Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1)

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with an unbreakable bond to the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest and most dangerous vampires--the ones who never die.

 

The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a Dhampir; she is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making her one of them.

 

After two years of illicit freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. Rose will continue her Dhampir education. Lissa will go back to being Queen of the elite Moroi social scene. And both girls will resume breaking hearts.

 

Fear made Lissa and Rose run away from St. Vladimir's--but their world is fraught with danger both inside and out of the Academy's iron gates. Here, the cutthroat ranks of the Moroi perform unspeakable rituals and their secretive nature and love of the night creates an enigmatic world full of social complexities. Rose and Lissa must navigate through this dangerous world, confront the temptation of forbidden romance, and never once let their guard down, lest the Strigoi make Lissa one of them forever...

I'll be honest, I never actually intended to read this book because I figured that it was just going to be like every other super-popular vampire novel out there, complete with canned plot and one-dimensional characters. But I was in Target a few weeks ago, looking at the YA books and a woman came along and started talking to me and telling me how great the series was. So, I decided to give it a try and what can I say....? I was wrong. This is one of the best vampire books I've read in years. I'm going to say it and some of you will hate me (although I hope not), I think it's better than Twilight. Mead put so much thought into the world of Dhampirs and Moroi; their culture, what makes each individual tick! The story itself isn't all that original, but what puts it above the rest is the characters and how they each play their part. They are completely individual! Rose's story and evolution was really the most interesting, I thought. I alternated between being completely exasperated by some of her behavior and admiring her courage and fearlessness! It was almost like a coming-of-age story for her. She had to learn to balance her high-school life and social scene with the complex world of being an adult dhampir guardian. She learned what was truly valuable in her life. Lissa's story was touching as well. I don't want to give too much of the plot away so I will just say that she had some very real issues of depression to deal with, learning to cope with a sometimes poisonous social scene and her blossoming abilities.

If you're looking for something other than the mainstream vampire novel, check this series out! And don't be put off by the YA label, this is much more mature and will still appeal to adult fans of the genre, despite the high school setting!