Book Review: Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2) by Richelle Mead

Note: This review may contain small spoilers for Vampire Academy so if you haven't read it yet, I recommend you check out my Vampire Academy review.

Goodreads Summary:

Rose Hathaway's got serious guy trouble. Her gorgeous tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason has a huge crush on her, she keeps getting stuck in her best friend Lissa's head while she's making out with her boyfriend, Christian.

Then a massive Strigoi attack puts St. Vladmir's on high alert, and the Academy crawls with Guardians-including the legendary Janine Hathaway...Rose's formidable, long-absent mother. The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy's not taking any risks. This year, St. Vladmir's holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only provide the illusion of safety. When three students run away to strike back against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. Only this time, Rose-and her heat-are in more danger than she ever could have imagined.

My thoughts and review:

I liked Vampire Academy enough to try the second in the series although I wasn't enamoured by it. I'm pleased to say I loved Frostbite so much more and understand more about the buzz for the release of Last Sacrifice back in December and Jess from Jess Hearts Books wonderful guest post on why she loves the series so much here. With all the background to the story, setting and characters set up, the plot became much more juicy and action filled. I found  getting deeper into the story and I was gripped..... yes, to a vampire book! A few months ago I would never have picked one up even though I'd never given one a shot.What I love about this series is the world that Richelle Mead has created because her take on vampires and their society is believable and incredibly detailed.

When I was about halfway through, I suddenly hit upon what one of the things I was particularly enjoying was: Rose's voice. The way it feels like she really is talking to you is one of my favourite things and her sassy attitude makes it better.  In my Vampire Academy review, I mentioned that I sometimes found Rose to be very bratty and there were times I felt like this in this book too but I liked seeing here character development further throughout the book because of what she goes through and see her thoughts mature in her narration.
She learns many important new things and they help her to understand what being a guardian really means and improve the relationships in her life. I was especially interested in finding out more about her past with her mother and seeing the relationship between them.

Many of the characters that were introduced in Vampire Academy are present again but I really missed Lissa not being there as much as I would have liked.  I hope she is more involved in the main plot in the next book in the series. We are also introduced to other new characters such as Christian's aunt, which added more interest and complications to the plot.

The events in Rose's life became more exciting in this book as news reaches the Academy that Strigoi are organising group attacks to kill the Moroi royalty, something that has never happened before. For Rose, it means worry sets in about the safety of her best friend Lissa, the last remaining of the Dragomir royal family. Once the action starts, it doesn't stop and the pace of timing of it is brilliant and really got me hooked. I'm not the type of reader who loves fight and battle scenes in books but I thought they worked really well here because it was like the scenes were playing out before me.

The relationship between Dimitri was also fantastic because as much as they try to hide their feelings, the chemistry between them is very clear as is the desire that they have to be together despite the many complications that prevent this. I liked how that even though they couldn't be a couple, Dimitri was there for her the whole time. Rose also struggles with attention from other boys, namely her friend Mason in her class who is completely besotted with her and Adrian, a rather mysterious and flirtatious Moroi royal. Whilst she faces difficult decisions on her feelings, things become even more complicated when Dimitri experiences the same thing.

Verdict: Frostbite completely surpasses Vampire Academy for me and as soon as I'd finished it, I wanted to get my hands on Shadow Kiss straight away (although it will have to wait a bit now!) I'm told this series gets even better each book so if that's true, Shadow Kiss should be amazing!

I read this book as part of the Out Of Your Comfort Zone Challenge hosted by Danya at A Tapestry Of Words. It's out of my comfort zone because books with paranormal creatures (vampires in this case) are far from what I'd normally choose to read and as yet, I'm not completely comfortable reading them. However, as you can tell from my review, I really enjoyed this book and I've decided not to include the rest of the series as challenge books.

Guest Post: For all fans of the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead!

To celebrate the release of the last book in the Vampire Academy series, Last Sacrifice and my UK giveaway of either the first or last book, I am delighted to introduce the lovely Jess from Jess Hearts Books to tell us more about the series and why it is her favourite.  Welcome Jess!                 

The Vampire Academy books are by far my favourite vampire series and are one of my favourite paranormal series of all time. Vampire Academy is highly original- something you may not expect with the amount of vampire fiction out there at the moment- but Richelle Mead creates a brand new enticing world, with a brand new take on vampires to go with it. The Vampire Academy world has three types of vampires. Strigoi- the traditional bad ass vampires, immortal, evil, blood thirsty and ancient these vampires are feared and are the most powerful of their kind. Then you have Moroi- vampire royalty these vamps are not immortal and are I guess you would say “the good vampires” they only feed on willing human donors and are highly beautiful. Moroi vampires also inherit a power with one of the elements. Strigoi can feed off Moroi and can change them into Strigoi and the royal families are fast fading because of it, so they have Dhampires- half vampire, half humans- train to fight Strigoi and protect Moroi royals to keep the vampire race alive. There are so many layers to this world and the different vampires and I love how the Moroi’s magical connection with the elements plays a big part in the story.

