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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Vampires, dysfunctional rich kids, and snarky ass best friends make up the bulk of the young adult novel, Vampire Academy. I went into this book with very little to no expectation of it being any form of decent. I actually only bothered to give it a try because a close friend of mine fancies the series quite a bit. I'm glad that I did read it because it was a nice bit of entertainment.
I have experienced other young adult vampire novels that are written so poorly, depicting every single teenager as some whiny brat, with no distinguishing personality that I just had my fill. But Vampire Academy doesn't portray teenagers that way. Sure, they can be overly dramatic or quite cruel in the ways of emotional and mental torment, but that's actual a bit more realistic to me than past experiences. The characters have fun, varied personalities that give the story a bit of flavor.
Another element I enjoyed, to my surprise, were the interactions and conversations that made up the majority of this book. These mingling moments seemed to flow and didn't seem forced or flat out fake. Interpretations of the things said, however, does make the story a bit predictable.
The plot, unfortunately, is nothing unique or special. You've got your badass heroes who don't realize they are heroes until certain events occur and then they get their asses beat while taking down the big baddy. I felt the story lacked a bit of conviction in the creativity department, which will make this story unappealing to those who are searching for a fresh vampy read.
Now, I know I said I enjoyed the chit chat of the book and the fact it doesn't have a lot of action, but whatever action it did have came off rather anticlimactic to me. I could be totally alone in my feelings here, and that's fine. The fighting was okay in its execution, but it felt unfulfilled, or just empty to a certain degree. Its predictability may have had something to do with it.
Overall, Vampire Academy was a good read. It was enjoyable if a bit unsurprising in certain aspects. It's funny, has some relatable characters, and isn't filled with whiny obnoxious kids like one would expect; doesn't mean they don't have their moments of temper tantrums though. I recommend it if you are searching for an easy young adult novel to pass a bit of free time. Its not a must-read by any sorts, so if it just doesn't sound like your cup of tea, you can skip it. You won't be missing anything special. For me, this is a 3 out of 5 bites.
I have experienced other young adult vampire novels that are written so poorly, depicting every single teenager as some whiny brat, with no distinguishing personality that I just had my fill. But Vampire Academy doesn't portray teenagers that way. Sure, they can be overly dramatic or quite cruel in the ways of emotional and mental torment, but that's actual a bit more realistic to me than past experiences. The characters have fun, varied personalities that give the story a bit of flavor.
Another element I enjoyed, to my surprise, were the interactions and conversations that made up the majority of this book. These mingling moments seemed to flow and didn't seem forced or flat out fake. Interpretations of the things said, however, does make the story a bit predictable.
The plot, unfortunately, is nothing unique or special. You've got your badass heroes who don't realize they are heroes until certain events occur and then they get their asses beat while taking down the big baddy. I felt the story lacked a bit of conviction in the creativity department, which will make this story unappealing to those who are searching for a fresh vampy read.
Now, I know I said I enjoyed the chit chat of the book and the fact it doesn't have a lot of action, but whatever action it did have came off rather anticlimactic to me. I could be totally alone in my feelings here, and that's fine. The fighting was okay in its execution, but it felt unfulfilled, or just empty to a certain degree. Its predictability may have had something to do with it.
Overall, Vampire Academy was a good read. It was enjoyable if a bit unsurprising in certain aspects. It's funny, has some relatable characters, and isn't filled with whiny obnoxious kids like one would expect; doesn't mean they don't have their moments of temper tantrums though. I recommend it if you are searching for an easy young adult novel to pass a bit of free time. Its not a must-read by any sorts, so if it just doesn't sound like your cup of tea, you can skip it. You won't be missing anything special. For me, this is a 3 out of 5 bites.
I really enjoy Richelle Mead's writing, not just in the Vampire Academy series but also in her other books. The writing is why I had to give this book 4 stars.
That being said, there were two points I did not enjoy so much. First, it just gets on my nerves when a major character keeps mouthing off without any abilities to support this attitude.
Also I have a problem with"sex as weapon" which is used a few times here.
That being said, there were two points I did not enjoy so much. First, it just gets on my nerves when a major character keeps mouthing off without any abilities to support this attitude.
