Sink Your Fangs Into: Vampire Academy

As cheesy as this sounds, this is a series with a lot of bite. I love strong female main characters and Rosemarie Hathaway (Rose), the main character of this series, definitely has a lot of sarcastic, headstrong humour. The series is written by Richelle Mead, an experienced fantasy and sci-fi writer. There are five books in the series (the fifth one arrived in my mailbox last week yay!); Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, and Spirit Bound. You might be thinking, ugh not another Twilight, but it really isn't. Richelle's take on vampires is very interesting. There are three different creatures that occupy Richelle's books; Dhampirs, Strigoi, and Moroi. You might be saying to yourself, what is she on about, but I will explain. Moroi are vampires with a twist, they are not truly dead. Each Moroi has the powers of one of the four elements, fire, air, earth, and water. They operate just like you and me but they need human blood, but they never kill to get it. Strigoi are truly dead vampires that don't eat and don't get sick (basically traditional vampires) except they really have no souls, and they cannot be good, it just is impossible. There are only two ways that you can become a Strigoi; you kill a human for blood, or you are bitten by a Strigoi. Dhampirs are half Moroi half human, essentially. Dhampirs have all the strong powers of the Moroi (except for the element thing), they don't need blood, and they don't get weak in the sun. Dhampirs cannot produce more Dhampirs with another Dhampir, Morois and Dhampirs produce more Dhampirs though. The setting is normal planet earth, you still have Brangelina on the cover of People, and Justin Beiber infestation is still taking place. The only difference is you have these guys roaming around. The thing is, they have governments, and a monarchy. They have special boarding schools and they have their own Courts located all over the world, but all in secret. The Dhampirs are the realy bad ass people in this story (Rose is Dhampir) because they fight to protect the Moroi from the Strigoi (who want annihilate the race of Moroi and Dhampirs). Dhampirs train from kindergarden till grade twelve on how to fight and kill Strigoi, and how to protect their Moroi charges. As terrible as it is, the Royals or very influential common Moroi usually have dibs on guardians, and they usually have more than one. Also it is very hard to kill Strigoi since they have super strength and there are only three ways to kill them; burning them, decapitation, or piercing them through the heart with metal stakes infused with all four elemental magic. Another shitty rule that make it hard to kill Strigoi is that even though magic could be used to fight, the Moroi don't really believe in using their magic for harm (other than infusing stakes), it's illegal.

Now that you know the basics, let me tell you a bit about the plot. Rose is a Dhampir studying at St. Vladimir's Academy (for Dhampirs and Moroi only) which is a boarding located in the mountains of Montana. Rose has a best friend named Vasilisa Dragomir (Lissa) who is a Royal Moroi, they've been friends since they were four, when they were both enrolled at St. Vladimir's. The series is told from Rose's point of view, with a twist ; ). Rose has some very interesting adventures and her bad ass attitude gets her into a lot of shit (school fights, breaking and enterings, secret international trips, etc.) not to mention that she kicks some serious Strigoi ass. I have finished reading the fifth and I can tell you that there will be sixth. The series, in my opinion, is amazing. I love Mead's writing style and honestly it is laugh out loud at times. She has the ability to twist your emotions any which way she wants and you really create a connection with the characters (whether you hate or love them). The only downside is the books end in HUGE cliff hangers and Lissa is a bit on the weak side, but I guess we need the contrast and she never is Bella weak, when it comes to her friends Lissa would do ANYTHING for them, and it would seem brave not idiotic. I really shouldn't say more or I will ruin the series, all I know is that if you like books that are part mystery, part action, part romance, and always comedic, then you will LOVE this series. I give it 4.5 stars out of 5 (stupid cliffhangers). I really suggest you read this, otherwise you are really missing out. Would I lead you astray? Wait, don't answer that.