Nightfall

by L. J. Smith

Paperback, 2010

Status

Available

Call number

813.6

Publication

Hodder Children's Books (2010), 480 pages

Description

After returning from the afterlife, Elena is forced to battle an ancient evil when Stefan, her vampire boyfriend, goes missing.

User reviews

LibraryThing member camporese29
I personally loved this book. Yes it had several problems I.e. Wings of Redemption being unable to remeber Elena's eye color. But overall it was an excellent attempt considering she hasn't wrote about these character in 18years. Give her a break. I loved seeing more of what makes Damon tick. And
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loved the fact the Stefan is hardly in it. Yeah! Stefan is boring. I just hope that she ends up with Damon not Stefan.
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LibraryThing member Jadesbooks
I was not as impressed with this book as I had been with the first books in this series. And to tell the truth, I really wish I had not started this one and just left this series by reading the first boks only. This is sad too, because I really enjoyed the first books - and this one, I expected it
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to be just as good of a read...and I didn't think it was. The other thing is, I thought this would sum up the whole story - but it leaves you knowing that there is more to come in this series, no real ending - at least that's what I feel like after spending almost 2 months trying to read this one. Sorry.
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LibraryThing member ashkek
Absolutely appalling. There is no subtlety, no constraint in this book. Too many inconsistencies with character personalities and previous books in the series, so much that I can't begin to describe them without rattling on for days. Fans beware. There is no excuse for this horrible, tedious, lazy
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bad joke of a novel. More suited to the garbage disposal then a book shelf.
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LibraryThing member arleblanc6
i have read almost all of L.J. Smith's books. I haven't read the Night World series yet, because I want all the books, but i have enjoyed all of her books. I do have to admit that out of all five of her Vampire Diaries books that this one is my favorite. I enjoyed getting into Damon's mind. I cant
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wait for her to finish the next two and to read anything else she will written.
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LibraryThing member 4sarad
The book was entertaining at times, but mostly just annoyed me. Why is Elena an angel? Why, at the end of the story when she's "kicking butt", does she keep stopping to make speeches about just how great she is? I think she's a bit too annoying to be a main character. Not sure why the bad guys left
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in the end. It seemed poorly written.
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LibraryThing member mangochris
Ugh. What a disappointment. I really enjoyed L.J. Smith's books when they first came out, and this sequel, 18 years after the original series, is a poor follow-up. The writing's messy, childish (despite this being more "adult"), and shallow - and I don't even want to get into what she did with the
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characters and dialogue. She also indulges in my pet peeve of throwing in Japanese characters and Japanese words randomly - plus, what is with Elena's Sailormoon-like attacks? "Wings of Redemption - go!"If you want fun vampire/supernatural ya romances, stick with her original works.
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LibraryThing member eleanor.robbins
The Vampires Diaries is nothing like the tv show. the book have more magic more fighting more love. I really enjoyed the books and the plot.
LibraryThing member jmchshannon
Disclaimer: I read this on my phone and will not be downloading another one to that particular application. I don't know if it was skipping sentences, paragraphs or entire pages, but I missed something. I tried not to let this impact my overall opinion of the book, but who knows? In addition, if
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you haven't read the first four books in the series, there may be spoilers. You have been warned.

The fact is, I was not impressed with the latest foray to Fell's Church. I was upset with bringing Elena back from the death in the first place. I thought her death was so unexpected and so brilliant that bringing her back negates that completely and utterly. And then to bring her back even more powerful and superior? Seriously? Why? What makes Elena Gilbert so fantastic that she has to have everything? And since I'm going down this road, why does the heroine have to be blonde-haired and blue-eyed? Haven't we gone far enough away from these cliches of true beauty?

I have two major issues that I've never been able to shake. First of all, Elena is just not very enjoyable a character, in my opinion. She's shallow and self-absorbed. I detest the descriptions that she was born to manipulate others, especially men, and takes great pride in that ability. It is not an endearing characteristic. Second, I do not quite buy the love story. The intensity of it feels wrong, or at least forced. As a result, it makes all of Elena's actions seem forced as well.

As for this book, the voices seemed wrong. If I did not know any better, I would swear that she was writing dialogue for completely different characters. Damon wasn't the Damon I've come to know and love. Stefan wasn't Stefan. It was almost as if Ms. Smith forgot her characters, who they were and how they spoke.

I did not enjoy the plot. Hell demons and malach? The story jumped around so much that it felt like continuity was seriously lacking. I had difficulties figuring out what was happening and to whom. I found the plot itself difficult to follow, or at least to understand. In the end, I was left wondering why Ms. Smith felt the need to revisit these characters after so many years. Given the timing of it, I can't help but feel that it was purely a commercial decision rather than one made as a writer. It felt at times as if she was going through the motions and threw the story line together at the last minute, which may indeed explain several of the weak links.

