Review: Vampire Academy series

I'd been laying off the vampire series for a while, but this one caught my eye. I read the 6 book series over a week. Hey, they don't call me the Binge Reader for nuthin'.

Rose is a really unique heroine. I've never really read anything like it. She was described by a different character as just being "full of fire." All too often these days we see the typical shygirl-develop-into-a-brave-heroine routine, and it was nice to see an already outgoing girl explore her own personality and mature. I also find her relationship with Dmitri quite unusual, and I'm not talking about the forbidden part. Usually, YA authors don't touch so much as the deeper feelings of love as much as the physical senses or the fluttering feeling, blood rush, etc. Dmitri and Rose's relationship is interesting because sometimes he feels like an older brother figure but you can also sense the deepness, and that it goes beyond friendship. I find their relationship closer to real love than the blood-rushing, heart-racing sensation that you hear about so often. Sometimes it does seem like Mead tries a little too hard to sell the "deeper love," though. It does seem like Rose narrates her feelings a little too much, saying cliche things like "I realized that while he's there for me, I'm also helping him." You get the idea.


The plotline is really well done as well. Richelle Mead successfully reformatted our whole world, splitting it into the "vampire world" (split into Moroi and Strigoi) and the "human world," plus the Alchemists that defend the line between them.

Overall, awesome series. I'm glad I revisited the vampire phenomenon. I think maybe I'd just had enough of Zoey Redbird's character from House of Night. Blah. 


Highly recommended. 4.5/5.


Sincerely,
The Binge Reader