Mad Soul Child
Written on Jun 5, 2020
**Read the book and watch the original TV series, now streaming on Peacock!**
Join the legion of fans who skyrocketed this six-book series to the top of the charts. Start here, with the first book that kicked off the international #1 bestselling Vampire Academy series.
Love and loyalty run deeper than blood. St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger. . . .
Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.
**cover image may vary**
“We’re suckers for it.” — Entertainment Weekly
- ISBN10 159514174X
- ISBN13 9781595141743
- Publish Date 16 August 2007 (first published 1 August 2007)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 15 April 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Razorbill
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 352
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781595141743
Reviews
funstm
Written on Mar 15, 2020
I loved the relationship between her and Lissa and how they look after one another. Lissa was an interesting character. Her depression is an interesting element and I liked that Mead tries to normalise it. Particularly the message that getting outside help can be beneficial to obtaining happiness. I liked Christian and her relationship with him. They clearly connected and really liked one another.
I loved the relationship between Rose and Dimitri - but I kind of just ignored the whole she's 17 thing and imagined her older. Or him younger. Because a 24 year old dating a 17 year old is icky. At 17 I would've thought so what. At 29 it's just plain wrong. So I'm kind of just ignoring that bit. If nothing else, I liked that they got to know one another and have a lot of the same views.
The banter between all the characters was funny and I enjoyed the plot. The action was fast paced and mysterious enough to have me dying for more. It wasn't anything particularly new (what is these days) but it was unique and well written enough to stand out and obtain 5 stars.
liz089
Written on Jan 3, 2020
Awesome to read this series again ! Has been many years, but I was in the mood for it and VA did not disappoint ! I was kind of afraid I would have grown out of this series, but it is great tot visit these characters and world again. Onto the next one !
ammaarah
Written on Apr 23, 2019
"Only a true best friend can protect you from immortal enemies."
Vampire Academy tells the story from the PoV of the best friend of the super special snowflake character.
Rose, the main character, is such a badass. She's reckless, stubborn, loyal, passionate and arrogant. She's tough and doesn't let anyone take advantage of her, but she's also vulnerable and feminine. I love her voice, her humour and her snark.
The highlight of Vampire Academy is the friendship and bond between Rose and Lissa. Lissa is Moroi, a mortal vampire, and Rose is her best friend and future guardian/bodyguard. Lissa is kind and compassionate and has a gentle strength, I'm extremely excited about her character development in later Vampire Academy books.
The vampire mythology and history is interesting. There are different types of vampires - Moroi, dhampir, Strigoi, bodyguards, guardians, royals, politics and elemental magic. The second part of Vampire Academy deals with mystery. The mystery aspect is predictable, but I liked how everything is revealed.
I'm a fan of books with school settings. The majority of Vampire Academy is set in St. Vladimir's Academy, a boarding school for Moroi and dhampirs. There's high school drama, cliques, mean girls, gossip and teenage angst. I don't mind the teenage angst, but I'm not a fan of the girl-on-girl hate and slut-shaming.
There are two potential romantic relationships in Vampire Academy. The first one is the relationship between Lissa and Christian. Christian is my favourite character in Vampire Academy. He's witty, sarcastic and states the obvious when the other characters don't get it. I wanted him and Lissa to be together. The second one is the relationship between Rose and her mentor, Dimitri. Rose is still in high school and Dimitri is her teacher and while I find it difficult to want to them to be together, I understand their attraction. They both have similar values and take their responsibilities seriously.
Vampire Academy is quite juvenile in comparison to later books in the series, which become wider in scope and darker, but it's a good set up for the rest of the series. Also, holy hell when it comes to all the foreshadowing. Vampire Academy has it all - vampires, magic, mystery, action, drama and romance. What a fun read!
"I love pity parties. I wish I'd brought the hats." (Christian Ozera)
vagasker
Written on Feb 28, 2015
flybymoonlight
Written on Oct 1, 2014
tweetybugshouse
Written on Sep 25, 2014
Berls
Written on Aug 31, 2014
My Initial Reaction...