I know this is going to do well among fans, especially considering the fact that the TV show is doing so well. Unfortunately, I do not think this is a well-written, well-plotted, continuation to the series. In fact, as much as I raced through the first four books, I think I am done with the Vampire Diaries as a series. I no longer care what happens to any of the characters, which is a shame because I loved the freshness of the first four. However, I am curious what others think. Have you read it yet? Thoughts? Am I alone in my dislike?
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LibraryThing member Violeten
I was IN LOVE with the vampire diaries books...except this one. Everyone's reviews are true. It seems that author has forgotten the characters we love so much in the 90s. Elena has gotten annoying, not that she wasn't at the beginning because the golden girl who always gets her way is usually a
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character most people dislike but Elena in this spoiled rotten, she has someone how become not just the most important person of the town but she may be the most unique person in the world? Give me a break. Another thing that I didn't like was the splintering off of the Bonnie Damon story line because I believe the she could have changed him, more than Elena attempted to.

As far as style of the novel goes, I found this hard to read. I was not glued to it like I usually am with books and the thoughts were somehow jumbled to the point where it almost made more sense just to read ever few sentences.

Sorry but this book failed. Hopefully the part 2 will redeem the series. For not though I'm perfectly content with the TV series.
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LibraryThing member AllisonJames16
I really enjoyed this book, I know some will hate it and some will love it, for me personally I fall in the loved it camp. I liked the new creepier scenes (Like Caroline's and the other girls possessions) and I enjoyed reading Damon's struggle with his own demons. I've also read on the authors site
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that NightFall will be the darkest in the Return trilogy by far so I think in the next book shadow souls we will get to see some of Damon's better side again. I actually had to keep reminding myself that he was possessed from the first page in chapter 1 because he was just sooo evil. I love his character and can't wait to see him make amends in the next two books. Not to mention I really hope we see more of him and Bonnie together. I know there were some inconsistencies, but I figure it's been like over 17 years and I doubt she has the same editor, so I can forgive those as editorial. I just hope Damon shapes up in the next book, which seems to be what's implied on the L.J. Smith site.
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LibraryThing member tiamatq
After almost 17 years, L.J. Smith has returned to the Vampire Diaries series. This continuation picks up where the last book left off, with Elena, a high school girl, and Stefan, her vampire love-interest, reunited after her death and return from the spirit world. Elena has transformed into an
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angelic creature with powers of Light, which also make her the target for the supernatural residents of Fell's Church. Damon, Stefan's vampiric brother, is still drawn to Elena, but so are a pair of kitsune twins.

This book is a clunky continuation of a popular series and, because there are vampires and it has a new TV show, it will most likely be a highly-requested title. The language is dated and the characters are beyond unrealistic. While the original storyline ended in 1992, this book takes place in the present, which means the author works in many unnecessary references to technology like mobile phones and laptop computers. Elena's transformation is awkward; she has become an "innocent being," but the other characters must struggle with her flying around, Tinkerbell-like, without clothes and often kissing people to recognize them. This book misses the appeal of the earlier series. There are so many better vampire/supernatural books out there - do your collection a favor and skip it.
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LibraryThing member ForgottenDoll
Great book with interesting characters and very different for other books in it's genre. Loved it and would recommend it to any paranormal fan.
LibraryThing member dasuzuki
I can’t believe after this many years another book finally came out in the Vampire Diaries series. Boy was this on a totally different level. First off it was almost 600 pages long. I guess following the trend of YA books getting longer. The story also read for an older audience than the original
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books. It was a little darker and there was more depth to the characters. Stefan actually isn’t in this book very much and you get to take a deeper look into the man Damon is. I really enjoyed that aspect and seeing beyond the shallow, I hate Stefan and I’m a bad ass vampire, persona. I did not realize that this book apparently is starting a new story and will have at least a sequel if not becoming a new trilogy. So you are left at a bit of a cliffhanger. I would say give this one a try even if the first four books felt too young for you.
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LibraryThing member BlondeBibliophile
First, let me state that I liked it. Really, I did. It is a 600 page novel and I read almost 400 pages the first day; then finished it up the next. It was dark and interesting. It kept me intrigued. (On a side note: I personally think it is not really suited for the YA readers.)

HOWEVER, there are
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just so many problems with it. The narration jumps from person to person, and not from chapter to chapter like most books that are written in the third person. Sometimes, it was from paragraph to paragraph. And while the plot was very exciting, it was just all over the place. The prior books in the series (that were written some 17 years before, I might add) are very structured and clear. This book seemed to be an organizational mess. There are scenes that are very intense and the characters are trying to find a way out of their predicament. Then, all of a sudden the author thought that was a good time to come up with a completely off-the-wall solution that makes no sense and doesn’t bother trying to make the reader understand how the current scenario is possible. There are also many inconsistencies and contradictions with the plot and characters. And most of the plot and scenes just seem so.... completely....random. I don't think this book was very well-planned.

Another problem that I have is with the stupid love triangle between the girl and the two vampire brothers. Seriously? Are we still doing the love triangle thing? I am really tired of that.

