Review by Alex- Vampire Academy series

Vampire Academy / Frostbite / Shadow Kiss / Blood Promise / Spirit Bound

I don't know if words can express how much I love the Vampire Academy series. Hands down, my favourite vampire books and one of my top urban fantasies too.

As this was actually a reread of the first four in the series, since I finally bought them all for cheap (!), and I don't want to spoil Spirit Bound, I figured I would just review the series as a whole.

You'd have to living under a rock to not have heard of the Vampire Academy series and you'd have to be annoyingly stubborn to refuse to read them. coughLaurencough. Think you're over the huge vampire trend? Please don't be. Give VA a chance and you won't regret it.

Vampire Academy starts out fast and continues to be a speedy read- partly because the writing is smooth and easy to read, partly because you just want to keep reading to get to the end to know what's going to happen. The plots of each novel are extremely strong, with lots of action and excitement. There are some periods of downtime, like the first half of Blood Promise, but that time only promises better battles.

The characters are dynamic and fun. Rose is incredibly tough and kickass. She's got a snarky comment for everything which makes for laugh-out-loud dialogue. And she's loyal. Best friend material? Oh yeah. Lucky for Lissa, the only one in the royal Dragomir line, that the two have been best friends for years. Lissa as a character becomes stronger and more likeable over the course of the series. At first, she doesn't really hold much of a candle next to Rose, but Lissa's her own person and is brave in a different way.

And then there are the guys. Of course. There's Dimitri, Rose's hot older Russian tutor. And there's Adrian, party boy and constantly drunk - but there's a reason - who's confident and a royal vampire. Both vying for Rose. That ever present and so very addicting love triangle. (I'm turning into an Adrian fan. I did not like Dimitri at all in Spirit Bound. What a wuss.)

Final Impressions: Oh dear. I seriously cannot do the Vampire Academy series justice. It deserves all the praise it gets and more. Awesome characters? Check. Addicting romance? Check. Powerful plot? Check. What more can you ask for? For all those who haven't read this series yet: Really, please, don't hesitate to read them. For all those who have: Want to fangirl squeal with me over this series? There are few series I'd fawn over, but Vampire Academy is one of them. This may not be stuffy literature to last the ages and to be read in schools time and time again, but for what it is, Vampire Academy is the finest.