Also I have a problem with
Slightly juvenile, but so much fun and full of awesome characters. I really enjoyed Mead's world of Vampires and their lore, including the different classifications of vampires and their protectors. I found this very unique, and I enjoyed that Mead wasn't afraid to imbue sensuality and sexuality into some of the aspects of Vampirism, including feedings. Mead definitely isn't afraid to push the envelope here, and this is SO refreshing considering the Bella/Twilight effect. No hidden Mormon agenda here.
The two main ladies, Rose and Lissa have a great relationship structure, often rare in the YA world, and I can't wait to see how their guardian relationship grows as the series continues. I was also glad to see realistic handling of boy/girl relationships, and an acknowledgment that these characters are HIGH SCHOOLERS - and that they should date around. Jeez.
Glad I finally read this.
The two main ladies, Rose and Lissa have a great relationship structure, often rare in the YA world, and I can't wait to see how their guardian relationship grows as the series continues. I was also glad to see realistic handling of boy/girl relationships, and an acknowledgment that these characters are HIGH SCHOOLERS - and that they should date around. Jeez.
Glad I finally read this.
Just finished it. fabulous. a lot of it made me laugh because the way Richelle wrote it. it was written just like a high schooler would speak. well, a high schooler that went to school with vampires that is. and i wasnt laughing to make fun, i was laughing at how kinda real it was. XD and the end wasnt that lame either. it was a very good twist. Yeah it was a silly YA novel, but i thoroughly enjoyed it! I got "sucked" in, so to speak . eheheh
i must say, a very good read! cant wait to pick the second one up at the library today!!!
i must say, a very good read! cant wait to pick the second one up at the library today!!!
I got this book for my birthday last year, and it'd been one I'd been wanting for a while so I was excited to finally be able to read it. No had recommended it to me, I just thought it sounded really good.
And it was. Of course there were things I wish would have been different, as in literally any other YA book. But as far as first books go, this one was pretty good. Rose was not only a witty, flirty protagonist, but a well-written one. There are so many stories that have so much potential, only to have that potential drown because of a soppy or boring or just straight up annoying heroine. Twilight, for example, had more potential than was used. Uglies had more potential, I think.
And what really surprised me? Rose knows she's pretty, she uses it her advantage. She likes wearing short dresses and doesn't think it makes her look like a hooker *cough cough movie!Clary*.
However, there's also all the times she threatens to rip out someone's throat.
Then there's Lissa. Lissa comes off as sweet and kind and sad. She's got a big heart, and doesn't have it in her to break them (hearts). But she also feels kind of 2 dimensional. Flat. It was a little weird/funny/cool to me that Lissa, essentially a side character, had the love story books are usually centered around: good girl princess meets bad boy outcast by accident and ends up falling in love with him, preferring him over her beef cake brainless current bf.
Lissa also had this inner anger that in certain parts made me laugh. I don't know, it just didn't seem like her.
I wanna circle back to Rose for a minute, though - let's talk about her and Dimitri. Personally, I think it's weird how her feelings just suddenly got sO MUCH WORSE for him over the course of what, maybe four pages? And now she's downright obsessed with him, wanting to cuddle and stuff. But he's what? Ten years older than her? It weirds me out a little. I don't really see what Rose sees in him. I think they could have been a kickass fighting pair. Like Feyre and Rhys; Will and Jem; Emma and Julian. You know, just sans the romantic interest.
Now Christian. Christian was very well-written character if you ask me. He's sarcastic and snide, bordering on being straight-out mean. I like that. He doesn't try to change to fit in, he is unapologetically himself no matter if it makes people wary of him.
Natalie got on my nerves. Victor seemed like a cool dude. and then pLOT TWIST OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE.
Anyways, glad Natalie's gone. Rose is sick. Dimitri x Rose kinda grosses me out. Lissa could have been written better. Christian is cool. Victor needs to be executed.
Thanks for your time.
And it was. Of course there were things I wish would have been different, as in literally any other YA book. But as far as first books go, this one was pretty good. Rose was not only a witty, flirty protagonist, but a well-written one. There are so many stories that have so much potential, only to have that potential drown because of a soppy or boring or just straight up annoying heroine. Twilight, for example, had more potential than was used. Uglies had more potential, I think.
