Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

St Vladimir's Academy isn't just any boarding school - hidden away, it's a 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 where the girls must survive a world of forbidden romances, a ruthless social scene and terrifying night time rituals. But most of all, staying alive.

I'm giving this one 4 stars, but it's probably more like 3.5. I really enjoyed it. Especially the first half of the novel. A lot of people told me to give this series a chance, despite the title and description not sounding very appealing. They were right. It was a lot better than I would have expected. I enjoyed it greatly and was sulked in immediately.
I really enjoyed the diverse group of characters. I especially liked seeing two female best friends playing the leads. Their dynamic was terrific and I really enjoyed it. The characters were deeply flawed, which always makes for fascinating stories. The mystery and conspiracy behind the novel was also very good.
The author also tackled ideas of misogyny. Having the misogynistic principles in the society as a major plot point and obstacle for our characters. At times this was done really well and I loved it. The characters struggled with the roles they were put in and also showed the problems of internalizing other people's ideas of who they should be, which I loved. Despite that, sometimes the book fell into the trap of prompting stereotypes, which undermined what the author seemed to be trying for. At times it seemed to fall into the stereotype of girls as caddy and backstabbing. The book almost seemed to prompt both that stereotype and that behavior at times. Other times there seemed to be a glimmer of subverting the stereotype, but it never fully committed to this. I am curious to see whether there is growth in the next novel, but it was a frustrating point in this one. That aspect of the book, which was pretty glaring toward the middle portion, was frustrating and pulled me out of the story.
I still am curious where it will go, and I plan to try the next novel at least.

I hate to say this but I was very underwhelmed with this one.. I love vampire books always have a little blood has always made things more intriguing for me. I was hoping for so much but didn't get much. will give book two a try but don't have high hopes

3.5/5

There are a few problematic issues such as Rose being 17 and Dimitri being 24, the age gap is awful but understandable in the sense that when this book came out, there were hundreds of other books coming out with similar age gaps. However, Rose's hypocrisy was astonishing that she made fun of Mia dating Aaron while she could possibly be a child of eleven years. The comment she made about Aaron being a pedophile(?).

Other than that, regarding the story itself, i liked it but there wasnt much vampire-y stuff like biting, fangs, blood, etc. there were moments i forgot i was reading a book about vampires.

Overall, not bad.

I got major House of Night vibes from this, so if you enjoyed the first book of House of Night, you might enjoy this as well.
Also, I need a Dimitri in my life, sigh