Quarter Inch Piece of Plastic

Well, I finished the book and oh holy shit.

I continued to despise the book for a long, long time. Elena is a fucking whore, and I really hate her when she's not with Stefan. It was getting better for a while despite her petty demeanor; Damon was much better the more I read, but then she had to go and fucking...be a full on douche, and my hatred for her just welled up again. She's the main character. You're not supposed to hate her with every ounce of your being.

I was saying earlier that I was sure that there'd be a completely unsatisfying ending. That, at least, wasn't true. The final fight(s?) of the book was good. It stopped being all about Elena and Damon making moony eyes at each other and finally let some of the other characters do something. They were mostly ignored for a good 9/10 of the book, which is such a letdown after they'd been such strong, capable characters in the two books leading up to this one. The other redeeming factor was the world she created in the "Dark Dimension." It was fascinating and quite enjoyable to learn and partake in that arena.

Anyway, the action was satisfying, and the ending...that is the very last thing I would have ever expected. And god damn it, there's going to be another book. Even though there's no mention of another book at the end of this one, it's painfully obvious that there'll be one, and I'm going to have to read it. With everything...all the...secrets, I guess...left untold, with this new and quite likable character, and with that mind blowing turn of events at the end, I can say that I'm going to be continuing this series.

There are points that confuse me, as I have no idea what the author is going to end up doing, but I can't go into detail without being spoilery. All in all, I do think that the majority of the book is a major letdown compared to the rest of the series, and though the ending didn't make up for it, really, it definitely reignited my passion and curiosity for how things will all turn out, and actually made me quite hopeful for the way things will end.

Finished the book! :D I did it with 5 minutes to spare before having to go to work this morning. Phew! I won't give any specifics, but I'm kind of two minds about this book. Much of it I loved beyond anything that had happened in previous books, but the other half had me making bad face and scratching my head. And the end? Again, parts were great, but I'm not sure I like the direction the next book will be going in. I'm sure it'll be okay once we get there—after all, I didn't like the direction I assumed this book was going according to the blurb on the back but was very wrong about that. But this new direction seems to be spelled out very clearly, and it doesn't leave me with high hopes.

The other interesting thing is how her writing style has changed so much. The previous books in this series were written nearly 20 years ago, and even her last book before this was at least 10 years ago, so obviously things are going to change. It's hard to say what brought about the change; is it the author just changing over time? Is it the fact that her characters are of age now and can be treated as adults? Probably the former, as certain aspects of the book remind me of The Forbidden Game—just even more so.

The next book comes out in 10 days, and I've preordered it, so I should have it in two weeks. Despite my qualms, I'm still quite looking forward to it. I love these characters and this world, and even if it's different now than the books I originally read 15 years ago, the important aspects have remained the same.

I went a month without updating? Bad Clay. :P (Though I do read my f-list every day.)

Anyway, one of the reasons I haven't been around much lately is I've been playing World of Warcraft, but before the chorus of groans comes up, it's actually not what's been taking up most of my time (after all, I've been playing since mid December, and I was obviously hanging around more then ^_^). Most of my time has been taken up with reading, actually. I've gotten back into books lately and spend a LOT of time reading. And walking. And doing Island Officials work. But mostly reading. While walking.

See, the majority of my family plays this DS "game" called Personal Trainer Walking, and once you see someone else playing with it, you want one for yourself. It comes with a pedometer and you have a daily step goal, and my step goal is such that it requires at least an hour of straight walking to complete, but I've been walking so much lately, that's it's hard to walk for only an hour. ^_^

What helps is that I've been reading a lot while walking. I started with one of the Ghost Hunters books, then moved on to Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie, and it's my favorite of hers that I've read so far. It's a great read and I'd totally recommend it to anyone.

I've also gotten back into an author I used to read in high school, and I haven't touched any of her books in over a decade, so while I knew I loved her, I'd forgotten just how fabulous she is. I read through the four Vampire Diaries books that were out when I was in high school, and today I just started the recently published fifth book in the series.

( Okay, my thoughts on VD: The Return: Nightfall without being too spoilerly. )

Kat! Read the damn book, so I have someone to talk to about them!!! D: Also, where is a flight point in Desolace? I wandered through there today, and I figured there'd be something by the Kodo Graveyard, but I couldn't find one.

Also? Is it just me or does Craig Ferguson talk about nothing but Robot Skeletons on Twitter?