Helpful Score: 1
I love the infatuation period of falling in love with a new book series. Getting to know the characters, gaining familiarity with the writer's style, navigating around the new "world" of the story... it's all lots of fun.
It doesn't always work out in the end, but in the case of Vampire Academy, I was quickly sure that author Richelle Mead and I were at the start of a beautiful relationship. (The fact that my rarely-wrong bestie recommended the series didn't hurt this opinion, either.)
In my humble opinion, the most lackluster thing about this series is its name. Not only does it brand it squarely in the "academy" age bracket -- limiting its audience -- the cheesy cover art doesn't help matters much.
I think many 20-something and older readers -- like me -- will enjoy Mead's writing and her likeable characters. The action is good, but plot is still somewhat original, even in the crowded YA field and the love story is smoldering without being smutty. It would be a shame to limit all this "goodness" to a high school audience, so I hope more seasoned readers aren't scared of by the title. There is more here than superficial teenage vampire fluff. Truly.
Mead does a great job of introducing central character Rose and her best friend, Lissa. The tie between the two girls is powerful and believable, and I enjoyed the voice of both very much. I look forward to following their story through the rest of the series. More importantly, Rose is not a "Mary Jane" heroine. She makes mistakes and bad choices, often without apology. She has normal, adolescent hormones and hangups. She just happens to also be a kick-ass vampire guardian in training (called a dhampir, in this series). She's a smart, sassy character that brings a lot of "girl power" to the genre without trying to be a role model. It's refreshing.
Vampire Academy effectively sets up not only a modest hurdle for the characters to overcome in book one, but also the large, overarching threat the characters will likely deal with for the rest of the series. Budding romances are introduced. Social tensions are revealed, both in the microcosm of the academy and in the large-scale political world the characters live in. All in all, it's a great book.
I very much look forward to reading the other books in the series, and following Rose and Lissa on their next dangerous adventure.
It doesn't always work out in the end, but in the case of Vampire Academy, I was quickly sure that author Richelle Mead and I were at the start of a beautiful relationship. (The fact that my rarely-wrong bestie recommended the series didn't hurt this opinion, either.)
In my humble opinion, the most lackluster thing about this series is its name. Not only does it brand it squarely in the "academy" age bracket -- limiting its audience -- the cheesy cover art doesn't help matters much.
I think many 20-something and older readers -- like me -- will enjoy Mead's writing and her likeable characters. The action is good, but plot is still somewhat original, even in the crowded YA field and the love story is smoldering without being smutty. It would be a shame to limit all this "goodness" to a high school audience, so I hope more seasoned readers aren't scared of by the title. There is more here than superficial teenage vampire fluff. Truly.
Mead does a great job of introducing central character Rose and her best friend, Lissa. The tie between the two girls is powerful and believable, and I enjoyed the voice of both very much. I look forward to following their story through the rest of the series. More importantly, Rose is not a "Mary Jane" heroine. She makes mistakes and bad choices, often without apology. She has normal, adolescent hormones and hangups. She just happens to also be a kick-ass vampire guardian in training (called a dhampir, in this series). She's a smart, sassy character that brings a lot of "girl power" to the genre without trying to be a role model. It's refreshing.
Vampire Academy effectively sets up not only a modest hurdle for the characters to overcome in book one, but also the large, overarching threat the characters will likely deal with for the rest of the series. Budding romances are introduced. Social tensions are revealed, both in the microcosm of the academy and in the large-scale political world the characters live in. All in all, it's a great book.
I very much look forward to reading the other books in the series, and following Rose and Lissa on their next dangerous adventure.
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