Review of the Originals #1

The Originals: 01 The Rise

By Julie Plec

About:

Family is power. The Original vampire family swore it to each other a thousand years ago. They pledged to remain together always and forever. But even when you're immortal, promises are hard to keep. 

Arriving in New Orleans in 1722, Original vampire siblings Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah Mikaelson believe they've escaped their dangerous past. But the city is lawless, a haven for witches and werewolves unwilling to share territory. The siblings are at their mercy…especially after Klaus meets the beautiful and mysterious Vivianne. Her impending marriage is key to ending the war between the supernatural factions—and Klaus's attraction to her could destroy the uneasy alliance. As Elijah works toward securing a piece of the city for his family, and Rebekah fights her unexpected feelings for a French captain, will Klaus's volatile desires bring their world crashing down—and tear them apart for good?

Source: Goodreads

My rating: 4.3 / 5

My Thoughts:

I can’t remember reading a book from three points of view, but in the originals we have just that. Alternating between the original vampire’s perspectives, we take in the story from Elijah, Rebecca and Klaus’ points of view. The Vampire Diaries TVshow introduced me to the Original vampires, so I was already familiar with the main characters. I’m glad to say the TV show got this spot on since the books build on the personal traits we’ve already seen.

Elijah is the older, wiser and more rational one. He is struggling to maintain peace with the witches and werewolves, but is constantly tried because of Klaus’ skirmishes. It seems that each time he progresses on bettering their relationship with the other supernatural parties, Klaus does something to mess it all up, which leaves Elijah trying to clean up the mess and stopping Rebecca from killing Klaus at the same time.

Rebecca is set on a mission to recruit the French army of humans to their side. It should be simple enough for someone as beautiful and smart as she, and it doesn’t hurt that she has compulsion on her side. What she doesn’t expect is to fall in love with the human captain. To make things complicated, the captain has been enlisted by her legendary father to hunt Rebecca and her brothers. Being the helpless romantic that she is, she struggles to make sense of it all, falling deeper in love and danger.

Leaving the best until last, Klaus lives up to his spectacular personality as the reckless, hot blooded, witty, charmer that he’s known to be. He’s known to want what he can’t have and this time it’s Vivianne, the unusual daughter of a werewolf and a witch. She has been brought up by her witch mother and happens to be the center of a very powerful alliance in the making, since she is about to marry Armand, one of the pack’s wolves, and so sealing the witches and wolves together in peace. I liked Viv, she made the story much more interesting, especially when she tries to choose between her loyalties to her people and the one she loves.

I loved this read because there was a lot of drama, action and twists in the plot that made it hard to put down, and the alternating points of views sealed the deal.  

Zed (:

Favourite Quotes:


'We have to tell him now,' Elijah growled, sure of their mistake. 'He'll be even worse if he finds out on his own.'
'Has he ever been better, in order to become worse?'


She couldn't possibly love the priggish, correct Armand, but if she never got the full experience of Klaus's charms she might faithfully marry Armand anyway. And live a dull, proper life. It would be too terrible a waste to contemplate.


'I am already ruined, Viv,' he told her. 'Meeting you has ruined me. What do I care if the rest of the world burns as well? Having you with me would be worth any price.'


'A likely story.' Klaus slurred carefully, 'claiming you walked into a brothem because you were looking for my company.'