I think I've heard so much about Vampire Academy that I expected more. I do like the main character and the world has potential. For the first book in a series it has enough that I'll keep reading.
The Narration...
Stephanie Wolfe was a pleasant narrator. She didn't blow me away, but I also didn't have any problems with any of her voices. They were all distinct and had personality - and even the male voices worked. I'd give her a B+ and plan to continue listening.
The Characters...
Vampire Academy is told from the point of view of Rose, a Dhampir. In this world, Dhampirs (as I understood it - the world building was a bit weak) protect the Moroi (mortal vampires). Rose is pretty mature for her age (a teen) and she takes her responsibility of protecting Lissa - her best friend and a Moroi Royal - very seriously. She seemed smart and she's definitely got kick ass potential, which I always enjoy.
The thing that didn't work for me, though, was that I couldn't stand Lissa. I hated seeing Rose give up so much and work so hard to protect someone that seemed so undeserving to me. Lissa is SO immature and her drive to be popular - though it's supposedly justified by her position as a royal - was annoying and WAY TOO high school for me. She has a great deal of power and the way she uses it is so wrong. I think I was supposed to come around to her by the end, but I didn't. Hopefully she's either going to be a villain or she'll grow a lot as the series progresses.
We have several male characters that I could talk about, but... well, I won't say much because the romances didn't do ANYTHING for me. I like Dimitri a lot, but I didn't feel any chemistry between him and Rose - perhaps he just felt too old for her and it was a bit like student and teacher, which I so don't like. And Christian seems like a sweetie, but that just angers me because I don't like Lissa. So it's not the guys that are the problem, but the pairing.
The Story...
Vampire Academy's plot was okay. My major complaint would be the world building. It has serious potential, which is why I will continue the series - but it was inadequately weaved into the story IMHO. We have all these different names for kinds of vampires - Moroi (Mortal, good vampires) and Strigoi (evil, immortal vampires) - which, is great on the surface. I love complex and unique vampire mythology. But it was quite a ways in before I understood even those basic distinctions.
There's several complex world building narratives going on in Vampire Academy and basically, while I could follow them, I felt like I was left with way too many questions for each thread. But I'm really intrigued by them and see some really interesting narratives developing and worth exploring.
The mystery was pretty good - there were some very obvious elements, but there were also some twists that I didn't see coming. All-in-all, everything about the plot was "ok", but also very promising.
Concluding Sentiments...
Overall, a decent start to a series and I'm definitely planning on continuing.
Vicki
Written on Jul 27, 2014
Nessa Luna
Written on Jun 8, 2014
Vampire Academy tells the story of best friends Lissa Dragomir, a Moroi (mortal) vampire princess; and Rose Hathaway, a Dhampir (half-vampire), and Lissa’s guardian. Two years before the story starts, they escaped from St Vladimir’s Academy; two years they have been enjoying freedom, living among the humans. But now, they are being dragged back to the Academy, and they have to face the consequences of their escape. They also have to earn back the respect of their teachers, their trainers and their peers. But that is not so hard when you’re a vampire princess. And things aren’t all rainbows and sunshine anymore at St Vladimir’s. Dead animals, threatening messages, and the constant threat of being attacked by Strigoi (the ‘dead’ vampires).
I have to admit, I am not a fan of vampires. To me, they are the Umbridge of mythical creatures. I’d rather avoid them if I can. But someone challenged me to read this book for my Day Zero challenge, so I knew I had to at least try. I ended up getting an ebook version of it, because I didn’t really feel like spending a lot of money on a physical book about a subject that I probably wouldn’t like. And indeed, I couldn’t get myself to read further than fifty pages the first time. A while ago, I decided to watch the movie, just because. Afterwards, I realised that the book would probably be a lot better, so I decided to try again. I got myself a physical copy of the book and started reading. And wow, I was surprised.
