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A review by eesh25
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
2.0
2.5 stars
I have a lot to say about this book. But, at the same time, I have no idea how I feel about it as a whole. There are some things I like, some I hated and some I don't even understand properly.
Mostly, I like to develop a organised way to write a review. But this time, I don't know how to do that. So, I'm just gonna wing it and then add bold titles.
Lack of information
First thing I felt about the book was that it had a very bad beginning. I wasn't at all exited to read the rest of it when I read the first 2-3 chapters. That was mainly because I had no idea what anyone was talking about. They were yapping about moroi, dhampirs, strigoi and a bunch of shit that didn't make sense.
I once read a review about a book from 'The Mortal Instruments' series that said that Cassie, the author, told us everything we could be curious about regarding the aspects of the world she'd created and that that was a bad thing. I found it stupid that anyone would take information as a bad thing and, reading this, proved me right because, Rachelle, didn't tell us a thing. She didn't offer any information until about halfway through the book.
The Big Secret
Many times in the book, there were referenced made to THE incident that made Rose and Lissa leave the Academy in the first place. It was made so improtant that I soon began to dread finding out the reason because I was afrid it wouldn't be good enough. And I was right to dread it because the reason sucked!
I understood that Rose felt the need to protect Lissa but none of what happened proved that running away would be a good solution. There was no reason for them to hide everything from the grown-up, sensible people who could help them. The entire mystery thing was stupid and just there because the author needed them to not be at the academy in the beginning.
The Damned line
There was a line in the book when Rose found out that a character has a crush on her. There line was:
"He's crazy about me."
Who do I blame for that?
Do I blame the so modest character.(NOTE. SARCASM.) or do I blame the writer for phrasing it in the worst possible way? I just...
The Characters
The only character I like in the entire book was Christian. I'll tell you why.
Rose- She was a horrible character in the beginning. The kind that thought that she knew everything, that she could fix everything and that other people were just a bunch of idiots who were getting in the way. In reality, she couldn't do a thing. She wasn't capable of protecting Lissa, she didn't know how to make good, smart decisions (she tried to protect Lissa by taking her away to a world full of monsters and her way to stop Lissa from using her poweres was to make her use her powers in the human world.) and she did absolutely nothing productive the entire time they were on the run.
Other than being the only person to have a connection with Lissa, she did nothing productive 90% of the book. She lied, manipulated, made bad decisions, made selfish decisions, fought with a bunch of people, argued for no reason and... you get the point. The only positive point she has is that she became smarter later on in the book.
Lissa- Lissa was such a weak character. The entire time, all she did was, 'I'm in trouble, Save me!' or 'I'm sad, help me!' I tried to understand her, accept her. There was a reason given for her fragile state but it wasn't good enough. She was just too pathetic for me to care.
Dimitri- He didn't have much of a role. He was there for many parts but we got to know very little about him. So, because of that, I neither like nor dislike him. He's just like a piece of necessary furniture that only come in one design. If I had to decribe him in short, it would be:
'Me strong. Me protect.'
These are the only characters that I care to mention. So, you can understand why I only liked Christian, who seems to be the only one with a personaly ( good one too) and a proper functioning brain.
The going-into-head thing
I strongly believe that the only reason for the going-into-head thing to be there was so that we could see what was going on with Lissa. The emotions thing I understood, but not that. It was just for convenience. I would have preferred for the author to either go with third person or multiple POVs. The multiple POVs would have been refreshing because usually the two poeple are one male and one female, this would have been different.
Then there the fact that it's a huge invasion of privacy. It's one thing to not be able to control it, but to do it deliberately? It's just wrong. And, to me, disturbing. I mean, what if Lissa was having sex. Or what if, instead of Rose, it was a guy? He could be a perv who would get a strip show every time she changed her clothes.
Overall
The plot was okay, the characters I just explained, the writing was a 3-3.5 out of 5 (but it's forgivable since it's one of the authors earlier works.) But the book was mess in so many ways and definitely need some more structure and planning.
So, this one gets a 2.5. I' gonna read the next book. If I like it, I will select 3 stars and if not, then 2. (Update: Did like book 2 but not that much so I'm going with 2)
Last thing, there was a line:
"Aaron would never make up something like that!"
It made no sense to me because I doubt it had any sense at all. I think it was written wrong or something. If anyone got it, what it was referring to that Aaron made up, please explain.
