Vampire Academy

Author: Richelle Mead

Summary:

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi: the fiercest 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 Lissa one of them.

After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger... and the Strigoi are always close by.

Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard dawn, lest the evil 

undead make Lissa one of them forever.

My Review:

I was thoroughly disappointed. I mean, I truly couldn’t give it a higher rating even if I had wanted to. The plot wasn’t all that special. The writing style, seriously, it wasn't that great. The characters were bland and not very relatable. I wanted to like this book, I really did. But just too much about it ticked me off. I couldn’t stand the main character’s sassy attitude. The constant flirting and casting off of clothing was truly unnecessary. I could tell when the author was just writing to please. I’ve heard that alot of people really enjoyed this series. I’m at a lose why... So I guess it's a must that the vampires actually bite the victims and think about sex while they’re at it. Sigh... I hate to put this book down so, and I'm sure there's alot of people that would like it, but I personally couldn't stand it. So forgive my ranting and raving if you please!

Characters:

Ok, casting aside all other prejudices I have against this book, the characters themselves never really found their way into that “I care what happens to you” portion of my brain. Even the characters I wanted to like, the author’s over all portrayal of them just left me all around irritated. We have one guy I liked, who ultimately turns villain. There goes one. Another, supposedly the bad-ass character, who just becomes a love sick dope at the end. Nothing else to it. There goes another. The one character I really, truly wanted to like, the one who kept it together throughout the entire book, just disappointed me at the end. Yeah. Rip of the main character’s clothes. That’ll get you points with the female audience. Obviously it did. Why?...

Plot:

I hate to say this, but... It's like one of those books, where you're thinking "Hey! I could've made this better. Much, much better!" I think the description is also a lie, or at least very misleading. I mean what I expected to happen never did. I expected it to be a tad more epic. What happened focused around a high school like academy for vampires. It was all the beer and sensuality of the average modern teen novel, just with blood suckers. I mean, we get to the climax, and NOTHING HAPPENS!!! It just... *plop* ends...

Disclaimers:

Between the profanity and sensuality, I don't think there's anything else to complain about... Which isn't saying a whole lot, now, is it? There’s alot of mentioning of “blood whores” or sex while drinking blood. There’s two instances where Rose has her clothes stripped off by a guy while making out. Second time, she is left completely naked. The guys, I might also mention, stayed dressed. Hello!?!?! There’s drinking and partying, and lots and lots of flirting. There’s also alot of immature name calling and excess language. Also hints of depression and wrist cutting. There's a couple animals brutally killed but really, the description wasn't enough to make you squirm. Not much violence otherwise, or nothing terrible to speak of.

Favorite Character: N/A

Favorite Quote: N/A

Recommended: N/A

Over-all Rating: ★★☆☆☆

~ Darkitty

***Later this week: The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack***