The Premise
Imagine that the purpose of your life was keeping someone else safe. In Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, Rose Hathaway was raised and trained to keep her best friend Lissa safe from the bloodthirsty vampires who have"gone bad". Rose is a witty troublemaker who decides that she and Lissa should escape the academy for vampires. But they are tracked down and sent back to the academy. They fall back into routine at the school, that is until the mysterious new trainer capture's Rose's heart. Lissa struggles with her own problems as her dark secrets are discovered and her rare, ancient magic tested. So taking care of Lissa is not going to be a walk in the park for Rose.
Criticism
This book was not a terrible book, but some things about it annoyed me. The plot line, for example, was very predictable to me. It is basically your average vampire novel. The main character, Rose, is also very dramatic. She is constantly either pitying herself or getting into trouble. Lissa is also very naive and frankly not the brightest bulb. There is a lot of overly romantic stuff in here so if you are looking for adventure, it's not here. This book is not so bad if you want standard vampire romance, but it does get slow in parts.
SPOILER ALERT!!!
Lissa has the ability to heal the sick and injured, and she can even bring back people from the dead. Her powers make her depressed, however. Lissa's Uncle Victor, a prince, is spying on her with the help of his young daughter who is a friend of Lissa's. When he finds out about her powers, he kidnaps her and forces her to heal him, because he has an illness that is killing him. Using her powers makes Lissa weak, and Rose and her trainer, Dimitri, have to find her and rescue her before the powerful vampires drain the life from her, and they do. Rose and Lissa return safely to the academy. The End.
