All four are reviewed on this page but please note that the later volumes will contain some spoilers for the earlier ones.  If you don’t like spoilers don’t read on further than the first review.  However if you want to read this series I would suggest read all of them.  The first two volumes end in cliffhangers and although the third book was written without plans for there to be a sequel I would recommend reading the fourth volume too.

The Awakening is the first volume in the series and begins with the self-centred schoolgirl Elena setting her sights on the mysterious new pupil Stefan Salvatore.  Popular and used to getting her own way she enlists the help of her friends Bonnie and Meredith and she knows that she can have Stefan as her boyfriend before too long.

Stefan however is determined to stay away from Elena for she reminds him of a young woman in his past…a young woman who took his life, turned him into a vampire and then betrayed him.  Katherine had taken her own life centuries before and he has been tormented by the guilt ever since.

At first he tries to keep away from Elena but he knows that he cannot resist her forever and eventually he gives in to temptation and lets her close enough to discover his dark secret…a secret that could push her from him forever bind her to him for eternity.

However, Stefan is not the only vampire who has come to the town of Fell’s Church.  Unknown to him his brother Damon has also been drawn to the town and is looking for revenge against his brother for the death of Katherine.  A vampire too, but unlike Stefan, Damon revels in his darker side and torments him from a distance as they play a deadly game of cat and mouse.

The love story of Elena and Stefan begins in this first volume and reaches its dramatic climax with a murder on Halloween night.

Elena seeks out Damon in order to clear Stefan’s name but she does not realise the danger she is in.  For Damon has also spotted the resemblance that Elena has to Katherine.  Unlike Stefan however, Damon does not feel the guilt for being attracted to Elena, he just intends to make her one of them and keep her at his side forever.

Telling her that he has killed Stefan, Damon leaves her to make her choice.  Unable to accept that Stefan has gone Elena searches for him and finds that she cannot confide in her closest friends the truth about his past and that he is a vampire. Embroiled in a web of lies it is sometimes hard for Elena to separate the petty school intrigues from the dangers of the undead.

When Elena’s diary is stolen she finds that her feelings for Stefan are about to be broadcast to the entire population of the town and we learn more about a number of the characters introduced in the first volume.

This volume also sees the introduction of Alaric Saltzman, a substitute teacher with a hidden agenda of his own.  He appears at once to be more than just a teacher and has a fascination with the recent murder.

Ending in a dramatic climax once more the ending of this second volume rivals that of the first.

The Fury begins where The Struggle leaves off with the dramatic fight to the death of Stefan and Damon over who is to blame for Elena’s death.

Neither of them are prepared to find that Elena has crossed over to join them.  The blood she has taken from each of them was enough to ensure she changed rather than died and now she must start a new life as one of the undead.

But even more distressing for Stefan is the realisation that somehow Elena has forgotten all that they have shared together and is instead embracing the darkness with Damon.

Soon Elena is no longer disoriented and she recalls her feelings for Stefan.  What she does not know is who or what killed her and to find that she turns to her old friends Bonnie and Meredith.

Meredith suspects what has happened and as she gives her speech at the memorial service she sends out a message for Elena to meet her.  Together the three friends try to unravel the mysteries that have been accumulating over the past months.

Joined by Stefan and a reluctant Damon the group know that only by joining forces can they win the battle against the centuries old evil that has engineered events throughout the three novels.

Somehow they must find the power to defeat the evil that will tear all of them apart before it is too late.

A gripping story which ties up most of the loose ends of the series and explains all the little clues that were there if you only knew where to look.

Dark Reunion is the final volume in the series, at least to date.  This novel was not planned as part of the original series and while it does continue the story it also leaves it open for another volume in the future.

Elena is dead, really dead this time and her friends are noticing her absence.  Especially Bonnie who feels that Elena is trying to communicate with her from the spirit world.

Soon they realise that the battles are not over yet and that an evil older than Katherine and more dangerous than anything they have faced is in Fell’s Church.

Without spoiling the plot that is fun to figure out I have to say that this novel is just as good as the rest of the series.  All of the characters who survived the previous novels are back for the final conflict.

This is a wonderful series and being young adult books they are very fast reads.  If you like vampire novels and would like to read some new twists on vampire lore this is a series you should take the time to read.

I would just like to add my opinion to countless others that I believe there should be another sequel to this series, preferably tying up that loose end known throughout the series as Damon.  This vampire who at first appears evil and ends up appearing to be more like his brother than he lets on deserves a better ending than the one given to him in this fourth volume of the series.
 

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