REVIEW: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

INFORMATION:

Title/Author: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Series: Vampire Academy (#1)

Publisher: Razorbill

Release Date: January 2, 2007

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal

ISBN: 9781595141743

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SYNOPSIS:

ONLY A TRUE BEST FRIEND CAN PROTECT YOU FROM YOUR IMMORTAL ENEMIES…

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 down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever…

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MY THOUGHTS:

I actually originally read this book way back in 2015 and HATED IT. I still don’t actually know why I hated it so much, but I am almost for sure that it was because of a book slump. But, I recently decided that I wanted to give it another shot so that I could continue the series. And I absolutely loved it!

This book was super fast paced and had such a great storyline that I missed my first time reading it! I forgot all about the Moroi, Dhampirs and Strigoi. Richelle’s creation of the three vampire races is super cool in my opinion. Most YA vampire stories (Twilight, for example) have just a regular vampire. But, Richelle created the Moroi – your everyday vampire, Dhampirs – Moroi Guardians, and Strigoi – the evils.

Rose Hathaway was probably one of the most headstrong heroines I have ever read about. She was so fierce and brave that she could probably become “Leader of the Dhampirs!” And holy dynamite, Rose and Dimitri were like love at first sight! Ever since they met, they were totally meant to be! They were teacher-student fighting partners, who fell deeply in love. HARD. The one thing in a fictional relationship that makes me absolutely adore it, is when the male worries about the female. And oh boy, that sure did happen with Rose and Dimitri!

And how could I not mention Lissa, Mason, Mia and Christian. Lissa was basically the perfect best friend that every girl needs in her life! And could communicate to Rose through her mind! How cool is that?! Mason was like the cutest grown up teenager ever. He was definitely a fighter, but he also had this “little boy” vibe within him that I loved! Mia was the high school “bitch” that basically every story has or needs. No high school story is the same without one and Mia definitely played the role perfectly. And poor Christian, the “thought-to-be” Strigoi. If you didn’t feel sad for him, I swear you should’ve!

Ahhh the characters in this book were the absolute best! We got a mix of sarcasm, sensitivity, perfection and flaws from every single one of them! If I had to pick a favorite character, I would definitely choose Rose. I was able to relate to her so much and I adored her sarcasm!

The ending of this book was definitely intense. I remembered it from both my previous time reading it and the movie and oh boy, it still lived up to the intensity. The last 40 pages were filled with so much fighting, love, and sadness. But still, it was great!

I ended up giving my reread 5 stars! I really enjoyed this book and was able to finish it in 2-3 days! (which never happens during the school year, haha!) It was super intriguing and fast-paced which I loved! The super funny part of my rating is that I probably would’ve gave my first read-through 2 stars.

THAT’S IT FOR TODAY! I hope you enjoyed my review! Don’t forget to like, comment and follow!

Happy Reading!

~Alaina