Damon, DAMON, of all people had to check her and tell her she was being selfish and that Bonnie sacrificed everything once again and that Elena needed to think about BONNIE.

[@DaniReadsFantasy]

What got me obsessed with these books is the meta lore lol. Book company wants to make money off of the boom in interest in vampires again (in the 90s) so they hire an author to write some vampire books targeted at teens and she writes four books for them. Then later goes on to write other books that include witches, some weird ass game and a series known as night world which had a pretty big fan base and she finished 9 out of 10 books. Then with the rise of vampires again due to twilight in 2008 many of her works got new covers and vampire diaries (a completed 4 book series at the time) and night world (a nine book series republished in three book sets with much anticipation for a 10th and final book that initial fans had been waiting 8 years for at the time) gained new fans. Then we get the show that proceeded to be very different, including the back stories of stefan and damon, but this led to the decision of the publishing company to jave L.J. Smith write more books with ghost writers writing show tie in books. So L.J. starts to write the books but she wants Damon with Elena. The publishing company or whoever had hired her wanted Elena to be with stephan though and to get Damon with Bonnie (i believe) but since the author was adament they tried to get her to kill of Damon so she did and showed the editor but then had some but at the end of that book with Damon coming back. So L.J. gets fired but keep in mind that while writing this sequel series she is also constantly blogging to her night world fans about just needing to do finishing touches to publish the last book. That she has had it written but is taking a piece out for another story or something (by know there has already been two covers created for this book one for 2000 and one for 2009, there have been people who preordered). And then when she gets Vampire diaries taken away it becomes her entire personality... she starts writing fanfiction that she publishes on amazon as it used to have a fanfiction portion. People still continued to ask about night world but she has no answers. Then vampire diaries comes to an end and she finished her fanfics but i dont think the last one was published. And since it seems many forget about that stuff also night world got new collectors edition hard covers in like 2018 i think, if you want a fun time go to the good reads for Night World Strange Fate and you will see people still periodically checking or talking about how they got into the series and all the different "first look" chapters for a book that never came out, that page is where hope goes to die 😂. All in all, i think the vampire diaries was not meant to be good per se, it was meant to tick off boxes as it was esentially a marketing scam to trick people who liked certain popular movies and trends in its time and then people started reading because of the show and just projecting the show characters on the book ones and L.J. Smith got attached to that. It is so wild it sounds fake but it makes it so intreguing!!!

[@puddleguts]

When i read the first book my good reads review was “ this is the first time the book had been worse than the show”

[@loveart429]

I also had no clue it was based on a book.... so excited for your upload!!! 🥰😇

[@winterkind1772]

Omg just a few months ago a friend gave me this book and told me it was Vampire Diaries. I read the first few pages and had a good laugh because I thought she printed a fanfic or something and pranked me... welp. Turns out this is actually the real book. Congrats on making it through. I could get futher than page 30 or so...

[@katharine5192]

I loved the show so much, I still rewatch it as guilty pleasure to this day. I bought the book series a while back, hoping to love it as much as I did the show, boy was I wrong 😂 I’m still not able to finish the first book.

[@dianaszuts398]

You are a hero. I tried because I wanted to read something a bit dark, maybe bloody, with romance, and a good sibling relationship.... but I couldn't finish 😂

[@solborjesson529]

Omg would love reviews of the rest of the books, i only read the first one or two but I remember hearing some absolutely wild stuff happens down the line

[@afeast4crows]

I read the first 4 when i was in HS, but literally can not remember anything 😂

[@IshtarNike]

Thanks for the wonderful and very honest review. Personally haven't reread the books since I was a tween, but I feel so awkward having the complete opposite opinion. I dropped the show quickly because it was very different and very "big" compared to the cosy and very small scope of the books. I personally treat them as basically entirely different things for entirely different audiences at this point. I may go back to the show one day, and I'm sure my impression of the books is heavily biased by nostalgia. But I think overall neither is good enough for me to rush to come back to review them lol. They're always just the sort of "I'll get to it next week" level of shows/books for me now.

[@denizsarkaya5410]

I have the same experience. I remember really liking the first 4 books written in the 90s. I think I dnf'ed the 5th or the 6th one, thinking the story became too ridiculous. And those were written almost 20 years after the first 4. I watched idk how much of the first season when it first came out and it was fine but didn't really have the same vibe of the books, so I was never a fan and didn't continue.

