Vampire Academy

Title: Vampire Academy
Author: Richelle Mead
Type: Young Adult book
Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural, Romance
Pages: 332 pages
Year of Release: 2007
Main Characters:
Rosemarie (Rose) Hathaway
Vasilisa (Lissa) Dragomir
Dimitri Belikov
Christian Ozera
Stars (out of 5): 4.0
Publisher: Penguin Group, Razorbill

Synopsis: Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with an unbreakable bond to the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest and most dangerous 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 her one of them.After two years of illicit freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. Rose will continue her Dhampir education. Lissa will go back to being Queen of the elite Moroi social scene.  And both girls will resume breaking hearts.Fear made Lissa and Rose run away from St. Vladimir's – inside the Academy’s iron gates, their world is even more fraught with danger.  Here, the cutthroat ranks of the Moroi perform unspeakable rituals and their secretive nature and love of the night creates an enigmatic world full of social complexities.  Rose and Lissa must navigate through this dangerous world, confront the temptation of forbidden romance, and never once let their guard down, lest the Strigoi make Lissa one of them forever...

Review: I admit that when I first picked up this book and read the summary, I was not interested. The story seemed to have 2 protagonists, Rose and Lissa, which I was not used to and detested. So, I read the first chapter to see if my deduction was correct. I was thoroughly surprised by this book. Once I started reading about Rose and Lissa, I couldn't stop until the very last page. Literally, I read NON-STOP. Vampire Academy was THAT good. Not only was it a fast paced story line, there was plenty of action and surprises mixed with the supernatural. No one expected *Spoiler Alert* for Victor Dashkov to turn from the good guy to the bad guy. Rose and Lissa also contrasted each other so well, despite their share in the protagonist spotlight. Lissa was weak so Rose protected her then it was switched around so Lissa protected Rose.

 It was also very interesting to read about the vampire world which is very different than the typical vampire stories. You see, there are 3 kinds of supernatural creatures: the Moroi; the mortal vampires that are capable of wielding elemental power for good. The Strigoi; the immortal vampires that are evil. The dhampir; the half human, half moroi creatures who are the bodyguards for the moroi. The one thing that put me off though was Dimitri Belikov, Rose's private mentor. Rose loves him but his looks doesn't appeal to me. A 6 foot 7 Russian tall guy that's 7 years older than Rose isn't my kind of guy. Overall, it was a pretty good book and I thoroughly recommend it to anybody looking for an action packed, romance filled, supernatural, mysterious story that takes place at an academy.