Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead | Review

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date: August, 16, 2007

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Pages: 332

Source: Purchased

First Line: "I felt her fear before I heard her screams."

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Goodreads Description 

ONLY A TRUE BEST FRIEND CAN PROTECT YOU FROM YOUR IMMORTAL ENEMIES…

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires—the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.

After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger…and the Strigoi are always close by.


Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever…

My Thoughts

I don't exactly remember what I first thought about this book when I picked it up since it was so long ago. I do know that I was interested enough in the summary to pick it up. During the summer I got into a bit of a reading slump, and when I was finally coming out of it I wanted to read one of the many books I haven't picked up yet but at the same time I wanted to read something I was sure was going to be good. It was between this one and another series that I got most of the way through but still didn't finish. I decided to start rereading this one first.

I thought this book was amazing! It gave a completely different take on vampires. While the Moroi still need blood to survive they don't fall under the stereotypes of what we typically think of when vampires are brought up. At the same time, the dangerous parts aren't completely taken away because there are also the Strigoi and they follow all the stereotypes of burning in the sun and killing any and everyone.

I appreciate that Rose took it upon herself to protect Lissa no matter what. When St. Vladmir's isn't safe anymore she decides they need to leave. Any moment Lissa was in trouble, Rose did everything she could to help her without any concern for how she would look or the consequences she would later have to face. Sometimes this bothered me because at times Rose acted like she was a servant instead of being Lissa best friend. However, I also understand that Rose was raised to believe that Moroi life was more important than her's and others like her.

I loved Rose! She always said what was on her mind and was quick to make jokes but she knew when it was time to be serious and focus. That was usually when she was training with Dimitri. Rose and Dimitri! I just have one word for them. SEXY!! I love that although were attracted to one another it was instant love. It starts from a place of respect and progresses as they learn more about each other.

Overall, I think this was a great start to this amazing series. I would recommend this to anyone look for a fun, fast-paced read.