review - Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead

Title: Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3)

Author: Richelle Mead

Published: November 13th 2008 by Razorbill

My rating: 

My summary:

Ever since Rose Hathaway (to- be graduate of St Vladimir's) got her first two Strigoi kills, she hasn't been well. She's behaving erratically, having dark thoughts, and worst of all: she's seeing the ghost of Mason, her good friend who called killed only a month or so before.
While Rose questions her stability, Lissa starts to experiment with Spirit, the power that took her to the point of attempted suicide when she used it a few months ago, and the man who tortured her to her to use on him, Victor Dashkov, may be set free. And, to make things even worse, Rose is stuck guarding Christian Ozera for six weeks for a training exercise set my the Academy.
Much to Rose's delight, her and Dimitri's relationship starts to heat up again, but just as it does, an unexpected threat puts the whole Moroi and Dhampir world in a spin, and Rose and Dimitri must put their lives on the line - and Rose must chose between the two people who mean the world to her.

My thoughts: 

For those who've never read the book there are spoilers ahead!

When I first read Shadow Kiss, it made the series for me. This was the definitely the best of Vampire Academy I'd read so far and it was when my obsession of the books officially began.

I know I've said that books I've read have made me very emotional, and that's true, but never as this book did. I swear (and this is very embarrassing tot say, mind you), when I was reading the last few chapters tears welled in my eyes. I was listening to sad music at the time, that mustn't of helped, but still. The end of this book is very upsetting, yet so amazing.

The book starts with Rose finding out that Victor was going on trial, and wasn't just being locked up straight away, which she's very angry about. Adrian gets Lissa and Rose to the trial, and when they're at the court, Rose starts to see ghosts.
Adrian's character is developed more in this book, making me like him more and more. Dimitri actually not so much. He acts like a total dick for the first part of the book, which really upset because I'd liked him a lot in the first two books, but I think it was done of purpose.
That clears up though and you like him again, so you can imagine how absolutely shocked I was when he turned into a Strigoi at the end. I couldn't believe Richelle Mead did that to him!
But as sad as it was, it really made the series suddenly a lot more interesting.
In the first book Dimitri told Rose if he ever turned Strigoi he'd want someone to kill him, so in the end Rose chooses to leave St Vladimir's (and Lissa) to hunt down Dimitri and kill him.

Richelle Mead has really done this story justice with this book. The battle scenes in the end of the book are so suspenseful. The plot thickens and the character develop more.
This definitely was my favourite of the first three books in the series.

Buy the book:

From:
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Richelle Mead:

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Vampire Academy official website
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Also by Richelle Mead:

Frostbite review

Title: Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2)

Author: Richelle Mead

Published: April 10th 2008 by Razorbill

My rating: 

My summary:

Winter break has arrived at St Vladimir's but Rose feels anything but celebratory. Her badass mother punched her in the face, a guy she could never like has a massive crush on her, and she keeps getting stuck in the mind of her best friend Lissa while she's making out with her boyfriend.
And as if Rose's problems aren't enough, the academy is crawling with guardians after a recent Strigoi attack, and the landscape of the beautiful posh Idaho resort all the students are sent to is only an illusion of protection.
When a few of her friends sneak off to make an attack on the deadly Strigoi, Rose joins forces with Lissa's boyfriend to save them. 
But as Rose soon finds out, heroism isn't as easy as it may seem...

My thoughts:

***caution spoilers ahead, read with caution***
In Frosbite you learn more about the powers of Spirit, and we get introduced to Adrian Ivashkov, another Spirit user, like Lissa.
He's a rather complex character, a bit of a wreck, but I instantly liked him. He had good sense of humour and even though Rose didn't like him, and he wasn't such a big character, I knew he'd become a bigger, because he had a certain likable quality in him.
We also learn more about Mason in this book and I was liking him more and more and was really upset when he was killed. He had a massive crush on Rose and they had a fight, which was why he left to find the Strigoi nest, so Rose blamed herself for his death, which is sad.
Dimitri and Rose's relationship doesn't deepen in Frostbite as Dimitri has his eye on someone else, which tears Rose up.
Later on in the book when Rose and Christian (that's Lissa's boyfriend) go to rescue Mason, Mia, and Eddie when they try and seek out the Strigoi's nest, they find them, but they can't rescue them. The Strigoi capture them all, and hold them captive, feeding off Eddie. 
They do manage to escape with the help of Christian's fire power and Mia's water power, and Rose ends up killing two Strigoi (with a blunt sword by the way, which is skilled) but Mason is killed.
In the process of this, Mia and Rose bond, and the old hatred between them dies. So from you go from hating Mia at the beginning of them book to thinking she's epic at the end. That's pretty clever of Richelle Mead.
In the end, Rose's worries of Dimitri liking someone else is relieved as he tells her he couldn't love anybody else apart from her. So sweet :')
Overall, I loved this book maybe even more than the first in the series, and Richelle Mead has done a wonderful job of making me love the characters even more (if that's even possible?)

Buy the book:

From:
Booktopia
Dymocks
Abbey's
Barnes & Noble
Fishpond
Amazon

Other books by Richelle Mead:

Richelle Mead:

On Goodreads

On Facebook

On Twitter

Her blog

Her official website

Vampire Academy official website

Vampire Academy review

Title: Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) 

Author: Richelle Mead

Published: August 16th 2007 by Razorbill

Rating: 

What it's about:

In a world with two races of vampires, there are those who have to protect the good from the evil. They are known as the Dhampir (half human, half vampire) and they train their whole lives to protect the Moroi at hidden academies across the world, academies just like St Vladimir's.

Rose Hathaway is a 17-year-old Dhampir and bodyguard of her best friend Lissa, a Moroi. They were on the run, but were caught and dragged back to St Vladimir's Academy -- the very place they were running from. Soon, Lissa finds herself tied to the academy's ruthless social life, Rose to a forbidden romance, and both of them to whispers of a secret magic with the power to drag Lissa down to the point of self-hatred and grief.

My thoughts:

I love the new twist to vampire stories. Usually it's a girl-meets-boy and girl-finds-out-guy-is-vampire kinda book, but Vampire Academy isn't like that at all.

I first read Vampire Academy when I borrowed it from my local library, and I was instantly hooked. I loved how it starts in the middle of the story and how, as I read the book, I had to figure out what had happened -- what had caused the girls to run away.

The main character, Rose, was born into the society of the Dhampirs and Moroi, and it's all she's ever known. She's stubborn, aggressive, feisty, and loves making witty quips. Lissa, on the other hand, is a sweet girl who would never harm anybody, although when she uses her Spirit powers, it drags her down and she manipulates it, and uses people. Another main character is Dimitri. He's a Dhampir, like Rose, but a guardian. Both he and Rose were going to be Lissa's guardians when they graduated.

All of the characters are well developed, and the plot is packed with action that is suspenseful and exciting. Although they are living in another world and dealing with supernatural stuff, the characters are totally believable. 

Overall, I loved Vampire Academy. Richelle Mead has written an amazing book. She creates an entire world that is original, and she takes vampire fiction to a new level.