[@gravity-arbor]

Hahah your editor is funny :) Chipping in with her opinions and support !

[@kelsimalacon]

Idea - scrap the books and just do a tv series overview! (At least the first 3 seasons) 😉

[@fannisland]

We NEED a part 2! You're such a great storyteller :)

[@SerenaSkybourne]

Noted thankyou! 🎊

[@thaboiinblue]

I ALMOST feel like what they were trying to do with Elena’s appearance in the books was do some sort of push and pull situation: Her hair is a few shades lighter than the sun (sun kills vampires without a ring), and her eyes are lapiz lazuli blue (these rings protect vampires from the sun)… But in the grand scheme of things… it doesn’t even matter. The book devolves into nonsense and fluff so easily that nothing even matters. And my analysis on her appearance and what it meant PROBABLY wasn’t even the writer’s thought process. 😭😭😭

[@robynsibal440]

I would love to hear more! I actually read all of them when I was younger but I cannot remember a single thing about them! Love the show though.

[@linapanini9390]

I vote for a part 2, love your deep dives girlie

[@SerenaSkybourne]

I’m always the optimist! Who knows

[@carriesnaps3508]

You look gorgeous btw! I think this hair colour suits you the best 😊

[@SerenaSkybourne]

thankyou 🥹

[@llllaarr2518]

The changes they made are very fascinating and make me want to go see the show again😂😂

[@zinaak4194]

PLEASE! I need a continuation of this! I need more people to talk about the INSANITY that is this book series...

[@BaileeWalsh]

I had thought about reading The Vampire Diaries books at one point but hesitated with hearing others' negative thoughts. But back in January Gavin at the channel How To Train Your Gavin read the entire series and did a vlog on reading them and that officially convinced me to not bother at getting any or reading any of the books!

[@EatenDoll]

You actually made me read it lol so KEEP READING PLEASE! Since you summed it all up so well I caught up on Book II The Struggle (also borrowed Book III) and this is exactly as you said: SO FAN-FICTIONAL! It reminds me of what I was reading as a teenager on some other girls' blogs, or writing myself. THIS IS VERY VERY BAD BUT I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT! Maybe it's nostalgia, I found my inner child back while reading it, it throws me back to my early teenage time. At the library it was in the children's section. Not even YA or nothing like that, this is really targeting pre-teens, girls from 10 to 14, MAX! Therefore the relationship with Stefan has no layers at all, she's walking around with him like a puppy or a prize, they do nothing they just go on with their own lives and he's around holding her hand from time to time. The main focus is on the mysteries and the dangers lurking around. I'm at page 120 they kissed 3 times, always very fast, barely kissing. (I know I'm French, but still!) Meanwhile she says she wants to marry him already! The timeline is also fucked up it's been like 1 week so far from page 1 to 120, so I'm assuming in Book I it was the same and she's probably known Stefan for like 15 days only. And the guy spends 500y a loner now in 15 days he makes all these connections and falls so hard and his life is changed! Elena is very immature and shallow, but knowing his age Stefan has no excuse. Matt is the only real character in this book and I feel sorry for him, having to live around such walking jokes. This is really meant for very young girls, this could be like a children's thriller, and I'm reading it as such, not taking it seriously at all. (Especially when I see that they are talking about teacher trying to sleep with their students, inviting them home, and Bonnie is fantasizing over that as well as saying Damon is so hot he can kill her anytime he wants, and she imagine what it would be like to die from his hand and the last thing you would see as he chokes you is his face, how ROMANTIC it would be!! Of all the mess, and it's a lot, so far this is what won the prize for me!)This is very very bad but I can't get enough of it!

[@alexbossingham8666]

The Vampire Diaries novel series by AJ Smith, which is a female authors wrote the first Vampire Diaries book series called The Awakening 1991 publishedthe directors of the show kind of took the idea of Vampire Diaries made it into show with a different ideas and there are so many books because of so many authors in Ghost Riders rewrote the Vampire Diaries novel series more people are more accustomed to the show of The Vampire Diaries and they are with the booksBelieve it or not, “The Vampire Diaries” came first. The “Vampire Diaries” book series, by L. J. Smith, started in 1991 - that's 14 years ahead of Stephenie Meyer's first “Twilight” book, in 2005.