I have a lot to say about this book. But, at the same time, I have no idea how I feel about it as a whole. There are some things I like, some I hated and some I don't even understand properly.
Mostly, I like to develop a organised way to write a review. But this time, I don't know how to do that. So, I'm just gonna wing it and then add bold titles.
Lack of information
First thing I felt about the book was that it had a very bad beginning. I wasn't at all exited to read the rest of it when I read the first 2-3 chapters. That was mainly because I had no idea what anyone was talking about. They were yapping about moroi, dhampirs, strigoi and a bunch of shit that didn't make sense.
I once read a review about a book from 'The Mortal Instruments' series that said that Cassie, the author, told us everything we could be curious about regarding the aspects of the world she'd created and that that was a bad thing. I found it stupid that anyone would take information as a bad thing and, reading this, proved me right because, Rachelle, didn't tell us a thing. She didn't offer any information until about halfway through the book.
The Big Secret
Many times in the book, there were referenced made to THE incident that made Rose and Lissa leave the Academy in the first place. It was made so improtant that I soon began to dread finding out the reason because I was afrid it wouldn't be good enough. And I was right to dread it because the reason sucked!
I understood that Rose felt the need to protect Lissa but none of what happened proved that running away would be a good solution. There was no reason for them to hide everything from the grown-up, sensible people who could help them.
Spoiler
Who did actually help them in the end.The Damned line
There was a line in the book when Rose found out that a character
Spoiler
Mason"He's crazy about me."
Who do I blame for that?
Do I blame the so modest character.(NOTE. SARCASM.) or do I blame the writer for phrasing it in the worst possible way? I just...
The Characters
The only character I like in the entire book was Christian. I'll tell you why.
Rose- She was a horrible character in the beginning. The kind that thought that she knew everything, that she could fix everything and that other people were just a bunch of idiots who were getting in the way. In reality, she couldn't do a thing. She wasn't capable of protecting Lissa, she didn't know how to make good, smart decisions (she tried to protect Lissa by taking her away to a world full of monsters and her way to stop Lissa from using her poweres was to make her use her powers in the human world.) and she did absolutely nothing productive the entire time they were on the run.
Other than being the only person to have a connection with Lissa, she did nothing productive 90% of the book. She lied, manipulated, made bad decisions, made selfish decisions, fought with a bunch of people, argued for no reason and... you get the point. The only positive point she has is that she became smarter later on in the book.
Lissa- Lissa was such a weak character. The entire time, all she did was, 'I'm in trouble, Save me!' or 'I'm sad, help me!' I tried to understand her, accept her. There was a reason given for her fragile state but it wasn't good enough. She was just too pathetic for me to care.
Dimitri- He didn't have much of a role. He was there for many parts but we got to know very little about him. So, because of that, I neither like nor dislike him. He's just like a piece of necessary furniture that only come in one design. If I had to decribe him in short, it would be:
'Me strong. Me protect.'
These are the only characters that I care to mention. So, you can understand why I only liked Christian, who seems to be the only one with a personaly ( good one too) and a proper functioning brain.
The going-into-head thing
I strongly believe that the only reason for the going-into-head thing to be there was so that we could see what was going on with Lissa. The emotions thing I understood, but not that. It was just for convenience. I would have preferred for the author to either go with third person or multiple POVs. The multiple POVs would have been refreshing because usually the two poeple are one male and one female, this would have been different.
Then there the fact that it's a huge invasion of privacy. It's one thing to not be able to control it, but to do it deliberately? It's just wrong. And, to me, disturbing. I mean, what if Lissa was having sex. Or what if, instead of Rose, it was a guy? He could be a perv who would get a strip show every time she changed her clothes.
Overall
The plot was okay, the characters I just explained, the writing was a 3-3.5 out of 5 (but it's forgivable since it's one of the authors earlier works.) But the book was mess in so many ways and definitely need some more structure and planning.
So, this one gets a 2.5. I' gonna read the next book. If I like it, I will select 3 stars and if not, then 2. (Update: Did like book 2 but not that much so I'm going with 2)
Last thing, there was a line:
"Aaron would never make up something like that!"
It made no sense to me because I doubt it had any sense at all. I think it was written wrong or something. If anyone got it, what it was referring to that Aaron made up, please explain.