"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)