Vampire Academy is the first novel in a new series aimed at Young Adult readers by Richelle Mead. Richelle is also the author of Succubus Blues and the upcoming Dark Swan fantasy series, although these books are written for a slightly older adult audience. Vampire Academy has three types of vampire, so there is plenty of potential for supernatural thrills. The Moroi are living vampires who feed on blood and can work elemental magic. The Strigoi are undead vampires who are either Moroi who killed and become undead by choice or they are humans, Dhampirs or Moroi who have been bitten and turned against their will. Either way the Strigoi are the strong murderously blood-thirsty immortal vampires of traditional vampire lore. Dhampirs are the children of a Moroi vampire and a human (or another Dhampir.) They are able to go out in the day, can’t work magic and don’t feed on blood - but they are stronger and faster than both normal humans and Moroi vampires. They protect the Moroi from the Strigoi (who find Moroi blood irresistible.) Written for the Young Adult market, Vampire Academy has a boarding school setting but this is not any ordinary school - it is St Vladimir’s Vampire Academy. St Vladimir’s Academy teaches young Moroi vampires magic and young Dhampirs combat skills and their responsibilities to guard their Moroi kin. A boarding school that teaches magic classes may sound a lot like Hogwarts from the Harry Potter novels but there really is no comparison. At Hogwarts Harry Potter and friends learn about magic, eat giant feasts prepared by house-elves and generally have a strange innocence that manages to transcend their being teenagers. By contrast, at St Vladimir’s Academy learning about magic comes a poor second to boyfriends, girlfriends, gossip about who is doing the nasty with who, drinking and parties. Somehow I feel that Lissa and Rose are probably the more accurate portrayal of older teenagers at a mixed-gender boarding school…. Aside from the constant social intrigues that the girls must navigate, Lissa seems to be the target of some nasty “pranks” that involve dead or dying animals. The dead animals could just be someone’s idea of a joke but the nature of the “pranks” suggests that somebody at the Academy knows Lissa’s darkest secret. Vampire Academy is an engrossing tale. Packed full of excitement and intrigue this book should have no problems keeping its teenage audience entertained. It probably has just enough romance to entertain plenty of adults too.Read full review
I really enjoyed these books. I bought them for my 13 year old who is very into vampires. It was a nice change to see a different kind of vampire. The series as a whole was very engaging. I was very excited to see what would happen next. A few times what I thought was a predictable story line ended up surprising me.
This product was a new innovation for me and I think I will possibly consider buying more of this type of product. This one, however, was a Christmas gift for a 12-year old girl who loves to read like I do. I have already given it to her and needless to say she is more than thrilled and is looking forward, as I am, to reading in this format in the future. She is a "Twilight" fan and loves vampire books as well as other types of literature, so I know she will love this product. I know this is a review of the product; however, I must say that I purchased this from an exceptional buyer which makes buying a pleasure through ebay! Thanks for welcoming me into the ebay way of doing things!
Richelle Mead creates a fantasy world that sucks you in from the first page and leaves you breathless wanting more after the last page. If you love the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, then this is a great set to take its place in your spare reading time. The characters are very easy to get into as well as grow attached to from the first book on.
I borrowed this books series from the library for something to read to pass the time at work and fell in love with the characters. I liked the books so much that I just have to have them to reread over and over. For anyone that likes The Twilight Saga and/or The Mortal Instruments/Infernal Devices Series.
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