Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3) by Richelle Mead | Review

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3) by Richelle Mead
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: November 13, 2008
Genre: YA, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Pages: 443
Source: Purchased
First Line: "His fingertips slid along my back , applying hardly any pressure, yet sending shock waves over my flesh."
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Goodreads Description

WHAT IF FOLLOWING HER HEART MEANS ROSE COULD LOSE HER BEST FRIEND FOREVER?

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.

Rose knows it is forbidden to love another guardian. Her best friend, Lissa - the last Dragomir princess - must always come first. Unfortunately, when it comes to gorgeous Dimitri Belikov, some rules are meant to be broken...

Then a strange darkness begins to grow in Rose's mind, and ghostly shadows warn of a terrible evil drawing nearer to the Academy's iron gates. The immortal undead are closing in, and they want vengeance for the lives Rose has stolen. In a heart-stopping battle to rival her worst nightmares, Rose will have to choose between life, love, and the two people who matter most... but will her choice mean that only one can survive?

My Thoughts

This review will be probably end up shorter than some of my others. I reread this book a few months ago so I will be going through a summary to share my thoughts. Since this is the third book in this series there will be spoilers.

In the opening of Shadow Kiss Rose is struggling with the death of Mason and not being able to be with Dimitri. While trying to seem like she isn't extremely affected by everything that's happened, Rose along with all the other novices are prepping for their qualifying exam. Throughout the book Rose has moments of seeing people who are dead. There are also moments of extreme, uncontrollable anger from Rose that can't be explained.

In this book I feel like the Strigoi were an even bigger threat then they have ever been. In Frostbite there was a glimpse into what the Strigoi were planning but I think in this book everything becomes more real and widespread. The end of this book was heartbreaking. The first time I read it I knew something was going to go wrong but I was hoping it would be something that I, and the main characters, could live with.

Shadow Kiss was a fast-paced read and another great installment to the series. I am really enjoying my reread of this series. 

Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2) by Richelle Mead | Review

Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2) by Richelle Mead
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: April 10, 2008
Genre: YA, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Pages: 327
Source: Purchased
First Lines: "Things die. But they don't always stay dead. Believe me, I know."
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Goodreads Description

WHEN LOVE AND JEALOUSY COLLIDE ON THE SLOPES, WINTER BREAK TURNS DEADLY...

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.

Rose has serious guy trouble. Her gorgeous tutor, Dimitri, has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason has a huge crush on her, and she keeps getting stuck in her best friend Lissa's head while she's making out with her boyfriend, Christian.

Then a nearby Strigoi attack puts St. Vladimir's on high alert, and the Academy whisks its students away on a mandatory holiday ski trip. But the glittering winter landscape and posh Idaho resort only provide the illusion of safety. When three students run away to strike back against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. Only this time, Rose - and her heart - are in more danger than she ever could have imagined... 

My Thoughts

*This review contains spoilers (because it's hard to reread a book/series and not spoil some stuff)

The second book in the Vampire Academy series opens with a brief summary of the world and the first book. It's like that part in last week's episode that you see right before a new episode starts of whatever show you are watching.

The stakes are higher than ever when it is discovered that there has been what seems like an organized Strigoi attack on one of the royal families. Strigoi working together has never been heard of since they were so quick to betray each other. Once it gets out about the attack, in order to keep students during the holidays, St. Vladmir's set up a mandatory ski trip for all students and allowed families to attend as well.

Of course this couldn't be a paranormal romance book without any romance. There are some tense moment between Rose and Dimitri early. Things get worse once they get to the ski resort. During the trip we discover Rose has to more love interests, even though Dimitri is the only she wants. Honestly Adrian started to grow on me.

By the end of the book Rose finally lived up to and followed through with everything she had to say in the first book. She also finally realizes being a guardian isn't as glamorous as she thought it was. As a result of everything that happens Rose becomes more serious about everything she feels she must do in order to protect her friends, especially Lissa.

This book was so exciting! I loved this book the first time around and was able to relive the experience all over again. 

