Review: Vampire Academy & Frostbite by Richelle Mead

Author: Richelle Mead

Publisher: Razorbill, 2007 and 2008

Genre: YA (Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance)

 

Vampire Academy
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 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.

My Review: 
          I just knew I would fall in love with this series! 

          It all begins with Rosemarie Hathaway, who is a resourceful, driven, and not-afraid-to-take-command-no-matter-how-dire-the-consequences kind o girl. These are all great qualities for a guardian, which is what she has been training for since little…well, at least until she and her friend Lissa ran away from vampire school! 

          It develops into an intriguing story dealing with: surviving the school’s social politics among the Moroi (the “live” vampire) royals, Lissa’s ex’s new girlfriend who brings on a storm of jealousy and trouble, Rose’s reputation and very short temper, Lissa’s mental state, the mysterious powers she seems to wield and the ‘psychic’ bond she shares with Rose. Of course, it couldn’t be complete without a bit of romance. Because they ran away, Rose is now behind on her guardian training, and gets assigned special training sessions with the man who caught them, Dimitri Belikov. At first she resents the training, but soon finds out it might not be such a burden to spend two hours a day training with a hot young Russian guy who, with just a look, can make her insides melt. 

          Overall a very easy, fun and interesting read you won’t want to put down..

Frostbite

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Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose…

It's winter break at St. Vladimir's, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy's crawling with Guardians—including Rose's hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if hand-to-hand combat with her mom wasn't bad enough, Rose's tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason's got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa's head while she's making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy's not taking any risks… This year, St. Vlad's annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price…

My Review:  
          A whole new set of troubles comes Rose’s way in this exciting continuation of the Vampire Academy series. A Gruesome Strigoi attack happens on the day Rose was supposed to take her guardian test. A whole Moroi family and their guardians are killed, but what’s more terrifying is that it seems they have humans helping them. The Moroi royals have only one solution, to run and hide in their luxury ski lodge. 

          All the while Rose is trying to forget what she feels for Dimitri, her hot Russian mentor, but jealousy makes it hard to keep her true feelings in check. So, she does what any girl would do, and tries to forget him by hitching up with another guy. But when another massacre occurs, even Rose has to put aside her personal problems to go and save her friends who have gone hunting for Strigoi to prove they can. 

          All through the book there’s tension: between Rose and her mentor, between Rose and her best friend, between Rose and a new mysterious character. Just everywhere and I loved that. It kept me turning the pages. I totally agree that the Moroi shouldn’t stand behind their guardians; they should take a stand beside them and fight. Hopefully this will be explore further in the following books. Also, it’s been a while since a book has made me seriously tear up, but this one managed it!