St. Vladimir's Summer School: Week One

Welcome to summer school.  This is what happens when you spend too much time on Twitter and have friends like Ashelynn and Jen.  We'll be spending the summer reading through the Vampire Academy series.  This is the first time I've read through them and so far, I'm loving it.  I finished the first book on Saturday and immediately ordered the second, but, because of the weekend and today's silly national holiday, it won't be here until tomorrow or Friday.  Today is my first check in and Saturday will be a special edition of Looks From Books.

Total Progress: 1/6

Vocab

Moroi - Basically upperclass vampires.  While all vampire royalty are Moroi, not all Moroi are royalty.  They are mortal, can wield magic, and need blood, but only take it from willing victims.

Dhampir - human/vampire hybrid, they aren't affected by the sun and don't need blood, but can only have children with Moroi.  They have extra speed/strength and act as guardians to the Moroi.

Strigoi - Your basic immortal, super strong, and super evil vamp.  Most used to be Moroi (maybe all... I don't know if Strigoi can have children).  They are gaining the upperhand.

Shadow-kissed - Defining this one would kind of be a spoiler.

Book: Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy#1) by Richelle Mead

Summary: Lissa (Moroi princess) and her best friend and guardian Rose (Dhampir) have been on the run, but are finally forced back to Vampire Academy (St. Vlads, technically, I guess).  The girls are forced to navigate the complicated world of prep school AND vampire politics all while trying to figure out who is leaving dying animals for her to find.  On top of this Lissa has the unheard of ability to heal and is slowly going crazy, while Rose is falling in love with her super sexy mentor, Dmitri!

Brief thoughts:  This book is way more intense than I expected.  Never mind the drugs and alcohol, which was pretty realistic, Rose has absolutely no respect for her body at the beginning of the novel and Lissa is struggling from depression so sever that she cuts herself.  My heart went out to both of them.  I definitely remember what it was like to be a teen and I think both Rose and Lissa are easy to relate to.  While, I didn't like the way Rose's approach towards boys is explained away at the end, I did appreciate the slow way she learned the consequences of her actions and attitudes and how to respect herself.  Lissa was harder to read about, but I loved that Richelle Mead always made it clear that no matter how Lissa interpreted things, that she was never alone.  

I had a little bit of trouble watching the romance between Rose and her much older mentor, Dmitri.  On one hand, it's nice to have a swoonworthy guy in YA who wouldn't be jailbait in the real world.  On the other, it's a completely inappropriate relationship, but once again Mead handles it well and I was satisfied with the decision the characters make at the end of the book.


Overall, I loved getting to know the characters and watching the mystery unfold.  There were quite a few times I was surprised and the action at the end is both exciting and heartbreaking.  The world is realistic and kind of messed up, but in a way that reflects parts of our own society.  This is the kind of book you could read as fluff if you wanted to, but that you could dissect over coffee and never run out of things to talk about.

What I learned about Romance (after all, we are in summer school):

If you're obvious about your feelings, then people will use it against you.  I won't go into too much detail, because I don't want to spoil it for you, but if you have a forbidden romance, either consequences be damned or keep it to yourself.  If you're not going to commit to either, then you are setting yourself up for really sad and messed up situations.

You can't respect a potential love interest until you respect yourself.  Rose has no respect for herself at the beginning of the book, but she also has no respect for the boys who she flirts and makes out with.  By the end of the book, she has given value to herself and only then is she truly able to feel something for someone else.  I mean... she totally picked the worst guy ever (for her situation), but she wouldn't have been able to do that if she hadn't dealt with her own issues first.

It was going to get a 4 kiss rating, but because I'm stressing so much while waiting for book two, 

Vampire Academy gets a Fake Steph Rating of...