Oh my god! It’s a vampire novel which I actually
like! And it’s YA, involves many overly-beautiful people, and is filled with
angst-ridden, catty teenagers, yet I still like it! This must be some kind of
miracle…a quality vampmance (making up words here…oh well). Wow. It gives hope
for the Paranormal Romance genre.
Rose
Hathaway is a Dhampir – half-human, half-vampire. She is the bodyguard and best
friend of Lissa Dragomir, who, as a Moroi princess – meaning a pure-blood
vampire – must be protected at all times from the Strigoi, a race of former
vampires who have killed and therefore been left without conscience…but with a
strong desire to drink Moroi blood.
The Moroi
race is under constant threat as the Strigoi grow stronger and more numerous.
Yet this doesn’t mean all the Moroi get along well either – their world is one
of politics, and both Lissa and Rose have enemies they don’t even know exist.
In order to escape said enemies, the two girls are on the run when the story
begins…only to be captured within a handful of pages and brought back to the
Vampire Academy in rural Montana, where they’ll supposedly be safe. Right.
I love the
world-building of this novel. It’s not overly-complex but leaves room for loads
of conflict and interesting characters. There are politics, plots, enemies,
deep dark secrets which absolutely hook the reader… And yet Mead doesn’t
totally deviate from or ignore vampire mythology; the vampires of this series drink
blood, can’t stand sunlight, etc. And kudos for a totally weird and slightly
kinky blood-drinking scene within a few pages – I respect the fact that Mead
managed to put it in so early, establish that these vampires aren’t of the
sissy variety, and make me utterly addicted to the book despite aforementioned
minor kinkiness. (Don’t worry, your imagination is making it seem infinitely
worse than it really is).
Plot-wise,
I felt that this book fared a lot better than other vampire novels mainly because
romance was not its central focus. The characters had bigger things to worry
about, namely the unidentified psychopath on the loose, Lissa’s strange powers
(to be kept secret at all cost), and Rose’s battle against the prejudices of
others and her own failings. I don’t wish to reveal any more… The beauty of
this book was that tension was maintained by having many details withheld from
the reader, and then gradually, gradually given, until at the end of the book
you finally understand the big picture. It was excellently done. I did have my
suspicions about the real enemy in the story, but I certainly didn’t have all
the motives worked out. So all in all, I was hooked on the plotline and am
eager for its continuation in the sequel.
Onto the
characters; they were diverse, interesting, flawed, and many underwent some
kind of development. They were simply fantastic to read about. Additionally,
Rose was an intriguing protagonist and the view from her eyes was a good one –
her personality was very much multi-dimensional and she never acted without
motive, conscious or un-conscious. As a matter of fact, I didn’t feel there
were any real out-of-character blunders.
My only
quibble on the subject of characters is that I feel Mead writes girls better
than boys. A number of the male characters slipped into fairly well-worn moulds
(friendly geek, bad boy, protagonist’s love interest, hot fling, puppy-eyed
cute guy, douchebag) and a couple definitely appeared present more to serve as
elements of girls’ love lives than characters in their own right. Further, the
romance itself sometimes felt a little like cheap YA rubbish… this book doesn’t
shy away from sex, and neither do some of the horny teenage characters. I also
wish, as I do for much of YA fiction, that some characters would get turned
down more rather than pairing off neatly or conveniently having been attracted
to each other forever.
The bottom
line: I would recommend this book (only I’d say it’s aimed more at girls, and
not for anyone younger than 13). It’s a really good read, I’d read it again,
and I can’t wait to get hold of the sequels. The story is off to a great start
and while I worry a little that it’ll turn into a big romance drama, I have
faith and proof that Richelle Mead can write well. I’m taking off a star for
some characterisation of men and certain elements of the romance (namely the
tackiness of bad YA relationships which can sneak in at times), and another
star for the mystery villain who was well-hidden but not brilliantly
done… But I ultimately greatly enjoyed this book and am very happy to review it
so positively.
Pippa’s rating: 8/10
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