[@IDV1995]

I love the original four books. Are they perfect? Definitely not. But with each trilogy/book after that, the series went more downhill. Kind of like the tv show 😂 The first three seasons were fine, but the seasons after that were between okay or downright terrible.

[@pjhunt4135]

I never read the books. Did you ever see the tv show true blood starring anna paquin, based on the sookie stackhouse novels? Those books werent so bad and the show felt relatively faithful

[@angelaholmes8888]

I really enjoyed the book series the early seasons were mostly faithful

[@mchjsosde]

I love true blood! I should really read the books, I've heard good things

[@lukabougainvillea]

There are like 13 books, I read them recently and the length/direction of the story that is going to unfold is going to be utterly baffling, out of nowhere and then sometimes mayor threats like... Resolved in literally like 5 bookpages, lol

[@jordynsteinbrink800]

I could not figure out what or who you were talking about for so long 😅 it sounded like you were saying Eleanor instead of Elena.

[@ZegetaX1]

Yeah please part 2

[@_Celine_26]

yes part 2 ofc :)))) but only if you will enjoy it!

[@SerenaSkybourne]

Got it ☺️

[@Kylie-kq6dm]

Ok this is an unpopular opinion I watched the whole tvd seried last year and was so exited for the books.( Also in the german dub stefan's name is actually Stefano and I just found it really hilarious) I got the first one for christmas and I just loved it ,it took less than a day to read it. The same with the next 3 books.(and so on(with the long books, it was 3 days)) I literally stopped reading the PLL book because of it (I read the rest this summer). The only book I really disliked was the 13th book, and I just found Evensong boring

[@kayysheeee]

u said exactly what i thought about the book. i read only 10 pages of the first book and stopped reading it right away because it started giving wattpad fanfiction vibe. and elena seemed like a self centered, rude and obnoxious high school teenage queen bee like Regina George. and how her appearance has been portrayed is also like that. blonde hair and she wears a pink top and cute little shorts to school, trying to get stefan''s attention like a pick me girl. her character in the books just didnt sit right with me. she seemed like a mean girl who keeps duffs as her close friends just to get the boy's attention. however the elena in the tv show is far better than her in books. yes she is annoying in the show as well but its bearable. i mean even though she is in the victim mindset she's empathetic and cares for her close people. and she's rarely mean and pickme type. i LOVED elena in the first three seasons when she was with stefan. it was almost like she was flawless. i think its the influence of stefan. he's a good guy who does love elena so much but also at the same time he cared about everyone else. but damon on the other hand urgh i loathed him! fans be falling for damon because of how hot ian somerholder is! they need to understand that. ofc damon does love elena and would do anything for her but the scary part is that when it comes to elena he doesnt care about anyone else. he'd kill anyone if it comes to saving her. and no need to mention all the massed up things he committed. so when elena chose damon, she somewhat became like him. that's why i didnt like her character after the 4th season. even in the 4th season she was bearable. although she turns off her humanity and becomes a b!tch she was tolerable. but after the 5th season urgh she was a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON LIKE IM NOT EVEN KIDDING. from the way she walks, talks, dresses to the way she behaved and her vibe. the elena in the first three seasons was a sweet girl. she actually became the book version of elena after the 5th season i guess. like i remember in the 5th or 6th season Caroline's mom ALMOST DIES and this chick kisses damon!! LIKE GIRL COME ON. think about the audacity!!!! but i guess her personality changed after her becoming a vampire, not by just dating damon. however i love the human elena. i've watched the first 4 seasons of TVD many many times because it's super interesting and the human elena was so interesting to me and i'm team stelena. (i was team delena at first but then got tired of their toxicity and damon's messed up cruel behavior. and i realized that stefan is actually the better man)

[@tk5s72]

Have you ever seen tv show called true blood based on the Skookie stackhoues novels it’s really good.

[@trinity4391]

😂

[@_jules_785]

If you guys want something more accurate to the show; I suggest reading Stefan’s diaries; the ones written by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec. I only read on, but yk it’s kinda good?

