Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Only a true best friend can protect you from your immortal enemies...

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with an unbreakable bond to the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from the Strigoi; the fiercest and most dangerous vampires--the ones who never die.

The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a Dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making her one of them.

After two years of illicit freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. Rose will continue her Dhampir education. Lissa will go back to being Queen of the elite Moroi social scene. And both girls will resume breaking Academy hearts.

Fear made Lissa and Rose run away from St. Vladimir's--inside the Academy's iron gates, their world is even more fraught with danger. Here, the cutthroat ranks of the Moroi perform unspeakable rituals, and their secretive nature and love of the night creates an enigmatic world full of social complexities. Rose and Lissa must navigate through this dangerous world, confront the temptation of forbidden romance, and never once let their guard down, lest the Strigoi make Lissa one of them forever...

First of all, I blame this book on the Book Smugglers. They reviewed book 3 the other day and it intrigued me enough that I had to try this series out. I'm a sucker for a well-written YA vampire novel, as my obsession with the House of Night series by the Cast's gives proof too. I am so glad I picked up this book, because it was really, really good.

By reading the back blurb, I figured the book would be written in third person from both girls POV, but it was written almost entirely in first person via Rose's POV. And I really enjoyed it.

Rose is your quintessential smart-mouth, slightly obnoxious, over-ripe 17 year olds. After being on the run for the last two years, she's finally feeling comfortable in the life she and Lissa have created for themselves. Until it all comes crashing down around them and they are dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy and their training.

Here's your favorite part of my review...the good & bad checklist! Yay! *happy dance*


The Bad:

My biggest beef is not knowing 100% why the two girls left originally. It's hinted at and stuff, but never fully explained. Fear...whoop-ti-do!

Rose. I liked her for the most part, but the girl seriously needs to learn to control her tongue! Man, she was the ultimate b*tch throughout the first part of the book especially. Sheesh!


The Good:

Rose. Though she comes across as an obnoxious brat through part of the book, she's explained well and why she is the way she is. Her life has never been easy, but her absolute dedication to Lissa is really admirable. You feel for her when some of the things happen.

Dimitri-*sigh* 6'7" hottie. 'Nuff said.

Lissa-At first I thought she was kind of a pushover and a bit too milquetoast for me, but she grew some balls through the book, so that by the end, she was pretty tough. Yay for character growth!

The overall world: It's pretty complex and I like how Ms. Mead has created the social order in this book. The Moroi are...interesting. Make me think of Russia and royalty. Pretty cool actually.



There are a lot of twists and turns in this book that make it a really fast, fun read. Some of the twists are pretty unexpected, which is definitely nice. I hate figuring things out before they happen. That didn't really happen in this book. Yay!

So, I definitely say that this book was really good and I can't wait to read the next one in the series. If you like a really good YA, then this book is for you. :)


My Rating: B