Review: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Title: Vampire Academy

Author: Richelle Mead

Published: Puffin (May 29th 2009)

No. of Pages: 336

Grade Rating: A

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger. . . .

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

Vampire Academy is a wonderfully thrilling start to the series. Full of magical Vampire lore and a totally kick-ass narrator, this is a vampire book like no other. Definitely not 'just-another-vampire-book' this is not to be missed,

I'm pleased to know that Mead wrote this book a few years before the vampire hype began taking over the world. This means that Vampire Academy isn't just another cheap copy that centres around vampires. As I'm not really a vampire fan, I wasn't sure how much I was going to like this. I already knew that readers had responded overwhelmingly well to this series. Therefore, I expected to like it but I didn't expect to love it. To my surprise, it was a thoroughly enjoyable first instalment and I now can't wait to get stuck into the sequel! I usually find with the very first book to a series, that it is confusing and just set up for the next. Thankfully, Vampire Academy had a compelling plot that was its own. The ending left you dying for more but the rest of the book had twists and turns a'plenty.

The plot was fascinating. Rose frequently had flashbacks to previous events but Mead kept you dangling by a very thin string; leading you on as you yearned to learn more and more about our protagonists and their very chilling pasts. The storyline itself is fairly complicated but the structure of the book is so extraordinarily done, you can easily read along without getting confused. Although it is important to pay close attention to what's happening, your attention rarely leaves the words radiating from the pages. The lore focusing on the Moroi, Strigoi and dhampirs is brilliant and extremely individual. I've never read a book with this kind of vampire world in it which made Vampire Academy even more unique.
 
Rose is one amazing protagonist and I'm so glad she narrated the book. Don't get me wrong I loved Lissa but Rose had this fabulous fearless quality that made her likeable but dangerous at the same time. Her 'no-nonsense' attitude was fierce and full of girl power. Her constant witty remarks and back chats could have gotten annoying if they weren't so funny! Extremely kind but tough, seeing life through her eyes was brilliant and her romance with the dashing Dimitri added to the list of enviable things about this girl. Team Dimitri, woop!
 
Just to be critical, I did have a little trouble getting into at the start. It was quite slow and I was reluctant to constantly read. Fortunately it picked up around a third of the way through. I'm looking forward to giving the rest in the series the highest ranking. This a deliciously dark adventure that is just the start of something amazing!