What I liked:
I liked that there were three different kind of vampires. The Moroi, good, mortal vampires; The Strigoi, bad, ‘dead’ vampires; and the Dhampir, who are half-vampire, half-human and usually guardians of Moroi vampires. Rose Hathaway, the main character of this book, is a Dhampir and training to be Lissa Dragomir’s guardian. Lissa is a Moroi, and a princess as well. She is the last of the Dragomirs and the heir to the throne. And that’s not all, Rose and Lissa share a bond. Rose almost always knows what Lissa feels. When she’s in danger, Rose will know and will be able to find her wherever she is.
I liked Lissa, she was a very likable person from the beginning and I started liking her more and more throughout the book. Sometimes, I wasn’t really that happy with the things that she did, but of course every character has flaws. I also liked Christian, who had a bit of a tragic background. Parents who turned themselves Strigoi, and were murdered in front of his eyes. Being shunted away by the other Moroi because they felt he was tainted, even though he wasn’t Strigoi himself. I also liked Dimitri, though I kept imagining the person who played him in the movies the entire time (who, in my opinion, was not as handsome and sexy as he was described in the book). The only character I wasn’t really a big fan of in the beginning, was Rose. But I’ll get to that later.
The Moroi could also do magic, which at first I thought was a bit silly. Because vampires are not witches, and in my opinion only witches/wizards should be able to do magic. But in the end, I realized that it was actually kind of cool. Moroi could specialize in any of the four elements – water, fire, air, earth – and they could do all kinds of things with it. Unfortunately, Lissa – at seventeen – still hasn’t specialized, but according to her teachers that would come soon.
The writing was very good, and I found myself wanting to read more and more, I even stayed up late a couple of times to continue reading, even though I had to get up early the next day. Things were explained very well, like the different vampires, the magic, the feeders, the royals, etc. And of course how – since they are vampires – they have a complete different time schedule than we humans have. Their school day starts when the sun has gone down, and they go back to sleep when the sun rises. I have to admit, before I read this book, I was a classic vampire stan. In my opinion, vampires should have been 100% unable to walk in the sun (Moroi can walk in the sun, but not for long), be ‘allergic’ to garlic (no mention of that in the book, but still that might be mentioned in another book); and be completely (un)dead and also immortal unless they got a stake through the heart. But I started liking the Moroi and the Strigoi (okay not so much) and the Dhampirs.
What I didn’t like:
Like I said before, I would get back to Rose as a character. Yeah, I wasn’t a big fan of her in the beginning. She kept on talking about how she wanted to get semi-naked with people, about how handsome and sexy certain characters were, how she looked A M A Z I N G in a bra while other girls did not; how she was so incredibly sexy. While I was reading, it felt to me like all the boys thought of her as nothing more than a lust object. It felt like all the boys were only thinking about making out with her, or having sex with her, or just seeing her naked. There was one sentence in the beginning of the story, where one of the novices (a guardian in training) told her that “it’s always a good time to think about [Rose] naked.” Yeah, ugh. (Of course, I fully support characters who know they are pretty and who don’t think of themselves as the ugly duckling while they are actually quite pretty, but there is that and there is being Rose Hathaway).
In the end, I got used to her being like that, and I did start to like her especially when she was protecting Lissa. But yeah, the whole flirting thing kind of annoyed me.
What I also didn’t like was that sometimes things were said, like Rose who ‘destroyed school property’, and that it would take another hundred pages before you were told what Rose had destroyed and why. I am a fan of things being explained right away, so that was kind of something I was annoyed by.
Conclusion:
In the end, I really liked Vampire Academy. I thought that the book was a lot better than the movie, though the movie was quite true to the book (apart from some minor things, but I don’t remember much of the movie to be honest). It surprised me, and it made me want to read the rest of the series. I hope people are proud of me that I am finally (maybe) getting over my irrational dislike of vampire books. Now only werewolves and angels remain.