Words on Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy #1)

Vampires with kick-ass bodyguards
Nov 29, 2014
3 min read

Rose is a dhampir - a half-human, half-vampire. Her best friend since early childhood, Lissa Dragomir, is a Moroi vampire - one of the mortal vampires. Rose is tasked with protecting Lissa, who is a princess, from the Strigoi vampires, who are the undead, evil ones that usually come to mind when somebody says "vampire".

Rose and Lissa escaped from a school for vampires and dhampirs called St. Vladimir's Academy and, for two glorious years, have lived freely aamoung humans. But the school has managed to track them down and has brought them back, where they must continue their training. But the girls must be careful to navigate the school's social world and are faced with the truth that someone is out to get Lissa.

Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with vampires. Vampires = good. (For the most part.) I feel like it's a concept that has been used so much you need to be really good to pull it off or have a interesting new take on vamps. The idea of a vampire school is pretty good. And throwing in half-vampire bodyguards who are totally badass fighters? Yes, please!

The characters interested me and I was drawn to their personalities. Rose is sassy and rebellious, not afriad to speak her mind. She goes to great lengths to keep Lissa safe, even if it means hiding from the school for several years. She was very loyal to her friend, sticking by her even when she didn't agree with what Lissa was doing. I can admire her for that, and I think she has more than enough spunk for the entire cast of characters. However, I felt like the drama, which was fun to watch and added spice to the story at first, became a bit boring after a while and I wanted to see more of the plot, which I didn't really get.

I wasn't Lissa's biggest fan. She cares about Rose as a friend, but she is sometimes shallow, using her powers for popularity and to smooth over anything bad people may have heard about Rose. She never questions that Rose is supposed to give up her own happiness to protect her, and even when Rose gives up so much, for example, leaving her home and education to keep Lissa safe, she never really thanks Rose or aknowledges that. I hope that changes in the next book. Come to think of it, that reminds me a bit of Calla Torr from Andrea Cremer's Nightshade series in the way that she was being totally used without fully realizing it. She did question it eventually, and I hope Rose does the same.

The romance was meh. I mean, if you like it, that's great. I just don't feel like Rose and Dimitri have that much in common. They get along fine, but I don't think they have all that much real chemistry.

All in all, I thought the book had an original idea with lots of potential. However, while I liked Rose as a character, I didn't like how she never questioned that she's expected to give up everything for Lissa. The teen drama was fun and spicy at first, giving the story some fun drama. However, as the story progressed, it got a little annoying as I wanted to see more of the plot. Maybe it was because I have heard so much good feedback about the series and had unrealistic expectations, but I was a little underwhelmed. I hope that the second book is better. I wasn't that impressed with this opening act for the series, but I'll definitely continue reading! 3.5/5 stars.