Waiting on Wednesday | Soundless by Richelle Mead

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature created by Breaking The Spine.

Soundless by Richelle Mead

Publisher: Razorbill

Expected Release Date: November 10th 2015

Pages: 272

Goodreads Description

For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village, where rocky terrain and frequent avalanches prevent residents from self-sustaining. Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom.

When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink and many go hungry. Fei’s home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.

But soon Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon.


Richelle Mead takes readers on a triumphant journey from the peak of Fei’s jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiugo, where a startling truth and an unlikely romance will change her life forever...

Why I'm Waiting

I loved the Vampire Academy series and I heard good things about the Bloodlines series, so when I heard Richelle Mead was coming out with a new book I was really excited to check it out. Besides the draw of previously reading work from this author, the summary sounds really interesting. This a new concept that I've never heard being written before, and having new story plots are always interesting. This book is also bringing diversity to YA! Can't wait to pick this up!

What are some of your thoughts on this book?

Top Ten Tuesday #3

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at Broke and Bookish. Each week there is a topic and we list off our top ten items based on that topic.

Books/Series to Read If You Liked the Twilight Series (And If You Didn't!)

I'm pretty sure by now everyone has heard of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer either by reading the books or watching the movies or both. A lot of people were on one extreme or the other when it came to this series but I was in the middle. It wasn't my favorite series but for the most part I still enjoyed it. As I check out more blogs, I realize that I haven't read that many books compared to some others, at least that I can remember, so I wanted to pick something that I remembered and that I was sure a lot of people were familiar with. If you liked the Twilight Series, and even if you didn't, here are some recommendations to other books or series you may enjoy. Just a precaution, I'm really bad at explaining what a book is about but I will try my best.

*Pictures link to book page on Goodreads

The Host by Stephenie Meyer - I hear a lot of people talking about the Twilight series but I don't hear too much about this one. I read this right after I finished the Twilight series and I loved it. This is basically about aliens who come to take over the earth by inserting themselves inside human bodies. For those who did not like the Twilight series I would still recommend you check this out.

Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout - I have been hearing about this series a lot more lately but I only discovered it within the last year. This series was so fun and action packed I got through each book in about 2 to 3 days. I loved this series so much that I would like to reread it, even though it hasn't been that long since I finished it! 

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead - This is another popular vampire series and was one of my favorite series. I started this series when the first 2 or 3 books were out and the rest as they came out. This series took a different approach than the Twilight series. One group of vampires in this series is similar to Twilight series vampires while still having a more traditional form in the other group of vampires. The Moroi are the vampires that are alive and use dhampirs, like the narrator and our main heroine, for protection from the Strigoi, the undead vampires. This series kept me interested from the beginning to the end, and even when it ended I wanted more.

Blood of Eden by Julie Kagawa - This is a vampire series that I don't hear too many people talk about. Like the Vampire Academy series, there is a strong heroine. She claims to only be looking out for herself but she is always willing to help out others even if puts herself in danger. Her morals are even carried over when she becomes a vampire and has to fight her instincts. I haven't finished this series yet but I definitely recommend this, especially since I flew through the first two.

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz - This was another series I grew up with but never actually finished. I think I actually have all the books now so I plan to reread and finish this series. This is another series about vampires but this one was different from all the others. One of the most interesting things is that the vampires were not made but came from the recycled bloodlines of fallen angles, the Blue Bloods. This series was full of certain family expectations and forbidden relationships. Honestly, I think I mostly stuck around for one of the main relationships. Although one of my favorite parts was the romance between certain characters the overall story that I read was entertaining.

A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest - I wondered if I should even include this series in this list. I wouldn't say this is my favorite series, not even my favorite about vampires. However, this series was fast, entertaining, and kinda addictive. I would finish one and since they were so cheap for the kindle I would just go get the next one and immediately start reading it. For the price I think it would be worth it to at least check at the first book in the series and make your own opinions from there.

These are the books/series that stick in my mind that readers that enjoyed the Twilight series might enjoy. Let me know if you have any recommendations of your own!