Words on Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy #3)

At first look, things are going well at St. Valdmir's Academy. Rose is about to start her field experience, a training exercise where she will be paired with a Moroi and must protect him/her for several weeks. Lissa is handling her powers, and Rose is at the top of her class. Under the surface, though, nothing is quite that warm and fuzzy. Rose is still pining after Dimitri, and Christian is convinced that Lissa is better off without him, thinking that his family's history may hurt people's views of the Dragomir princess.

Things take a turn for the crazy when Rose starts seeing the ghost of Mason, her friend who was killed in a Strigoi attack not that long before. Either Rose is going crazy, or she's really seeing Mason's ghost. Rose can't help but wonder if her old friend is trying to warn her about something. Meanwhile, Lissa's powers continue to grow, and despite Rose's warnings, she can't help but use them every now and then, and Rose is begining to suffer the negative side effects. The ramblings of Alice, a senile feeder, hint at danger to come, but Rose may be the only one listening to the old woman. Rose has to protect Lissa, but how can she keep her best friend safe if she's the only one trying?

Rose really frustrated me in this book. She's training to be a Guardian, and that would mean that she puts her charge first in pretty much everything. If her charge wants to go to a certain school, that's where Rose would go. If the charge takes certain classes, so does the Guardian, and they don't have any say in classes they want to take themselves because they have to keep their charge safe 24/7. The Guardians don't even get any say in who they want to be watching, for crying out loud! It's almost like they're objects, not people with a life. In Shadow Kiss, some people ask Rose if she really wants to sacrifice everything to take care of her best friend. No matter what they point out, Rose firmly admits that she would do anything for Lissa. I don't like this, because it's like she's totally okay with having zero say in her life, but her fiery personality and the way Rose's not afraid to say anything she wants contradicts this. It's like she is very independant, but then she also wants to be tied down so firmly by being a Guardian. Even if it means that she can;t be with the guy she loves, Dimitri.

I don't know. Maybe if I was raised my whole life with the expectation that I would become a gaurdian, training every chance I got and being raised in a culture that say me as a devoted bodyguard, I would think differently. Maybe Rose thinks that she has to be a Guardian becuase it's the one of the only think she knows how to do well. Perhaps if I was raised in a society that expected Guardianahip of me and glorified having zero life choices, doing whatever my charge did to keep them safe, I would have the mindset of Rose and all the other Guardians in the series. I just don't like how Rose's willingness not to question the way Guardians are treated conflicts with her usually outspoken and rebellious personality.

One thing I found really interesting was the Moroi Royal Court. I wouldn't say that it's corrupt, but I think it needs to change. Lissa is the last Dragomir, which makes her valuable, but she's also treated like an object sometimes. The Moroi queen talks about arranged marriages, acting like Lissa is a dog or something. I didn;t like how a lot of the Royals are depicted as being arrogant and self-centered, believing that they are more important than normal Moroi just becuase of their bloodlines. Really, how much have they done to earn that power and respect they act like they deserve? I don't like how they all act that way. (With the exception of Lissa, Christian, and Adrian, of course. I'm talking about the adults.) Not all the Royals can have that sort of mindset, and I'm sure that there are some reasonable ones in the books. I just haven't met them yet.

Speaking of entitlement and prejudice, there's the way Christian is treated. It's not new for everone to treat like he have the plague, but it's getting annoying. (Obviously, I'm not including Lissa here. It's more like the general public.) Not everyone can really blame him for hi parent's choices, can they? That seems very unreasonable. As Rose points out many times, Christian is not his parents. Again, I'm sure there are people out there in the books who agree with Rose, but we conveniently haven't met them yet.

To wrap it all up I sort of have mixed feelings about the book. The smatter of politics, such as the concern for Lissa's future with the other Royals, was new and interesting. Rose was fiery and loyal, snapping back at everyone from unreasonable teachers to school bullies on both her and Lissa's behalf, and I liked the action with the fighting sequence that came towards the end of the book. The drama was toned down in comparison to the previous two books, which was a nice change and allowed me to focus more on the plot. On the other hand, I was frustrated with the way many people were unrealistically heavily prejudiced, such as with Christian's past, and Rose's unwavering belief in being a Guardian, regardless of what she's giving up, drove me a little crazy. I wish she would aknowledge how hurtful the system could be for her if she wants to do something in her life. I think I enjoyed it more than the previous two books, Vampire Academy and Frostbite, so it was better that way. In the end, I'd give the book 3.5/5 stars. It wasn't the best book I've ever read, but I enjoyed it as a way to pass the time.

And why do the n\last names of all the royal families have to be so hard to pronounce? Dragomir isn't so bad, but what about Ivashkov? Try dealing with names like that.

#richellemead #romance #assassinsspieshuntersandbodyguards #vampires #supernatural