The Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead
There’s been a huge vampire fiction resurrection in recent times, and I have to say, I was actually pretty bored with all the vampire hype, especially since I don’t think much about the Twilight series or The Vampire Diaries
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Stephanie Meyer’s or L. J. Smith’s works, and in fact, if you look through the archives for my older reviews, Meyer’s The Host is one of my all time favorite books, and L. J. Smith is one of my all-time favorite authors.
I’m also a big fan of vampire fiction, so it’s not the problem of subject matter. I guess with any story, what compels me is the characters, the way the story is told, and most importantly, the believability of the story.
Suspension of belief has been a huge topic of con
versation for me lately, and sure we can say, “Hey, we’re talking about vampires here, it’s a given that the story isn’t real, so what are you going on about with believability?”
Well, you know, I’m completely willing to believe that we live in a world secretly filled with vampires, but then what?
Tell me your story; tell me what they do, tell me what’s important to them, tell me what makes them “human”, because that’s what’s important to me.
It’s been a long time since I found a vampire story I really cared about and now I’ve found it with Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series. I honestly had no idea that I’d love it this much, but I really do!
How do I even start? In Vampire Academy, Rose is a dhampir, a half-vampire, half-human, who’s bound to Lissa Dragomir, a princess of the Moroi, the good vampires.
All Moroi ar
e magic users, but they’re not allowed to use it for violence or protection, and that’s where dhampirs come in. Dhampirs are the Moroi’s bodyguard, against the evil vampires, the Strigoi.
As far as I know, there are 6 books in the series, and then a spin-off, but I’ve only read the first four books.
There are great sub-plots in each of the books, but the main story line so far (no spoilers, you can probably find all this info in the synopsis of the books on Amazon.com) is that Rose is Lissa’s guardian and protects her from any harm that might come to her. Rose met Dimitri in the first book when he came to bring them back to the Academy, and he became Lissa’s other guardian and Rose’s mentor.
He teaches Rose as much as he can about being a guardian and fighting the Strigoi. Inevitably, they fall in love, but they can’t be together as they would put Lissa’s life in danger as her guardians. So they fight their feelings as long as they can, but eventually they both give in to it. 
Unfortunately, there was a Strigoi attack not long after, and Dimitri is turned into a Strigoi. Well, to the Moroi world, that means he’s as good as dead, but Rose feels that she has to kill him before she can truly let him go. So she sets off to find and kill him.
It’s all very exciting and I can’t wait to find out what happens next. I’m on the waiting list in the library system, so I have to wait a while, but not too long I hope.
What I like about the way Mead tells the story is the way it seems to have just the right combination of childishness and maturity. I feel that’s what we all as humans basically are; people trying to find the right combination between having childish fun and enjoying life, and being responsible and mature adults. It also completely applies to our behavior; when do we act mature and classy, and when do we act petty and childish?
Growing up is hard to do, as Rose and her friends find in Vampire Academy, but a lot of the times you find that growing older, even when you’re legally an adult, doesn’t mean that you’ll actually act like one. Even when you’re 80 years old, there are times when you’ll still act childish, not necessarily in a bad way.
The irony is, all the time I was reading these books, I was actually supposed to be studying for a huge exam this week! Serves me right, because I didn’t do very well in the exam! I’m just hoping that my other projects and assignments will pull me through.
But what could I do? When a story pulls you in like that, you just have to let go and go with the flow! Sometimes, escapism is more important than exams, says my childish side while my mature side disapprovingly shakes her head. I just really hope I pass! I don’t need to get an amazing grade, but please just let me pass!
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