SERIES REVIEW: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Two races of vampires walk our world. One, the Moroi, are alive and wield elemental magical. The other, the Strigoi, are undead and evil—feeding on the innocent to survive. Rose Hathaway—a half-vampire with poor impulse control—is training to be a bodyguard for a Moroi princess. Learning to decapitate and stake is hard enough, but Rose’s real danger may lie in an illicit romance with one of her instructors…

– Series Synopsis from World of Richelle Mead

Source: Bought on Gumtree for $10!!!!
Pages: HAHA, so many awesome ones!!!

MY RATING

Me at the moment:

and this:

THIS SERIES WAS SO GOOD!!!! 
I have never marathoned a whole series this large and this amazing. I literally have no words whatsoever except for maybe: woah. This is one of those series which really creep up on you. After reading the 1st and 2nd book, I was still not really seeing the hype surrounding this 6 book series. I still really enjoyed them but I hadn’t been mind blown. Don’t judge me, I’m only human. I’ve been wrong many times.
It was only after I was deep in the middle of Blood Promise, that I realised how attached I was to everything in this story. The story began to unfold into something intriguing and sophisticated and the twists and turns at every corner kept me hooked. The world building is fantastic. Everything feels so realistic, I almost believe it myself that within our world, we do actually have vampires that live amongst us both good and evil. It totally makes sense. I love that Mead takes the time to set up the whole premise for the reader so that we know every single rule, principle and value from the vampire/dhampir hierarchy system to the kinkiness of blood sucking. It made us feel that we were part of the world, ourselves.

Rose Hathaway is a great character! One of the biggest doubts I has before starting VA (See? I got with the lingo) is that I would dislike her. I saw the trailer for the movie and I even did a bit of research and she came across as this superficial, smart-ass bitch. Man, was I so wrong. She was awesome!!!!! Even at the beginning, I didn’t completely hate her. During the first half of book 1, I only really disliked how flirty she could become to any guy and easily make out with them but yet still, I enjoyed her character.
Her character development was amazing and so well written. She went from this wild, impulsive dhampir to someone well-trained yet still containing that raw passion and determination. She goes through so much turmoil and yet still, she holds herself. She goes through her broken times but she fixes and forgives herself. I could list so many things I admire her for other than her bad-assery and her snarky wit because then this would become a very large post.

The relationships in this book are far from shallow and underdeveloped. Lissa and Rose’s friendship was not only so cool and reliable but also fantastic. Their bond wasn’t the only thing that made their friendship so strong. I loved how as the series progressed, their relationship shifted from just Rose protecting her to both of them protecting each other. There were times, especially at the beginning when I wanted Lissa to just look after herself and I loved seeing that dilemma dealt with. I love that Mead was able to not only allow Lissa’s character to develop into something more independent but to use that to allow their relationship to become independent, as well.

The romance was probably one of the best I’ve ever read. Dimitri and Rose is probably a prime example of how a romantic relationship should be. Firstly, not only are they meant for each other but they are just…………..*sigh*

Even their romance progressed! Compare their romance in book 1 to Last Sacrifice. Both their characters go through so much hardship and yet it made them better for each other. They aren’t stupid. They’re reliable, independent, strong (physically and emotionally), they understand each other and they work together as a good team. They were just so awesome. I really have no other words for them two except for awesome.
The romantic tension from Blood Promise to the very last book almost tore my fangirling feels to shred. I think I have invested too much of myself into this series to continue through reality.

I am so satisfied with the ending of this series but it has also left me very melancholic and yearning to read more from the same world. I went on my Book Depository and put all of the Bloodlines series in my cart and it came to just over $80. I am a poor teenage girl, living off a very small Mcdonalds wage so I’m not sure I can afford it.
I am a very sad fangirl, at the moment.

Bye for now!