Thursday, April 15, 2010

Review: Vampire Academy

Vampire Academy
By Richelle Mead
Publication date: 2007
My rating: ****

My review:

Vampire Academy is the first book in a series about mortal vampires with magical abilities called Moroi and Dhampir, their part human/part vampire bodyguards. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir and the best friend of Lissa Dragomir, a Moroi vampire princess. They attend a special school where Rose is in training to be a Guardian, one of the Dhampir elite who are assigned to protect the Moroi from their immortal enemies, the evil Strigoi. Since returning to school after two years on the run strange incidents have been plaguing Lissa. Rose is worried about threats to Lissa's safety and Lissa's friendship with Christian Ozera another Moroi vampire whose parents chose to become Strigoi. If that isn't enough to deal with she is also fighting a forbidden attraction to Dimitri Belikov, her handsome instructor.

Vampire Academy combines suspense and romance in a very addictive story. The mythology of Mead's vampires is detailed and fascinating. In a lot of vampire novels there is usually a vampire/human relationship where the main female character is usually human and the male is the vampire bad boy and I was so relieved to find something unique in Vampire Academy. The characters are not human and best of all, the protagonist, Rose, is a strong female character. She is flawed but I found her to be likeable. She can be headstrong but she has a good heart and she is brave. Lissa may be more physically frail than Rose but she is strong in her own way in the face of danger. Dimitri would have to be my favorite character. He is the perfect counterpoint to Rose and he helps her to mature throughout the book. The mystery was well crafted and I was actually caught by surprise. The romance between Lissa and Christian is sweet but the attraction between Rose and Dimitri is electric. The ending resolves part of the mystery but the danger is never over. Don't be surprised if you find yourself devouring Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, and Blood Promise in short order. 

I found Vampire Academy to be a very enjoyable and different take on the YA vampire romance. I would recommend this to those who enjoy paranormal romance and like strong female characters. The fifth book in the series, Spirit Bound, will be released in May 2010.

3 comments:

  1. Vampire Academy is one of my new favorite series. I just finished Blood Promise, and it's even better than the first three (which were pretty amazing!). I'm glad you liked it!

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  2. I've heard a lot of people talk about this series, but never really knew what it was about until now. :P Looks interesting, and from your review, looks like it's worth reading. I might pick this up soon because I've wanted to read more paranormal-ish books. Thank you Christina!

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  3. Yay! Team Dmitri! I am so glad you enjoyed this one, May can't come soon enough with the release of Spirit Bound. :-D

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