[@lanatobasco1224]

I read the books when i found out about them, and i was shocked how bad those books were. The books were written in like 1990 tho and it shows

[@nierealna1182]

Okay, I’m skipping this, I love you but I couldn’t stand VD show because I’ve loved the books for forever. I’ll just agree to disagree

[@moni4369]

Yes, I've read the first book a long time ago and found a lot of good things about it. It really knew how to build suspense in a way I hadn't seen with other books. People nowadays dislike it, because it's different from the media we now consume, and they think something should be a certain way to be good. And if it's not that way, then it's bad. It's a matter of personal tastes being developed by what we more commonly see.

[@SerenaSkybourne]

I’m glad you liked it! Who knows, maybe when I read more I’ll get into it ☺️

[@kammyyedor4225]

Fell’s Church is probably a fictional version of the town of Falls Church, Virginia.

[@medhapatni7687]

I read the first 4 books which I ended up liking, although not as much as the show, but they were definitely not bad but the 5th one was just downfall and couldn’t even bear the first chapter 😂

[@BenjiXAddictX4Ever]

Exactly! The first four bools are fantastic! Everything after ie best forgotten.

[@lindseybellamy6374]

It may be harsh but the books are trash 😂. I love the first few seasons of the vampire diaries ot does start going down hill for me around season 4. The books get worse in my opionion!

[@SerenaSkybourne]

i didn't think it could get much worse tbh lmaoo

[@rayray7847]

I actually tried to read the books earlier this year but oh my God they were so fucking bad it was ridiculous . Sadly they don't reach the so-bad-its-good lvl that would've made it easier to read lol . I would LOVE to see u make videos about the rest of the series tho !

[@jazza724]

Wow that’s a nice painting in the background

[@corytaughtu]

PART 2!,

[@allys8801]

Please Continue

[@Courtneybenson907]

I honestly got through the first four.

[@luchigimenez04]

Do Gossip girls

[@Freakydavion]

Pls do the secret circle next! 😭💕 it’s written by the same writer of TVD.

[@theresacherco3503]

Yeah, my friend told me everyone’s different in the book and also I watch review of the book that they’re bad that’s why and I like the TV show better and characters

[@kamilakocourkova]

Still waiting for part 2

[@thaboiinblue]

Show Elena has book Meredith’s appearance. Caroline in the show looks more like Elena in the books.

[@lilathomas6064]

I find them good as separate things!

[@Ella24-007]

You should do the lying game as a deep dive

[@mkayyy1918]

Ooh middle school me ate those books up!

[@jessmarie8040]

I lasted for two chapters of the first book and I couldn’t do it anymore

[@user-bk9bs3oc8c]

And also meredith is such a bad character. Like her story could have been interesting but we learn about it like three or four books later. And yea bonnie is my favorite character tbh in the books. Her romantization of death and the magic and her relationship with damon is just so much better then anything else like the best parts of these books.

[@marvelboi3416]

You could kind of see Elena still writing her diaries alongside Stefan on a couple episodes in season 3 and 4 especially after she got turned into a vampire. And in the books from what I hear she was a Regina George type blonde and a terrible mean girl conniving bitch. So I guess they gave some of her traits towards the early season Caroline and legendary character Rebecca who is one of my favorite Original. In the series she dated Matt where you heard about it and seen in flashbacks. Elena didn't feel the same way he did and she kind of sort of string him along.

[@IchibanOjousama]

I read the first 4 and were meh

[@itscherylplayz8925]

I heard about how bad these books are. Serena, I hope you are okay.

[@SerenaSkybourne]

Still recovering, might take a few weeks 🩹🤧🤕

[@itscherylplayz8925]

@@SerenaSkybournefrom what I heard about the rest these books are atrocious. Maybe take breaks in between reading to maintain your sanity by reading books that you enjoy

[@SerenaSkybourne]

@@itscherylplayz8925excellent idea

[@katlamb4606]

Do you read my mind or something? The show is MUCH better! The font in the book was great tho😂 and I have to give it to LJ Smith for giving the characters iconic names . I really enjoyed the fact that the books have this misty, horror atmosphere but the rest is... let's not even start! Edit: The second book established Damon as a less terrible threat, he was sort of messing around with Stefan. I can't remember if it's on the second, third or fourth book, but an underwhelming Katherine and Klaus appear(disappointing cause the Originals were why I mainly watched TVD). And I didn't like the books' lore one bit! I haven't read past the 4th book.

