Vampire Academy Book Review

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, Book 1) by Richelle Mead is the first book in a series with a different twist on vampires than I am used to.

First some explanation of terms:
Moroi-- mortal vampire, strong and powerful but susceptible to death like humans.
Strigoi--Dead vampire can only be killed by limited methods, very strong and very bad.
Dhampir--Bad ass half human half vamp in charge of protecting the Moroi

Now we have Lisa as the last in her Moroi blood line who has a intimate connection with Rose a Dhampir that she has run away with. They share a bond that helps Rose protect Lisa.

When the book opens they are runaways who left the Academy and are being hunted. They are eventually taken back to the Academy and that is where the story really gets good. They are both behind in the respective studies and they are separated as a punishment.

Rose was only able to stay at the academy if she promised to take some extra lessons with Dimitri a very powerful Dhampir. He guides her on the right path for protecting Lisa and he is just one of those mentors you have to love. Rose learned quickly that she was not prepared to protect Lisa and worked very hard to improve.

I liked Rose even when I was thinking she was an impulsive idiot. She was rather impulsive at times but most of the time she had one goal. What she was born to do, to protect Moroi, was her never far from her mind. She was going to protect Lisa no matter who got in her way. She didn't always do it well but she was determined to do her best.

I was really surprised at how well this character was written considering this was a teen novel. I am generally really annoyed by the characters in teen novels and this one was quite different. Rose handled herself well in tough situations and while you could sense the teen angst in her she was not stupid most of the time.

Lisa is a strange character and I couldn't get a good read on her through out the book I am still not sure if I like her or not. She and all the other Moroi have the ability to use magic but she struggles with specializing in one form of magic. She is tormented by some crazy person leaving dead animals in her wake. There is also the new girlfriend of her x that is determined to ruin her life and Rose's too.

Lisa doesn't handle the stress well and does some crazy things to relieve it. Rose cares for her and tries to help her through these times while still keeping her secrets and things just wind up out of control. There are so many twists and turns in this one book you will be guessing until the end. I very much enjoyed this book. I felt only one thing was lacking for me and that was action. My best guess is this book was about developing characters and that was done very well. There was a bit of action toward the end but not much. Also while I bought the romance I would have have a feeling I am not going to like it much in future books.

I am putting the next book on my to get list as I really enjoyed this one. I am going to give it 4 out of 5 stars and hope the action picks up.