And what really surprised me? Rose knows she's pretty, she uses it her advantage. She likes wearing short dresses and doesn't think it makes her look like a hooker *cough cough movie!Clary*.
However, there's also all the times she threatens to rip out someone's throat.
Then there's Lissa. Lissa comes off as sweet and kind and sad. She's got a big heart, and doesn't have it in her to break them (hearts). But she also feels kind of 2 dimensional. Flat. It was a little weird/funny/cool to me that Lissa, essentially a side character, had the love story books are usually centered around: good girl princess meets bad boy outcast by accident and ends up falling in love with him, preferring him over her beef cake brainless current bf.
Lissa also had this inner anger that in certain parts made me laugh. I don't know, it just didn't seem like her.
I wanna circle back to Rose for a minute, though - let's talk about her and Dimitri. Personally, I think it's weird how her feelings just suddenly got sO MUCH WORSE for him over the course of what, maybe four pages? And now she's downright obsessed with him, wanting to cuddle and stuff. But he's what? Ten years older than her? It weirds me out a little. I don't really see what Rose sees in him. I think they could have been a kickass fighting pair. Like Feyre and Rhys; Will and Jem; Emma and Julian. You know, just sans the romantic interest.
Now Christian. Christian was very well-written character if you ask me. He's sarcastic and snide, bordering on being straight-out mean. I like that. He doesn't try to change to fit in, he is unapologetically himself no matter if it makes people wary of him.
Natalie got on my nerves. Victor seemed like a cool dude. and then pLOT TWIST OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE.
Anyways, glad Natalie's gone. Rose is sick. Dimitri x Rose kinda grosses me out. Lissa could have been written better. Christian is cool. Victor needs to be executed.
Thanks for your time.
Oh boy. I'm not sure what to say on this one.
Vampire Academy is not a book that I would ever pick up on my own. This whole teen paranormal romance genre that is so popular right now just isn't my thing. However, this particular novel is on the Best Ever Teen Novels List (#39!) that I am working my way through, so when I saw it in the library last month, I decided to give it a chance.
After having read the first one (and there are FIVE more to get through . . . yikes), I can say that my feelings are very mixed. I have to say, I do not understand the popularity of the series, nor the very high rating this book has on Good Reads. What Richelle Mead has done in Vampire Academy is cobble together aspects of Harry Potter (a boarding school setting) and Twilight (the idea of good vs. bad vampires) into one clumsily written and fairly generic vampire book. At the same time, I read this novel very quickly and am mildly interested in reading the rest of the series to see what happens. Like I said, mixed feelings.
Most of my issues with the book were with the main character, Rose Hathaway, so that is where I'm going to focus my review. She is clearly meant to be the Anti-Bella. She's tough as nails, with the foul mouth and obsession with sex to prove it. While I love to see strong female characters, I felt like Mead was trying a little too hard to make Rose sound strong and cool. There was so much swearing in this novel, that I felt it wasn't genuine after a while- like it was included solely to try and give Rose a "don't mess with me" persona rather than coming from a place of real emotion. When you add in all the cursing with an unsophisticated writing style, we get gems like this:
"Those rules are stupid. If we used magic as a weapon instead of just for warm and fuzzy shit, Strigoi wouldn't keep killing so many of us." (p.111)
and this:
"What had happened to the fox was sick and twisted, obviously done by someone too fucked up for words." (p.98)
I felt the same way about the inclusion of sex in the novel, like it was there more to prove how "grown up" and "advanced" Rose was, rather than a genuine part of the story. I have no problem with sexual themes in teen literature, but some of this just grossed me out:
"However, many dhampir mother chose not to become guardians in order to raise their children. These women sometimes worked "regular" jobs with Moroi or humans; some of them lived together in communities. These communities had a bad reputation. I don't know how much of it was true, but rumors said Moroi men visited all the time for sex, and that some dhampir women let them drink blood while doing it. Blood whores. " (p. 80)
"There was a sort of heat in his eyes that was turning me on, as was his hand sliding up my leg." (p. 117)
"Dmitri was quiet and distant sometimes, but he also had a dedication and an intensity that I'd never seen in any other person. I wondered how that kind of power and strength translated into . . . well, sex. I wondered what it'd be like for him to touch me and--shit!" (p.121)
"Drinking blood during sex. The dirtiest of the dirty. Sleazy. Beyond being easy or a slut. A gazillion times worse than Lissa drinking from me for survival. Blood-whore territory." (p.170)
And those are an extremely small selection of the sexual references from the book. I could have gone on for days. Honestly, if I had a daughter, I wouldn't be thrilled with her reading this. Some may argue that having a strong female character showing no fear of sexuality is a good thing, and I would agree. However, the writing here feels more like it was going for cheap thrills to entice young readers rather than a meaningful discussion of adolescent sexual feelings. I'm not a particularly conservative reader, but this was all so blatantly there for shock value that it got old really fast.