Again, I will restate that I liked it. Good read. But, I felt quite a bit of frustration at times over the various problems with the book. Which were many. MANY.

After reading on the authors website, I discovered that there are to be two more books in the Vampire Diaries series. This book, NightFall, and the remaining two, will be focusing on the vampire Damon; who absolutely is NOT my favorite character. And while I was very excited about reading this continuation of a nice series, I am now feeling some significant dread at reading the following books.

But, I will purchase, and I will read.
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LibraryThing member luvlylibrarian
Not like the old books from the 1990's. This had a lot more of the supernatural and some of it just didn't seem to fit or make sense. I liked the old books being about vampires. This book wasn't really about vampires. It was more about black magic, angel-like Elena, and the kitsune, which are like
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'were-foxes.'
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LibraryThing member zzfhickling
SHE SHOUD GO WITHH DAMON!!! HE IS SO MUCH BATER AND DANGRAS
LibraryThing member raizel
Apparently this is the beginning of another series of The Vampire Diaries called The Return. I had assumed that when it said "The Return: Nightfall" that this was like the previous book I read: two volumes in one. But no, it's just incredibly long and not all that interesting. I think the previous
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series must have been so popular that the editor and publisher let L.L. Smith write as much as she felt like.
This book seems more suggestive than the others; there is obviously a connection between sex and vampire acts. And Elena gets to stay a virgin while being completely satisfied.
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LibraryThing member StarKnits
While I enjoyed the previous books in this series, this book fell short. There were inconsistencies from the previous books where she changed what happened or added more "sexual" parts. It used the same characters but it was a different story. It almost seemed like she was writing for the TV series
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and trying to fit in with the new wave of vampire books. In my opinion this book really wasn't worth the read.
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LibraryThing member StarKnits
While I enjoyed the previous books in this series, this book fell short. There were inconsistencies from the previous books where she changed what happened or added more "sexual" parts. It used the same characters and names but it was a different story. It almost seemed like she was writing for the
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TV series (but not really) and trying to fit in with the new wave of vampire books. In my opinion this book really wasn't worth the read.
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LibraryThing member AmieG
This book was ok. It had great potential when it started, but it felt very disjointed and at times awkward. There were times I was reading and thought I had skipped a page because the book did not flow well. I also felt like L.J. Smith was almost trying too hard to make this a great book, but to
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me, she only succeeded in making it an ok book.
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LibraryThing member bhryk0
This book just did not do anything for me, I read 200 pages and that was enough. A big disappointment after the earlier stories.
LibraryThing member pandawnmonium
A solid read, but not one I'm bound to re-read.
I think I will stick to the series, it feels more appealing overall comparitively.
LibraryThing member AgneJakubauskaite
This book was better than the previous one but not my favorite. It was too long and a little bit too wordy. If I had to read it (fortunately I listened to an audiobook), I am not sure how long it would have taken for me to finish it. Even though the plot was full of action and surprises, it was too
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depressing as most of the situations seemed like a really horrible never ending nightmare. To make things worse, the escapes from these situations were very unrealistic, too easy and did not make sense most of the time. It seemed as if the author herself had no idea how to get the characters out of the mess they were in but did it anyways. As a result, the plot was not very well planned, rather confusing and guided by only two rules: make everything as miserable as possible and then save everyone. Although I admire author's imagination, this series is getting too magical and unlikely-to-happen for me and I find it quite hard to connect with the characters and be fully drawn in.
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LibraryThing member AngelaRenea
This book was just weird. Really though what did I just read? At one point I just stared at the book and thought 'Huh?' Some of my favorite things were:
Baby Elena angel and her sexual relationship with daddy Stefan
Mutant tree things
Pregnant Caroline wreaking havoc on the whole town
Slutty little
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girls gluing stuff and piercing stuff
Incestuas demon fox people and a snow globe hideout

What even happened at the end there?

I think Miss Smith must have hired a 5 year old to come up with this book. It made no sense.
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LibraryThing member DirkBontes
This is an easy to read book, the first book in a second series, that reminded me of a television series. Indeed this series of books was made into a television series.
This book was published in 2009. The first series was published as a trilogy in 1991. In februari 2011 the author was fired by her
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publisher...
The supernatural 'malach' element in the book inspired me to add a number of paragraphs to one of my own mythology books.
The book is about Elena and her vampire and human associates / friends who have to deal with a pair of supernatural beings and their malach creatures. When everything appears to be lost Elena miraculously realizes that she has some magical abilities left and rescues just about everyone; like a magician pulling a rabbit out of his hat.
It is light reading, but this will be the only book by L.J. Smith that I will read. I am aware that there is a huge audience for this kind of book, as has been demonstrated. I expect that females especially will enjoy The Vampire Diaries.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2009
2013

Physical description

480 p.; 5.12 inches

ISBN

1444900633 / 9781444900637

Barcode

1334
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