St. Vladimir's Summer School

Ashelynn at Gypsy Book Reviews, Jen at Jen Ryland/YA Romantics and Steph at The Fake Steph Dot Com  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!!

Shadow Kiss
(Vampire Academy #3)

Author: Richelle Mead

Publication Date: November 13th 2008

Publisher: Razorbill

Genre: Urban Fantasy / Paranormal

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Synopsis:

Is Rose’s fate to kill the person she loves most? It’s springtime at St. Vladimir’s Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. Since Mason’s death, Rose hasn’t been feeling quite right. She has dark flashbacks in the middle of practice, can’t concentrate in class, and has terrifying dreams about Lissa. But Rose has an even bigger secret . . . .She’s in love with Dimitri. And this time, it’s way more than a crush. Then Strigoi target the academy in the deadliest attack in Moroi history, and Dimitri is taken. Rose must protect Lissa at all costs, but keeping her best friend safe could mean losing Dimitri forever…

My Thoughts: This week we read Shadow Kiss the third book in the series and oh my gosh!! It was so good! I could barely put it down! I wanted to pick up the next book immediately after finishing it but I have a couple more books I need to read in the meantime, so it will have to wait until the weekend probably. I don't even know where to really start with this book because it surpassed the awesomeness of the last two books. There was so much that happened, so many feelings I went through while reading it. I have no idea why I didn't read these books sooner, Richelle Mead just has a way of making her books impossible to put down. I completely immersed myself in the world she created and lost track of time whenever I was reading.

So if you're like me, and are a super slacker when it comes to reading series that everyone recommends to you, you might be wondering what was so great about this book. What makes it stand out so much more than the previous two. Well, for one, Rose has changed... a lot. She is no longer as irresponsible as she was in the previous books. She finally realizes that she needs to take her training seriously and that she's not invincible. She also feels a lot of guilt for what happened over the holidays. She did all she could, but it wasn't enough to save her friend. And to top it all off, she's now seeing ghosts and thinks she's going crazy. Basically, Rose grew a lot as a character and fell into the role of a guardian. Of course, she still wants Dimitri, even if it could get in the way of her job. She is completely in love with him. There is quite a bit of action in this book, and some romance. The plot moves quickly and there is never a boring part, at least for me.

I think I'm team Adrian. I  guess the idea of Rose and Dimitri being together kind of creeps me out. He is her mentor after all.. So he should really know better. You can't really help who you love I guess (even if sometimes you which you could). But I'm holding out hope for Adrian! He's crazy about Rose, he just hides it behind sarcasm and wit.

I don't know if you've figured it out yet or not, but YES! I definitely recommend this book! I recommend the whole series so far! It's just too good to not read. If you even like paranormal books in the slightest. Read this now!