Another issue I had with Rose was how she showed her strength through the weakness of another female character, her best friend and the girl she is meant to protect as her guardian, Lissa. For all the strides Rose makes as a "strong female," steps backwards are taken through the frailty of the supporting female character. I was actually reminded a lot of a platonic Edward/Bella relationship while reading about the friendship between these two girls.
"A minute later, I reached a clearing where Lissa cringed, back against a tree. From her looks and bond feelings, she should have fainted long ago. Only the barest scraps of willpower kept her hanging on." (p.307)
Rose has to save Lissa time and time again throughout the novel. It is blatantly stated that Lissa allows Rose to do all the thinking in dangerous situations and just allows herself to be rescued. Now it's true that Rose is a guardian. Rescuing Lissa is her job. However, Lissa was SO weak that it made ME cringe. Why don't they teach the Moroi vampires to take care of themselves a little at Vampire Academy? Why do characters in novels continually show how tough they are through the lens of taking care of women? In my mind, if you want to show how girls can be tough too, you can't have your tough girl taking care of a weak one.
Despite Rose's failings, I did appreciate that she wasn't the cookie cutter model of a damsel in distress. While her aggression was over the top for me, it did make her more interesting. She wasn't terrible to read, I just feel that Mead overdid parts of her personality to get the tough girl image she was going for.
As I mentioned before, there are five more books to read in this series before I can cross it off my list. The movie adaptation also comes out next month, and while I'm not sure I would spend the insane amount of money going to the movies takes these days on it, I'll definitely check it out eventually. While I have my issues with the writing and the main character, the book was still interesting and contemplating reading the rest of them doesn't fill me with horror (it just doesn't fill me with joy either). I don't think I'm meant to be a teen vampire genre fan, but I'm not done with Vampire Academy yet.
My Rating: 2 out of 5
Quote I liked:
"The greatest and most powerful revolutions often start very quietly, hidden in the shadows." He eyed me. "Remember that." (p.318)
Vampire Academy is not a book that I would ever pick up on my own. This whole teen paranormal romance genre that is so popular right now just isn't my thing. However, this particular novel is on the Best Ever Teen Novels List (#39!) that I am working my way through, so when I saw it in the library last month, I decided to give it a chance.
After having read the first one (and there are FIVE more to get through . . . yikes), I can say that my feelings are very mixed. I have to say, I do not understand the popularity of the series, nor the very high rating this book has on Good Reads. What Richelle Mead has done in Vampire Academy is cobble together aspects of Harry Potter (a boarding school setting) and Twilight (the idea of good vs. bad vampires) into one clumsily written and fairly generic vampire book. At the same time, I read this novel very quickly and am mildly interested in reading the rest of the series to see what happens. Like I said, mixed feelings.
