Vampire Academy: The New Book-To-Series Adaptation… Or Not?
Hello awesome people, happy Saturday everyone and welcome back to Victorious Pages.
It has been a couple of weeks since we talked about a TV show, so the time has come again. A show I was excited to watch at first but when I found out the people involved in the production I got scared to say the least. And for good reason, as it appears to be the case.
I’m talking of course about the newest Vampire Academy book-to-series adaptation, developed by Julie Plec, among other people.
Knowing what Julie Plec did to The Vampire Diaries, how from season 2 onwards it was more of a fanfic rather than anything else, and how the show should have ended after season 4, in my personal opinion, I had low to no expectations about the Vampire Academy adaptation.
The problem though is that Vampire Academy is one of my all-time-favourite book series of all time. Those of you who have been here since the beginning, you are well aware that I did a reread of the series a few years ago and I really wanted to reread the books again, with the premier of the show coming closer.
After those 30 minutes in HELL I watched last night, I most definitely will.
We’re truly talking about a fanfic through and through. The cast is nothing like the characters described in the books, in my opinion they haven’t captivated the true essence of the characters they portrait, the ethnicities of many of them have been changed and some characters on the show have simply kept the name of the books’ characters, but are entirely different people.
So, and I am asking this with genuine curiosity, why do you, people of the production of this show, claim that this is a book-to-series adaptation of the Vampire Academy, written by Richelle Mead?
Last time I checked, Rose Hathaway was a half-Scottish, half-Turkish Dhampir, pledged and sworn to protect Lissa Dragomir. Excuse me if the actress you chose doesn’t look anything like the Rose in the book. What’s more, to me, she doesn’t even have Rose’s spark. Rose is fearless, badass, a romantic deep down, with the bravado being her poker face and a way to look tougher to those who try to belittle her.
And that’s just one of the characters. The entire cast seems wrong to me. It is a typical Julie Plec move to change how characters look, do things completely different from how they are described in the books and yet claim that the show being produced is actually a book-to-series adaptation. Not to mention have an entire fandom waiting for this particular show to be released.
I might have ignored certain stuff that occurred in The Vampire Diaries series but now I simply can’t.
Last night, when I decided to give the show a try, it literally hurt my eyes to watch. And not only because of the wrong, in my opinion, cast. But because of how messed up the plot is. From what others have told me, because naturally I’m not going to support a show that’s butchering one of my all-time-favourite book series, the focus of the story isn’t just the first book. It’s a mix and match of all six of the books.
Writing about this truly makes the annoyance inside me boil, so I’m just gonna leave the trailer here for you to see.
If you guys have watched the show, I really want to read your thoughts and feelings about it.
I still feel like we haven’t gotten the Rose Hathaway and the Dimitri Belikov we truly deserve, nor a full book-to-movie adaptation doing justice to this international best-selling series.
Of course I know there are people who haven’t read the books and are simply watching the show, being introduced to this universe for the very first time. So, I want to make it crystal clear that all the thoughts, feelings and opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
I look forward to reading your comments and I want to thank each and every one of you for stopping by once again. It means the world to me and I want you to know that I most certainly don’t take your presence here for granted.
Have an amazing weekend, awesome nerds, stay safe and stay positive.
Till next time… Toodles! 
