Last week, Jen at Jen Ryland/YA Romantics, Steph at The Fake Steph Dot Com and Ashelynn at Gypsy Book Reviews started the St. Vladimir's Summer School. So I figured I would tag along and read some Vampire Academy since I still hadn't read it!! So in playing catch up, I read both Vampire Academy and Frosbite this week (I should really say in the last two days, but yeah). But the important thing is that I finished them! Not only did I finish them, but now I'm sitting here wondering why I didn't read them sooner (Although, I'm not entirely sure that this was my first time reading Vampire Academy because I was experiencing some major deja vu while reading it). Anyhow, this week I'm going to give you two mini reviews (maybe mini), one for each book. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the books now!
***
Vampire Academy
(Vampire Academy #1)
(Vampire Academy #1)
Author: Richelle Mead
Publication Date: August 16th 2007
Publisher: Razorbill
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.
Genre: Urban Fantasy / Paranormal
Synopsis:
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.
My Thoughts: Ok, so like I mentioned above, I had some MAJOR deja vu going on while reading this book and I have no idea why. I'm pretty sure that I haven't read it before (darn mommy brain) but I'm not 100% sure. Regardless, I really enjoyed reading this book and I'm not sure why I didn't read it earlier. It might possibly have been because it had vampires in it. After the huge vampire craze a few years ago, I'm still hesitant to try a vampire book in the fear that it might not be on par with the ones I've read. That someone might have taken advantage of the craze and pushed out some sub par book. But now that I've started this series, I can see why everyone is obsessed.
So basically, we have pretty much what I like in a book like this. There is a strong, kick butt female lead, even if she makes a few bad choices once in awhile, she's not perfect. She's got so much of a snarky attitude, and I love it! There is a steamy guy, Dimitri, who also happens to be "forbidden" in a way. He IS Rose's instructor after all. I like Lissa, she is a gentle and caring best friend. Then of course there's the bad guy who causes tons of trouble for the girls.
The plot moves fairly quickly, although it did take a little while to get the Moroi, Dhampir and Strigoi straight. Basically, the Moroi are "good" vampires who are still alive and need blood and food to survive, they can also use magic and are sensitive to the sun but can still go out. The Dhampir are their bodyguards, raised to protect the Moroi. And the Strigoi are "bad" vampires. They are the walking dead from our horror stories. The kill to survive and can't handle the sunlight, they are essentially evil.
Once I caught on to the terms, it was easy to follow along and I got sucked into the story. It was extremely hard to put down and I needed to know what happened next. I love the relationship between Rose and Lissa, and hated it when they fought. I think I might be a sucker for boarding school books and the drama that comes with them. Regardless, this is an addictive series that you should read if you haven't. I'm only sad that I waited so long!
Frostbite
(Vampire Academy #2)
(Vampire Academy #2)
Author: Richelle Mead
Publication Date: April 10th 2008
Publisher: Razorbill
It’s winter break at St. Vladimir’s, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy’s crawling with Guardians—including Rose’s hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if hand-to-hand combat with her mom wasn’t bad enough, Rose’s tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason’s got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa’s head while she’s making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy’s not taking any risks... This year, St. Vlad’s annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.
But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price...
Genre: Urban Fantasy / Paranormal
Synopsis:
Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose...It’s winter break at St. Vladimir’s, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy’s crawling with Guardians—including Rose’s hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if hand-to-hand combat with her mom wasn’t bad enough, Rose’s tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason’s got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa’s head while she’s making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy’s not taking any risks... This year, St. Vlad’s annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.
But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price...
My Thoughts: Alright, so I ended up liking this one even MORE than the first book. Seriously, why didn't I read these sooner?? I can't believe I have seen them around for so long and never read them. This one moved even faster than the first for me and I could barely put it down. I started it immediately after finishing Vampire Academy. Just opened it right up and started it.
There is a lot more bad stuff going on in Frostbite. The Strigoi have joined forces with humans, so while the daytime used to be safe, it's not any longer. The humans can break through the safety wards that are placed around buildings, so Dhampir and Moroi are being caught off guard and slaughtered. So to keep everyone safe, the school takes everyone on the annual trip to keep them all together. Safety in numbers right? So everyone is shipped off and all is happy. The biggest stress in Rose's life is her love life. She wants Dimitri so badly, yet can't have him. So she tries to distact herself with Mason, a fellow dhampir novice who is crazy about her. It works, sort of. The in walks Adrian, he's always there at the worst moment and has a way of making Rose and even Lissa look bad. There is just something about him that they can't stay away from.
So there are a couple of new characters, and all of the old ones. Some bad descisions are made by all. There is a bit of tragedy and lots of drama. All in all, it makes for an addicting and fast paced read that was nearly impossible to put down. Another one that you have to read! Richelle Mead just has a way with words that catches the readers attention and refuses to let go!
I just want to thank Jen, Steph and Ashelynn for allowing me to read along with them. I'm glad I'm finally getting around to reading this amazing series!
Thanks for joining in! I'm in the same boat... I'm reading and asking myself why I didn't start these sooner. They are impossible to put down.
ReplyDeleteI know. It's crazy and I have no idea why I haven't read them before. At least I get to participate in this awesomeness! I'm hoping work will be slow this week so I can get a lot of reading done..lol.
DeleteThey're the perfect summer reading!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I had lots of deja vu as I read. I think I read book one and maybe book two. Then I guess I got derailed by life and got behind.
They are, they are such quick reads! And really enjoyable! I know, I've started series and then gotten sidetracked more than once. The Iron Fey for example, I love them and have only one more of them to read, but it's taking me forever to get back to it.
DeleteI'm thinking with the deja vu that I either read the first book already, or something very similar. Thanks for stopping by!
hi Jenn! I love this series and love that new people are discovering them with the summer school! :)
ReplyDeleteVampire Academy isn't the best book in the series, and neither is Frostbite, but they DO improve as they go further into the series which is just awesome. I'm so glad you liked both of them! I can't wait to read Shadow Kiss again this weekend. Ugh, that book tears me apart. </3 I was crying so hard when I first read it.
They're not the best?! I'm going to get so addicted with them then. If I really liked these two, I can only imagine how I'll feel for the next ones. I'm looking forward to reading Shadow Kiss, hopefully it doesn't make me cry too much, but I'm extremely sensitive so it probably will. I cried a bit in Frostbite, I actually liked Mason as a character :( Thanksfor letting me tag along!
DeleteI really need to get back to this series. I devoured the first one. I swear I was going to read the first chapter or two before bed. As the sun rose, I had finished the book. Oops. Then I read most of Frostbite before putting it down, even though I loved it (but knew what happened and was putting off what happened by not reading further).
ReplyDeleteYou should! I started the 3rd one yesterday and so far it's really good! I have no idea what's supposed to happen in any of the books, which is kindof nice..lol But you should get back to the series for sure!
DeleteI have a few books that are like that ... I get partway into it and think it's waaaay too familiar for me not to have read it before. Actually, that's why I started the blog!
ReplyDeleteThese are awesome books ... I'm going to start Richelle Mead's Bloodlines series, the spinoff from VA -- can't wait!
That's one of the reasons I wanted to read these ones, is because of the second series, but I do want to finish these ones first..lol And it's so weird because now I'm feeling like I've read the 3rd book, but I haven't and I know it because I wasn't reading much when it came out! It's so weird!
Delete