Most of my issues with the book were with the main character, Rose Hathaway, so that is where I'm going to focus my review. She is clearly meant to be the Anti-Bella. She's tough as nails, with the foul mouth and obsession with sex to prove it. While I love to see strong female characters, I felt like Mead was trying a little too hard to make Rose sound strong and cool. There was so much swearing in this novel, that I felt it wasn't genuine after a while- like it was included solely to try and give Rose a "don't mess with me" persona rather than coming from a place of real emotion. When you add in all the cursing with an unsophisticated writing style, we get gems like this:
"Those rules are stupid. If we used magic as a weapon instead of just for warm and fuzzy shit, Strigoi wouldn't keep killing so many of us." (p.111)
and this:
"What had happened to the fox was sick and twisted, obviously done by someone too fucked up for words." (p.98)
I felt the same way about the inclusion of sex in the novel, like it was there more to prove how "grown up" and "advanced" Rose was, rather than a genuine part of the story. I have no problem with sexual themes in teen literature, but some of this just grossed me out:
"However, many dhampir mother chose not to become guardians in order to raise their children. These women sometimes worked "regular" jobs with Moroi or humans; some of them lived together in communities. These communities had a bad reputation. I don't know how much of it was true, but rumors said Moroi men visited all the time for sex, and that some dhampir women let them drink blood while doing it. Blood whores. " (p. 80)
"There was a sort of heat in his eyes that was turning me on, as was his hand sliding up my leg." (p. 117)
"Dmitri was quiet and distant sometimes, but he also had a dedication and an intensity that I'd never seen in any other person. I wondered how that kind of power and strength translated into . . . well, sex. I wondered what it'd be like for him to touch me and--shit!" (p.121)
"Drinking blood during sex. The dirtiest of the dirty. Sleazy. Beyond being easy or a slut. A gazillion times worse than Lissa drinking from me for survival. Blood-whore territory." (p.170)
And those are an extremely small selection of the sexual references from the book. I could have gone on for days. Honestly, if I had a daughter, I wouldn't be thrilled with her reading this. Some may argue that having a strong female character showing no fear of sexuality is a good thing, and I would agree. However, the writing here feels more like it was going for cheap thrills to entice young readers rather than a meaningful discussion of adolescent sexual feelings. I'm not a particularly conservative reader, but this was all so blatantly there for shock value that it got old really fast.
Another issue I had with Rose was how she showed her strength through the weakness of another female character, her best friend and the girl she is meant to protect as her guardian, Lissa. For all the strides Rose makes as a "strong female," steps backwards are taken through the frailty of the supporting female character. I was actually reminded a lot of a platonic Edward/Bella relationship while reading about the friendship between these two girls.
"A minute later, I reached a clearing where Lissa cringed, back against a tree. From her looks and bond feelings, she should have fainted long ago. Only the barest scraps of willpower kept her hanging on." (p.307)
Rose has to save Lissa time and time again throughout the novel. It is blatantly stated that Lissa allows Rose to do all the thinking in dangerous situations and just allows herself to be rescued. Now it's true that Rose is a guardian. Rescuing Lissa is her job. However, Lissa was SO weak that it made ME cringe. Why don't they teach the Moroi vampires to take care of themselves a little at Vampire Academy? Why do characters in novels continually show how tough they are through the lens of taking care of women? In my mind, if you want to show how girls can be tough too, you can't have your tough girl taking care of a weak one.
Despite Rose's failings, I did appreciate that she wasn't the cookie cutter model of a damsel in distress. While her aggression was over the top for me, it did make her more interesting. She wasn't terrible to read, I just feel that Mead overdid parts of her personality to get the tough girl image she was going for.
As I mentioned before, there are five more books to read in this series before I can cross it off my list. The movie adaptation also comes out next month, and while I'm not sure I would spend the insane amount of money going to the movies takes these days on it, I'll definitely check it out eventually. While I have my issues with the writing and the main character, the book was still interesting and contemplating reading the rest of them doesn't fill me with horror (it just doesn't fill me with joy either). I don't think I'm meant to be a teen vampire genre fan, but I'm not done with Vampire Academy yet.
My Rating: 2 out of 5
Quote I liked:
"The greatest and most powerful revolutions often start very quietly, hidden in the shadows." He eyed me. "Remember that." (p.318)
3.5 stars.
I had some issues with this book but loved Rose's personality and her friendship with Lissa.
I had some issues with this book but loved Rose's personality and her friendship with Lissa.
Rating: Meh? Yay? Not sure? Great MC and love interest, blah mostly everything else.
Originally posted at Writer of Wrongs
The cover: LOATHSOME. Why is Angelina Jolie smirking at me from behind an iron gate? Who thought this was a good idea?
