Frostbite (Vampire Academy, #2)

by Richelle Mead

[Nessa Luna]

I believe it's been almost exactly a year since I've read the first book in this series, Vampire Academy. Why it took me so long to pick up Frostbite, part two? I have no idea. Because I did really enjoy the first book, even though it's about vampires - a subject I've been avoiding for a very long time. (Blame Twilight for that, yay). I think Vampire Academy made me realise that not all vampire and werewolf books are like Twilight and that some of them are definitely worth reading.

Frostbite continues the story of Rose Hathaway and Lissa Dragomir - a Damphir guardian and Moroi princess - and their adventures at St. Vladimir's. A Moroi royal family has just been slaughtered by Strigoi vampires, and the Moroi society realises that they aren't safe anymore. So they are swept away to a luxurious ski resort for the rest of their Christmas holiday, hoping the Strigoi won't find them there. But for Rose, being stuck in a resort with the guy she's in love with (Dimitri) and the guy who's in love with her (Mason) isn't really something to be happy about.

The first thing I noticed, was that the prologue basically retells the events that happened in the previous book in a couple of pages. That is something I really like - and I'm gonna make a petition to get all authors to do this (just kidding, but really they should) - because it is so handy for people who take a long time to read the rest of a series (*points at self*). Especially those who don't feel like rereading the previous books. I really hope Richelle Mead did this for the rest of the series as well, because that could save people so much time (unless they're binge-readers, then it doesn't really matter).

Most of the original characters were in this book as well; Rose and Lissa (of course), Dimitri, Christian, Mason, Mia. There were also some new characters; Rose's mum Janine, Tasha (Christian's aunt), Adrian. I have to say I really liked Tasha, and for some reason I imagined her looking like Natasha Romanoff (aka Black Widow), but that was basically just because of the name. I'm not too sure what to think about the other two characters, I didn't really like Rose's mum in the beginning because Rose didn't like her either - but I guess she grew on me near the end. And I still don't really like Adrian.

The story was easy to read and I got through it at top speed. I really enjoyed the winter setting, and the Strigoi attacks kept it exciting throughout the whole book. Because honestly, I didn't really like the romance part of this book. Which is something I probably say about every book that has even the slightest bit of romance in it - but here I just wasn't sure what to think about it. Rose is in love with Dimitri - but he doesn't want her because of various reasons. Mason is in love with Rose - but Rose only sees him as a friend, but then suddenly decides to make out with him several times throughout this book. Then there is Tasha who wants to make a baby with Dimitri - which makes Rose hate Tasha which I kind of get but also not. Yeah, the romance in this book was very complicated and though I was interested in finding out what was going to happen between Rose and Dimitri - I was also a bit annoyed at it. (The only romance I really liked in this book was Lissa and Christian's).

I do like seeing Rose and Dimitri together, but I just hate the way he so desperately tries to ignore his feelings for her, and I hate how she desperately tries to forget about him by making out with Mason and if she'd had her way a lot of other boys as well. Yeah I really like Rose as a character, but I'm just not sure what to think about her boy... let's just call it a 'problem' okay?

Like I said, the story was written in such a way I flew through it, and I enjoyed reading it very much. There were some parts that made me laugh, there was one particular part that made me cry in the middle of the night while my alarm clock was set for 6:30am. It certainly made me want to read more, and I immediately added the next book, Shadow Kiss, to my cart on Book Depository. I think Vampire Academy has cured me from my vampire allergy, yay!

My opinion on this book in one gif: