Series Sunday: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

These books are not for young readers. There is bad language and some adult content in these books. I can't express how much I love the Vampire Academy series in one review. It's amazing, spectacular, superb, and simply made of awesomesauce. Every word, page, paragraph, chapter, and book in the series is amazing. Richelle had me swooning, screaming, melting, falling over laughing, and everything in between. It's a vampire series yes, which might cause some of you to have some doubts. Whatever those doubts be, throw them out the window. It is infinitely better than any other vampire series out there. It has a superb plot, amazingly developed characters that are totally relatable, the most hilarious one-liners, and the hottest, sexiest, most romantic, swoon-worthy scenes EVER! I fell in love over and over again. If any of you people out there say you don't fall for

fictional guys, think again. You will be head over heels by the end of the first book. Every character is either über hot or totally bada**, or both!

The main character is Rose Hathaway. She is a Dhampir, half vampire and half human, and mortal. When she turns eighteen, she will become a guardian for a Moroi (mortal vampire). Two years prior to the book, she runs away from St. Vladimir's Academy with her best friend and Moroi princess, Lissa Dragomir so as to keep her safe. It begins by the girls being caught and dragged back to the Academy by sexy Dhampir Dimitri. Rose is then tutored by Dimitri for the next few books so as to get back in shape and be a better fighter after loosing what lessons she had when she ran away. Thus begins her and Dimitri's romance. Besides the fact that he is seven years older than her, they are both going to be Lissa's guardian someday, meaning they can't be together. Tragic events happen and Rose gets her first strigoi (immortal vampire) kills. The Strigoi are the main antagonists of the story. Various other characters include Adrian, Eddie, Mason, Mia, and Sydney.

Again, the plot of these books are amazing. There doesn't seem to be one huge overall plot, but each book has it's own plot, and there are plots that transcend multiple books (e.g. books three through five, and books five through six). There are large bits of foreshadowing, but everything has so many ways it could turn out, that nothing is clear until the moment it takes place. Every bone Richelle Mead throws at you is like a gift from the fae, something you thought you really wanted, but with a string attached that-sometimes-makes you wish you never wanted it in the first place. And yet somehow I'm still asking for more. The series ended a couple years ago at six books, but Richelle has been hard at work on a spinoff series, Bloodlines. There are a total of two books out at the moment and the third out of six comes out in February. If you look around, you'll also see that the first book in the Vampire Academy series, Vampire Academy, is in the works of being made into a movie. Check out Richelle Meads website and Facebook page, along with Bloodlines Facebook page and the movie Facebook page. That said, this series gets a full FIVE stars.

Synopsis:

This is the synopsis for book one, Vampire Academy, so as not to spoil anything.

Only a true best friend can protect you from your immortal enemies...

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires-the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a Dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.

After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger ... and the Strigoi are always close by.

Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever...

Titles: Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound, Last Sacrifice

Author: Richelle Mead

Publisher: RazorBill

Series: Vampire Academy

Number of Books: Six