The story: It's no secret that this book series is popular. And I mean NYT-bestseller, 187k-Goodreads reviews, movie-adaptation popular. I always wade into uber-hyped books with more than a little trepidation, and because of those fears, I honestly don't know if I enjoyed Vampire Academy more than I expected, or if I was disappointed in it.
One thing I know I don't like: the concept. Well, half the concept. Vampire Academy is about a dhampir girl named Rose, best friend and psychically-linked guardian of Moroi Princess Lissa. They attend an academy (surprise!) where they learn things like Slavic Art, for some bizarre reason. I really enjoyed Mead's take on living vampires (Moroi), half-vampires (dhampirs) and evil dead vampires (Moroi). I thought the idea of a boarding school where they all study/carouse/mean girl together was totally cheesy. Which I understand is the basic premise of the book, but whatever. And while it feels totally unoriginal now, I can appreciate that when this book was published all the way back in 2007, it probable felt pretty fresh.
I really enjoyed Rose. She's a sassy bad-ass fighter girl with high self-confidence and a low tolerance for bullshit. She's a refreshing heroine in a category that's overloaded with shy, retiring MCs. She's brash, reckless, and makes some tremendously foolish decisions that never diminish my love for her. She's hot and she knows it and she's always willing to go to battle for Lissa, the person she loves the most. Their friendship was a central part of the plot, which I also enjoyed. Overall, Vampire Academy is a fun read with a few central mysteries.
I think the ultimate problem with this book, fun as it is, is that it just didn't light my world on fire. Richelle Mead's prose varies from totally passable to flat and clunky:
"Oh God," I said. How horrible. I tightened my hands in his. He squeezed back. "That's horrible. And she... she just let it happen?"
The characters also vary from vivid and charismatic (Rose, Lissa, Christian, Dimitri) to who was that again? (Mason, Natalie). Christian is secretly the best character in the entire novel. As for the mystery, I enjoyed that Rose, attempting to figure out what's going on, did not seem Too Stupid To Live, and did seem to heed nearly all of the warning signs flung at her (I did figure one or two things out before she did, but this is obviously because I am brilliant and deserve all nice things). The big action-packed endings felt totally anemic and underwritten. The big scenes should have been punchier and longer, though I did like what was happening. There was drama and high stakes (WORDPLAY) and all that jazz, even if I didn't feel like Mead completely delivered in executing her plot to the fullest.
You know what she did execute? Romance. I totally bought the sexual tension between Rose and her hot Russian instructor, Dimitri, despite the slightly squicky age difference, the hair, and the duster. (The duster.)
And then, suddenly, he was there, charging down the hallway like Death in a cowboy duster.
Despite the ridiculousness of that quote, I ship it. There were shippy feelings. Yayyyy. In the end, Vampire Academy is a fun, if unextraordinary, read. I was really hoping I'd have stronger feelings about, but at least I didn't dislike it. There were aspects of it I actually almost loved, and I'm pretty interested in continuing the series, even though it won't be one of my favorites ever.
I read Half-Blood before I read this, and I must say I did see some similarities and I can understand people's anger towards Half-Blood. However, that didn't stop me enjoying either books and I really enjoyed both.
I enjoyed the characters in Vampire Academy. I loved Rose's loyalty towards Lissa and I really enjoyed their friendship. However, sometimes I didn't really like Rose. She's not one of those characters you instantly like, but she does grow on you. Rose was brave, independent, tough, and a bit bitchy, but she could defend herself. I also liked Dimitri, and his relationship with Rose, and I enjoyed the development.
I don't really read many vampire books, like, really little vampire books, but this is different and vampires were twisted into something intriguing and interesting.
I would definitely recommend this book.
I enjoyed the characters in Vampire Academy. I loved Rose's loyalty towards Lissa and I really enjoyed their friendship. However, sometimes I didn't really like Rose. She's not one of those characters you instantly like, but she does grow on you. Rose was brave, independent, tough, and a bit bitchy, but she could defend herself. I also liked Dimitri, and his relationship with Rose, and I enjoyed the development.
I don't really read many vampire books, like, really little vampire books, but this is different and vampires were twisted into something intriguing and interesting.
I would definitely recommend this book.