11
Dec062010
Vampire Academy Week – BOOK REVIEW: ‘Vampire Academy’ by Richelle Mead
by Carolyn • Posted in 4 Star Reviews, Authors M-P, Paranormal, Richelle Mead, Vampire Academy Week, Young Adult
Title: Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1)
Author: Richelle Mead
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: 2009 (UK) / 2007 (US)
Genre: Paranormal, Vampires
Young Adult
RATING: 8/10 – brilliant, couldn’t put it down
GOODREADS SUMMARY:
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.
REVIEW:
**warning – may contain spoilers**
What a great first book to a series – I really enjoyed this, I couldn’t put it down it was so good. I was expecting something a little more ‘young’ adult (along the lines of the House of Night series) but instead the characters are all quite mature. The book itself is written with more of a mature tone than other YA books I have read, and I much prefer this style of writing. I think it helped that one of the characters was twenty-four years old.
There are two types of vampire; the Moroi who are ‘good’ vampires and who are alive. They have the ability to use magic, wielding the four elements of air, water, earth and fire. The other type is a Strigoi, these are evil and although both types need blood, Strigoi kill while taking it.There are also Dhampirs who are half Moroi and half human. They don’t need to drink blood to survive but because they have faster and better reflexes than the Moroi are instead trained as their Guardians. The academy is where the Guardians train, graduate and get assigned to a Moroi to protect.
‘Vampire Academy‘ begins outside of the school with Rose, the main protagonist, and her best friend, Lissa, who are on the run. Something happened at the academy that frightened them both and so they decided to run away. Unfortunately they are being hunted and have to keep moving, until one night they are captured by the academy’s guardians and brought back to the school. This is the first time Rose meets Guardian Dimitri Belikov. There’s an instant attraction between them and it’s this relationship that makes the book great for me.
Surprisingly, I also liked every single character. It’s quite unusual for me to like every character but in Vampire Academy I did. Even those that are annoying and hateful I still enjoyed reading about.
Rose is conceited and somewhat arrogant at times, but I didn’t mind. Although she thought she was hot and boys were ‘crazy’ about her, she’s also very loyal, bold and feisty. I thought she brought a great sense of courage and determination to her character. Rose is a guardian in training and is hoping to be Lissa’s guardian when she graduates. What I also liked about this book is it showed the Guardians in training. I liked that it didn’t shy away from the fact that Dhampirs aren’t as strong or as quick as Strigoi. We get to see how much Rose has to train to be strong, fast and quick-thinking. She spends hours each day honing her craft, which is where she falls for Dimitri – and who wouldn’t!
Dimitri is swoon worthy. I love his character and I also like the fact that he’s in his twenties, which means he shows a lot of maturity instead of the typical school boy hangups I find so tedious sometimes in young adult literature. I can understand why Rose succumbs as Damitri is a Guardian too, but stoically so. He is nicknamed ‘the God’ and he shows why in everything he does. He becomes her role model as well her friend. Rose’s crush on him grows into something much more and she knows he feels the same way, but there are many factors, as well as age, that keeps them apart.
Rose’s friend, Lissa is a lovely character. She’s a Moroi Princess and is very sweet natured. She relies heavily on Rose to protect her. Lissa also has the ability to heal, and when she brought Rose back from the dead after a fatal accident they are now bonded. This means that Rose can feel all the emotions of Lissa – unfortunately it’s only one way. But because of this their friendship is deep and meaningful.
The other characters are also just as well-written and perfectly well rounded and the story itself kept my interest from beginning to end. It’s fast paced and exciting and the climax at the end I really didn’t see coming (and that doesn’t happen very often).
VERDICT:
‘Vampire Academy‘ is one of the best young adult books in the paranormal genre I’ve read. There are strong female characters and a great storyline with a plot that is immensely intriguing. I would highly recommend this book to all paranormal fans in a heart-beat. Why it took me so long to start this series I don’t know, but I’m so glad I’ve started it now. It’s brilliant and I’m completely hooked!!
I will be reviewing books #2 & #3 tomorrow!
SOURCE: This book is from my personal library.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••
11 Comments
I'm looking forward to this week & what you make of the series, as I really enjoy Richelle Mead's books – I've read some of her succubus series & the Storm Born books. It looks like this series is just as good. Fab review
Reply
I LOVE this series. One of my favorite YA series, hands down. Glad you're enjoying it so far
Reply
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I should really try them, too
Reply
I love this series and I am not a huge YA fan. It is one of the few that I will count down too!
Reply
Laura – I really liked the Dark Swan series too – I also have her other adult series on my shelf. I won't give too much away but this series is fab and I'm sure you would really love it
Seleste – I'm really enjoying it – great series!
Aleksandra – I definitely recommend this series. I only have Last Sacrifice to read and all books have been fab!
Felicia – I can only do YA in short bursts as I get a bit annoyed with all the angst. But I've really enjoyed this series and would definitely recommend it
Reply
I've read Richelle Meads other series and loved them but had paused with this series. Last week I picked up Vampire Academy and like you I absolutely loved it! I'm desperate for the other books in the series now – and grateful it's going to last forever! Fab review!
Reply
At first Rose and Lissa both annoyed me… But there was Dimitri *sigh*
And then Rose and Lissa have went through so many bad things that I felt very sorry for them, and I finally really liked them.
I haven't read book 2 yet (it just came out in France) but I can't wait
Reply
Richelle Mead is genius. Love this series. Great review!
Reply
I am really looking forward to reading this one
Have had it in my bookshelf for quiet a time no. But think its time for me to read it soon, since all of you says that it is the best series 
Reply
Hi Carolyn – I've had this in my pile FOREVER and you've convinced me to pull it out and read it already. I'm glad to hear it's so good, although I can't say I'm terribly surprised by the news, since this is a very popular, long-running series. I suppose I OD'd on vampires there for a while, so I was staying away, but I'll go back for a good one.
Reply
Mel – I've read the Dark Swan series which I really liked, but I'm *loving* this series – it's really great! I'm glad you enjoyed it too
Pisinat – I like both characters but I didn't get increasingly annoyed with the in 'Shadow Kiss' but that's about it. I think all the characters are pretty great
Looksie Lovitz – Thanks, I'm this Mead is a good author too. I'm going to try the Kinkade series next
MoonStar – Read it!!!!! It's absolutely a fantastic series!
Rebecca – I had it on my shelf forever too, but then the publisher sent me the rest of the books in the series so I decided to do a VA week and I am SO glad I did – this series is fantastic and it really does get better. As with all series there are ups and downs and some books are better than others but overall I absolutely love it – so yeah, DEFINITELY read it and soon!
Reply