Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

13 reviews

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Car accident, War, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

joyfulfoodie's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was an enjoyable low thinking book. Learning the three main groups (basically live vampires, dead vampires, and the half vampire class that supports and protects the live ones) was a bit of a struggle for me. I’ve definitely got down the dead ones now since they are villainized frequently (and not unfairly so far). There are definitely a few reveals that I saw coming. But I’m pretty sure this is YA fiction so that’s understandable and fine. I’ll continue the series and that doesn’t feel like a burden. 😉

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Mental illness, Self harm, Kidnapping, Classism, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Death, Alcohol, and Death of parent

sweetchocolatez's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Kidnapping, Self harm, Sexism, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Misogyny

Moderate: Chronic illness, Murder, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Classism, Infidelity, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Mental illness

Minor: Pregnancy, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Grief, War, Death, Suicide attempt, and Cursing

zoeelora's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Gore, Medical content, Terminal illness, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Torture, Bullying, Cursing, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Blood, Mental illness, Car accident, and Physical abuse

elskabee's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Anything over a 3.5 for this would be generous despite my nostalgia.

This is my first time rereading this book in over ten years and I liked it more than I was worried. I can't say it has aged amazingly, but most of the difficult topics (self-harm and depression, age gap crushes) are dealt with in a way that never glamourises or romanticises and even has some good healthy takeaways by the end. I do however wish that conversations around slut-shaming and bullying were handled a bit better. The former simply had a messy message and seemed to contradict itself, the latter not seriously acknowledged despite how prominent the bullying/school drama plotlines are throughout.

The writing style is very simple and easy to read which is fine, but older readers might find it a bit lacking. I found the multiple plot elements enough to hold interest. The school politics wore on me a bit, whereas the journey Rose goes on to learn to be more responsible and trust people around her was well done imo. I also really enjoyed the worldbuilding of the vampire society and how the school is run. I think the author put a lot of thought into the position each character in the book has in society and how that affects their choices and how they treat others. Most of the time they treat each other poorly! but societal pressure and petty teenage angst create a pressure cooker environment in the school that is palpable. Rose in particular is mean to almost everyone except Lissa, which is acknowledged in the book and honestly just made me like Rose more. Give me petty teenage characters that get angry and mess up (Not perfect and bland protags that have no room for growth)

Anyway, this book despite its length has a lot going on and although it is very much a vampire YA book published in 2007, I did enjoy my time reading it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Self harm

Moderate: Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, and Kidnapping

Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol, and Terminal illness

The adult/minor relationship is between a 17 year old and a 25 year old. He is her mentor and never pressures her and in fact actively avoids pursuing her. The minor doesn't spend much time pursuing him but does think about her attraction to him and internally acknowledges that the relationship probably shouldn't happen due to the age gap between them. Near the end of the book

they engage in a lot of kissing which she is undressed for while they are both under the influence of a lust spell. He regrets it and wants her to report him and accepts that he would likely get fired as a consequence, though she does not.

Also later in the series

they do eventually get together.

the_escapist's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Self harm, Car accident, and Blood

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Sexual assault, Animal death, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Torture, Terminal illness, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Gore, and Animal cruelty

sarahsbookss's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Infidelity, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, Self harm, Death, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

madalynmiles's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

i had such a great time reading this. i love all of them so much (especially christian)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Animal death, Blood, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Kidnapping

Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Bullying, and Fire/Fire injury

valenpolack's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

4.75

4.75 Stars 

Somehow these books hold up even though they are almost as old as me. 

I think this story is very mature and nicely handled for the time it came out. 

The age gap between the main love interests didn't bother me as much as other stories because of how well it was handled. The characters new it was wrong, and they make the right decisions in the end. 

I also really liked how it didn't shy away from the topic of depression and self harm; and that sometimes medication and therapy really is the best way to cope with it. 

I just wish we wouldn't have been stuck in Rose's head. 
I would have liked to see more of Christian and Lissa's interactions to really buy into their relationship. 

[ I love Mason and he deserves the world. ]

Im really excited to continue with this series and see where the story takes me next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Death, Mental illness, and Gore

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol, Chronic illness, and Infertility

amndaj's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Death of parent, Mental illness, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, and Car accident

Minor: Sexual harassment and Chronic illness