Vampire Academy

“Rose and Lissa are best friends who share an unimaginable bond, even by vampire standards. Now, after time spent on the run, they have been returned to the school from which they escaped to face ridicule, speculation, and danger. 

Welcome to St. Vladimir’s Academy, a private high school for vampires and the half-bloods who are bound to protect them. The Moroi are vampires, and the descendants of Moroi royalty are the social elite of St. Vladimir’s. The Moroi are at constant risk, though. The Strigoi, the fiercest vampires, are out to get them, any way they can. The Moroi are protected by Dhampirs, guardians who are sworn to lay down their lives to assure that the Moroi bloodlines continue.

Rose is a Dhampir and Lissa is the last of the Dragomir line of Moroi royalty. Rose and Lissa share a special bond; one that nearly assures that Rose will be Lissa’s guardian for life. Returning to school, however, proves to be more difficult than either of them imagined. The social politics have changed during their absence and Rose and Lissa are both the topic of several rumors. Their sudden disappearance, their time on the run, and their return are all subjects for speculation. In some instances, the truth may cause them more harm than rumors ever could.

In addition to the social pressures, Lissa may be in even more danger than anyone could have imagined. In addition to being Moroi and royalty, Lissa seems to have special abilities that haven’t been seen among the Moroi in centuries. Abilities that make her an even more tantalizing target to the Strigoi.”

That’s the official summary of the book, but what I found was that the story was a lot more dark and the world painted by the author is actually pretty bleak. In fact, I was fairly surprised at how dark the book is given that it is targeted at ‘young adults’. I particularly liked how the vampire race is split into both the Strigoi and Moroi and what the distinction is between them. I won’t give it away here, but knowing that Strigoi are actually Moroi that have made a certain choice and have committed certain acts makes them all the more of a ‘bad guy’ to me (and all the more interesting). 

This was a quick read, and given the target audience I expect the series will remain rather ‘light’. I’m looking forward to the next chapter in the series and hope the author can avoid falling into the trap of writing a ‘life in high school’ story. So far, so good.

★★★★✩