The Vampire Diaries: The Book vs. The TV Series

I recently read The Vampire Diaries by J.L. Smith after having seen the popular TV show series (which I never thought I would be so engrossed in) and so I decided I would compare/contrast the TV series to the books the show was actually based on. In fact, I had started watching the show before I had ever known the books existed. When I first started watching it with my mom, I was actually very skeptical. I thought it was just a knock-off of the Twilight Saga. There were so many similarities. For example, an ordinary brown-haired, brown-eyed teenage girl falls in love with the mysterious, exotic new guy who is inhumanly beautiful. All the girls are in love with him but they know they'll never have a chance with him. At first, it seems as though the guy hates her, but she finds out he actually loves her. Then the girl finds out he is a vampire, but she still loves him anyway, etc. etc. I'm sure you get the point: the two stories are very similar. But to my surprise, it turns out the Vampire Diaries was written way before Twilight ever became popular. If anyone is a copycat, it's Stephenie Meyer for stealing ideas from J.L. Smith. But that's not why I'm writing this. Please do not think I have anything against Stephenie Meyer. I was, after all  hooked on the Twilight Series like every other girl, but my goal here is to compare/contrast The Vampire Diaries TV series with the books.

As with every other novel that is turned in to a TV series, there will be many similarities, but also many differences. One of the biggest differences is in the protagonist of the story, Elena Gilbert. In the book, she is frequently described as a beautiful blonde with very fair skin and blue eyes, but on the show she is a beautiful brunette with brown eyes. Many fans were furious when the cast list came out and they discovered the actress wasn't blonde. Also, on the show the town she lives in is Mystic Falls but in the book the town she lives in is Fell's Church, Virginia. The next difference I noticed was that in TV series, the popular football player and jerk is named Tyler Lockwood, but in the book his name is Tyler Smallwood. This happens with a few other characters as well, such as Bonnie Bennett (Bonnie McCullough in the books) and Matt Donovan (Matt Honeycutt in the novel). Also, on the show, Bonnie is African American with brown hair and green-ish eyes, but in the books she has red curly hair and fair skin.

There are some characters that exist in the book but not in the show. For example, one of Elena's best friends, Meredith, is not mentioned on the show. There is also another friend of Tyler's named Dick Carter that exists in the book but not the TV series. Instead of Jeremy for a brother, Elena has a younger, four-year-old sister in the books named Margaret, and instead of living with her aunt Jenna like on the TV series, Elena lives with an Aunt Judith and her fiance Robert.

On the show, Caroline Forbes is a rival of Elena's at first, but not nearly as bad as in the books, and instead of having blonde hair like on TV, Caroline is a brunette in the novel. Also, in the novel, Caroline steals Elena's precious diary that she writes in every night and threatens to read it to the entire school. This is after Mr. Tanner was attacked and killed by a vampire the night of the school dance/Halloween party. The entire school believes Stephen to be the killer, and Elena's diary mentions that he has been acting strange lately and keeping secrets from her. If Caroline were to read Elena's private diary to the entire school, it could reveal Stephen's big secret. This never happened in the show. It only happened in the book. In addition, Caroline does not date Damon in the books like she did on the show, and the evil villain Klaus has not been mentioned in the books so far either (I am just now starting the second book, so he may be mentioned later on).

In the books, Stephen Salvatore is described as "Short-Dark-and-Handsome", but on the show he is of average height if not fairly tall. He lives in the Salvatore Boarding House with an old woman named Mrs. Flowers in the books, but on the show he lives with his nephew (Yes--his nephew. He looks much older than Stephen but you have to remember that Stephen is a very old vampire). This also brings up the topic of Stephen's age. So you may be wondering, "Exactly how old is Stephen?". Well, on the TV series he says he has been seventeen years old since 1864, but in the novel Stephen says he has been seventeen since the 15th century.

Matt is essentially the same in the book and the TV show, besides the last name. In the book it says, "Matt Honeycutt was all-American. His blond hair was cropped short for the football season, and his skin was sun burnt from working outdoors on his grandparents' farm. His blue eyes were honest and straightforward." Matt is Elena's ex-boyfriend and he is genuinely a nice guy. He doesn't have a lot of money but he is Elena's best friend and he is always there for her. He is genial with Stephen when most of the other boys at school cold-shoulder him. He allows Stephen to borrow his car to pick vervain for Elena when he has no idea what is is for. Matt is a very trustworthy, likable character. In the books, however, I don't think Vikki is Matt's sister.

Just as on the show, Alaric Saltzman takes over for the class when Mr. Tanner is killed/attacked by a vampire the night of the school dance. And just as Stephen's evil brother Damon has a black crow that scares people, it is the same in the books. The one difference, however, is that Elena discovers that Damon is her future husband (in the novel--not the TV show) when Bonnie practices witchcraft in the attic.