Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Dec 16, 2009 The Flooze rated it liked it

Shelves: ya_teen, urban-fantasy-paranormal, vanquished_2010, owned, glutton_for_punishment

I do not like Rose Hathaway. She is reckless, arrogant, and often illogical. She is a braggart of the worst sort, which prevents me from appreciating her supposed intelligence and her unwavering loyalty to Lissa. Frankly, the positive aspects of her personality are difficult to reconcile against the bratty attitude she exhibits throughout Vampire Academy. I was hard-pressed to see all this “potential” she’s said to possess, and that severely limited my enjoyment of the story.

Even when I found ou ...more

21 likes · Like · see review

Jun 13, 2009 Thenia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, series, ya-na, reviewed, r-ab, vampires, 2009, magic, 2014, 2021

Complex and fascinating world, strong and complicated characters and an interesting plot make this a very enjoyable book.

I find that I have less patience for Rose now than I had the first time I read the book and she's mostly the reason for the lower rating. She is immensely selfless when it comes to Lissa but she's also a bit shallow, prejudiced and to be honest a bit of a brat. Her high-handedness regarding Christian annoyed me especially, but she eventually made up for it and started growing ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Mar 11, 2009 Marla rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, paranormal, girl-power, adult, with-reservations, vampires, series, fantasy, chick-lit, romance

4.5 Stars. I really liked this book, and I would've given it 5 stars, except I wasn't crazy about Lissa for most of the book and Rose is too slutty. (But they both get better as the series goes on.)

Likes:
* Rosemarie (Rose) Hathaway is a cocky, aggressive, mouthy, super flirty, wild, self-impressed, trouble making, half-Moroi dhampir novice guardian, but she is also brave, strong, tough, clever, protective, and extremely loyal to Lissa. Rose has a personal goal to be Lissa's guardian and is train 4.5 Stars. I really liked this book, and I would've given it 5 stars, except I wasn't crazy about Lissa for most of the book and Rose is too slutty. (But they both get better as the series goes on.)

Likes:
* Rosemarie (Rose) Hathaway is a cocky, aggressive, mouthy, super flirty, wild, self-impressed, trouble making, half-Moroi dhampir novice guardian, but she is also brave, strong, tough, clever, protective, and extremely loyal to Lissa. Rose has a personal goal to be Lissa's guardian and is training hard to achieve it. Rose is not perfect but she's an interesting and tough female heroine.
* Not sure about Moroi vampire princess, Vasilisa Dragomir, she seems timid and bland, but Lissa improves at the end of the book.
* Gorgeous, lethal Guardian Dimitri Belikov who is tutoring Rose is a great mentor figure
* Brooding, sarcastic, observant, social pariah, Christian Ozera
* LOVE how loyal Rose is to Lissa and vice versa
(view spoiler)

Dislikes:
* Whew, lots of language...I know this is how teenagers talk, but it doesn't have to be that real
* Teen drama and lots of it added to political drama and power plays
* Typos were irritating...this is a huge hit series, why wasn't it proofread better?
* I don't know if I understand why Rose and Lissa ran away...kind of important, but wasn't obvious to me
(view spoiler)

With-reservations:
lots of language (a--, sh--, bast--d, p-ssed off, wh-r-, b--ch, you get the idea), violence, murder, kidnapping/slavery, prejudice, aggression, running away, malicious gossip, drugs, sex, using people, self-mutilation, mental illness, attempted suicide, and torture. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 24, 2009 Kati rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2009, urban-fantasy, in-czech, look-for-more, 2017

Re-read: Feb. 2016. I re-read it because I watched the movie and I fell in love with Dominic Sherwood's portrayal of Christian Ozera. And now I'm a devoted Dragozera shipper. W00t!

First read: Dec. 2009. Very good. So good that I can't wait to read the next part in the series. I was rather surprised that the story was less about the teenage angst - although the Moroi teens behaved pretty much like your normal teens, they were often cruel and heartless - and much more about the horror and intrigue ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 09, 2009 Yz the Whyz rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2010-reads, richelle-mead

After having been recommended to me so many times, I finally got a copy from the library.

From the first page, I was enraptured as I follow the adventure of two girls, so different from each other but bound by friendship and something much more.

Rose is the smart-mouthed body guard-in-training for the beautiful, princess Lissa. The story opened with them on the run, only to be captured and brought back into the academy.

Mead's writing is fluid, and easy to follow, and before I know it, I'm as cau ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

May 27, 2010 Kimberly rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2011

It took me forever to get into this book. Forever as in page 276.
It's been a long while since I was in high school, so trying to get back in that though process was extremely difficult considering I put those thoughts aside a long time ago.
I couldn't get into Rose. I think I would have stayed away from her which is why I couldn't find the energy to care about her and all her drama.
I think what really bothered me about the book was the first person account, mostly from Rose's point of view. Yes ...more

Like · see review

Oct 01, 2009 Samantha rated it really liked it

Shelves: ebook-own, 2010, group-reads

First I should say I liked this one. I liked the characters, the set-up of Moroi and Strigoi and the Dhampir's relationship to both is an interesting one. However I was a little disappointed by the character's cattiness. Between the rumor-mill episodes, I really liked Lissa and Rose's relationship and how they worked as a team. The mix between life-or-death circumstances with teenage immaturity could have been worse in another author's hands, but it was worth seeing 'til the end.
I'll definitely ...more

Like · see review

Dec 13, 2010 Logan rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal, young-adult, own-bought-ebook, 2014-books-read, movie-tv

Not your average vampire novel. I appreciated the effort to build in the living vs. undead vampire clans and Rose's role as a guardian. The entire system was pretty cool, though I'm not sure I got all of the specifics down on how they mate and function as a society. Still, I liked Rose and Lissa's bond, and the star crossed lover aspect to Rose's feelings for Dimitri. I'm curious to see where the series goes from here! ...more

Like · see review