** spoiler alert ** 
 Ugh. Terribly written. It's not often that I prefer the visual version to the written one, but "The Vampire Diaries" takes the cake. 
 So many things left unexplained. Like why did Elena have a weird connection with Damon after she turned when she had the blood of both brothers in her system? Why did no one mention Katherine's lie about having killed and fed on Klaus? How in hell did Elena come back to life? Why doesn't Tyler transform all the way? In fact, how far does he transform? Why is Bonnie so annoying? Is Meredith going to turn? 
 Also, the redemptive themes revolving around Damon are part of what make him irresistible. He brutally murders people, but then does something that makes you want to not hate him. Here, Smith was basically saying, "Oh, he was a good guy all along." That's lazy. 
 What's also lazy is beyond the fact that vampires have Powers (with a Capital P!), nothing much has been established about vampire lore, which was markedly different from the TV show. Oh, so victims of blood transfer sometimes go crazy or become vampires. Or they may not. Eh. Vampires are strong and fast, but they seem to only attack in animal form. They are weak to the sun, but can control the weather. So much for that weakness. 
 So glad I started with the TV series instead of this garbage. Also can't believe I wasted ten hours reading these four books.