[@saffyesperas2278]

Part 2 please.

[@sydryi3086]

yeah fully agree with what your saying, but I kinda prefer the books to the overall series. yes the books are not great at points even weirder than Legacies (and that's saying something), but for me at least their consistent in their weirdness what you see is what you're gonna get for the rest of the books and I was fine with that, with the TV series it's a mixed bag, the highest and less weird being the Originals, and lowest and most weird and boring VD season 6,7,8 and Legacies. the books also treat their side characters better as well, Matt and Alaric in the books are actually likeable and they actually do something instead of just be there, and force other cast members to leave the show. Bonnie actually gets a happy ending and has an actual character arc that makes you root for her. Yes the books a bad, but they at least bring a smile to my face every time I read them instead of having to watch every episode of TV series that makes me cringe even more than the books do.

[@kalluzeb021]

Wait, what? XD what memory do I even have from those books? XD I did read those back in the day, and yes, it was a bit cringey at times, but nothing on that level o.o xD

[@timaa3684]

Can you read the gossip girl books next??

[@SerenaSkybourne]

i didnt know it was based on a book until just today hahah but i will definitely give it a go, maybe i'll prefer it to the show! who knows

[@timaa3684]

@@SerenaSkybourne 🩷

[@DragonSkies0211]

I’ve been watching the show with my mom, and I felt absolutely crushed when I found out Jeremy doesn’t exist in the books. H’s my favorite character.😢

[@user-bk9bs3oc8c]

I ve read almost all of them books and they are ridiculous isn’t it?? Like i can enjoy a story and the writer Lj smith had to go through some bs with the rights of the book and i think she was very an easter egg type of writer. Like she really thought through the characters’s arc and background but the overall story it’s just idk. It is horror but ugh it’s not good

[@zeroonejade895]

I love your deep dives and I love the tvd universe. But if you are not enjoying these books, I don't think you should read them. I'll watch any video you make so it's okay with me

[@wlk3607]

fully agree the show is better than the books! i was shocked someone found them interesting enough to even make a show based off of them

[@c.w.2000]

This is good timing. I just started binging the TV show, and I wanted to check out the books, thinking they would be even better. The excerpts you read are terrible, so I’m glad you saved me some money.

[@SerenaSkybourne]

please don't spend your money on this hahaha you would definitely regret it

[@bennettblue7809]

As a preteen I was obsessed with LJ Smith's Night World series so I assumed I'd love her Vampire Diaries. I hated them and Elena so much I refused to watch the tv show. Elena was insufferable I couldn't enjoy the VD books at all

[@brodyot94]

Would love to have you on my podcast and interview you about a topic you consider yourself a fan of and your experiences as a fan of it.

[@Daphineholland]

I didn’t know the books were terrible lol

[@Efi2002]

The show is not that well written if you actually think about it, especially the last 2 seasons

[@humanbean5878]

Book Elena is just tv show Katherine

[@Likelyfairy]

I know it was painful for you but I definitely enjoyed the video. I’ve never read the books but love the show, so I thought I was missing something good to know I wasn’t.😂

[@Iamnoone989]

Would love to hear more lol

[@connorfitton4294]

If no one knows this, the first Vampire Diaries book titled the Awakening released in 1991, 14 years before the twilight books in 2005 and the year before the movie of Buffy the vampire slayer and 7 years before it's TV show,.So any one says that VD is a rip off, of either of these franchises, than they are morons who need to do there research before they judge something just because they have not heard of it yet.

[@eneyavorodecky]

I have no idea how those books were published. I dont understand to whom they appealed to. Seriously.

[@SerenaSkybourne]

Who were this for?! 😂

[@sailormoon7952]

The books and the show pretty much flipped Elena and Caroline's physical appearance as Caroline in the books has slick brown hair and is tanned just like Nina Dobrev. I wonder if they actually initially auditioned for each others' parts.

[@user-bk9bs3oc8c]

omg noooo

[@kaiwancallender2761]

Oh bucks or something made in the 90s