Thursday, November 18, 2010

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead


St. Vladimir's Academy isn't just any boarding school—it's a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They've been on the run, but now they're being dragged back to St. Vladimir's—the very place where they're most in danger. . . .
Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy's ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world's fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.
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It's been a long while since I gave a vampire series a try, but I'm definitely glad I've given this worn-out subject another shot. Vampire Academy centers around Rose, the POV character, who is a Dhampir, a half-vampire/half-human. The first thing I liked about this series was that all the characters were vampires/vampire hybrids, because quite frankly, I'm tired of human characters taking fifty pages to process the fact that their boyfriend/girlfriend is a vampire. Another thing i liked was that the Moroi (vampires who are still alive) society was already set up, with rules and laws and even a hierarchy. I also loved the fact that the Moroi were alive, and that the Strigoi, their enemies, were not. It put an interesting twist on the vampire genre and I enjoyed it. Rose is an extremely strong protagonist, and while she wasn't always on my good side (her bad girl side was a little too bitchy for my taste occasionally) she was constantly entertaining. Lissa was a little moody for me, but she was also a deep, well-written character. Mead really does a fantastic job of making three-dimensional characters. And Dimitri--while I stop drooling, I'll just say God, it should be illegal to have a sexy Russian accent, bad-ass skills, and be considered a god. I mean, Jesus, I was slayed by the time Rose noticed his Russian accent. I loved the whole bond thing between Rose and Lissa, along with the weird over-the-top attraction between Rose and Dimitri. The story was good, not particularly strong or gripping, but interesting and full of twists I didn't see coming. Overall, I really enjoyed this beginning to what seems to be a rave-worthy series.
3.9 stars and a recommendation to vampire fans.

5 comments:

Hannah @ Every Little Thing said...

I agree. This series is good so far. I've only read the first book, but I still like the series.

Caroline said...

@ Hannah - I've already got the next two. I hope they're just as good if not better.

maisielovesbooks said...

i LOVE this series. it's amazing, and unique,and i couldnt stop reading it. i would give it like 4.7 star rating, i love paranormal romance books. your review was really good though :D i like to see what other people have to say about it.

PinkStuff28 said...

Sounds pretty interesting , i'm more interested about the Dhamphirs ,then strigoi ....i hear of them all the time in my country (Romania..)

Lea Krnjeta said...

This series is great. I read only first 3 but so far is fantastic. The first one is maybe the best for me so far because of the mistery of Lissas powers and relationship beetween Dimka and Rose.

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