The main character of Vampire Academy is our heroine Rose whose a Dhampire training to become guardian and protector to her best friend Lissa a Moroi princess. The first book in this series sees Lissa and Rose returning to St Vladimir's- a school for Moroi and Dhampires- after being on the run. Upon their return Rose gets assigned to Guardian Dimitri to help her catch up with her training as a guardian and Dimitri, oh what can I say about Dimitri? The man is smokin’ hot! He’s a hot blooded Russian, bad ass god and the only reason you wouldn’t fall for him is if you’re not a red blooded woman. Dimitri’s the ultimate bad boy with a kind sensitive soul and is one of my very favourite male characters in YA fiction to swoon over. Between Rose and Dimitri and their attraction to each other you can literally feel the sexual tension sweltering off the pages. They are one hot couple and I can think of no two characters more perfect for each other. As well as Dimitri I have a huge girl crush on Rose. She’s feisty, sassy, smart and strong and can more than hold her own against the big bad Strigoi. She’s certainly no Bella Swan, head strong and confident girls of all ages will look up to and respect her and ultimately want to be her. Lissa gets into all kinds of trouble on their return to school and Rose proves to be the perfect best friend to her with the girls having a very special, unique bond that you will learn more about if you read the books!

This series has everything, it’s original, fast paced and has one of the best plots I’ve ever come across. Having read all of the books in this series including the highly anticipated Last Sacrifice I’ve come to feel like the characters are old friends and I’m very sad to see Rose and Cos story come to an end. Reading Last Sacrifice was definitely a very bitter sweet experience for me! I have thoroughly loved and enjoyed every minute I’ve spent within these books pages and if you pick the books up I’m sure you’ll fall in love with them too. Vampire Academy is one of those series where each book is better than the last and probably more than any series I’ll ever read I would highly recommend these books to all paranormal lovers. I can’t begin to do this series justice. I love it so much and know that if you start and carry on with this series you will too. I’ve read a lot of great vampire fiction and for me Vampire Academy by far excels all of them. These books should come with a warning “read these and prepare to say goodbye to your current favourite series because this is sure to take its place!” But don’t take my word for it try them and see for yourself! ;)

For those who have read this series you may be interested in my recent review for Last Sacrifice which can be found on my blog here. Thanks for having me Stephanie!"

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts here Jess! It has been a treat to have you. I hope other people enjoy reading them as much as I have. I'm so glad to hear that each book gets better and better. I was gripped by the first book in the series that transported me into another world and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series soon.
I really recommend if you are interested in the series, that you also read Jess' wonderful spoiler free review of Last Sacrifice that she mentioned. Jess is a brilliant fellow UK blogger who started blogging at the same time as me so whilst you are there, be sure to check out the rest of her blog!

Reminder: I am holding a UK giveaway of either Vampire Academy or Last Scarifice (you choose) by Richelle Mead with 3 winners  that ends on the 31st December. To find out more, visit the post here!

These are the new UK covers that have been designed to celebrate the Last Sacrifice release. I love them!

I'm also interested to know: what do you think the future for vampire fiction is?

UK Vampire Academy/Last Sacrifice by Michelle Mead Giveaway

In celebration of the UK release of Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead - the last book in the Vampire Academy series- today, I am excited to say that  Penguin have kindly offered to donate 3 copies of either the first book in the series or the last for me to give away! Thank you very much to Penguin for providing this opportunity.

Within the next week I am looking forward to posting a guest post about the series by Jess from Jess Hearts Books, who is a huge fan! Unfortunately her computer is broken and she is currently having it mended but for those of you who have read the whole series or hope to win a copy of Last Sacrifice I suggest that you check out her wonderful spoiler-free review of it here.

 I recently read Vampire Academy and enjoyed it so I hope to read the other books in the series in the future. For those of you who have not read any books in the series before but are interested in them, I reviewed it here.

All of the books in the series have had a cover redesign in celebration of the last release, which are all in the style of the red Last Sacrifice cover. I love it! Here are the original covers:

Rules for entering 

• You do not have to be a follower to enter but you are very welcome to!
• You must live in the UK 9publisher's request) - I'm sorry to everyone who lives internationally
• You must be 13 or older to enter
• You will get 1 extra entry if you tweet about the giveaway
• Winners will be chosen using Random.org
• Each of the winners will have 2 weeks to reply to an email notifying them about their prize otherwise I will draw another winner
• The contest will close on the 31st December 2010 unless further notice is given

To enter please fill out this form with your details- thank you ! Good luck :)

Book Review: Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead

Summary from Goodreads

I'm not a fan of the photo of the
girl on the cover, it makes
her look mean

St. Vladimir's Academy isn't just any boarding school—it's a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They've been on the run, but now they're being dragged back to St. Vladimir's—the very place where they're most in danger. . . .

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy's ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world's fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

My review and thoughts

Until Vampire Academy, I had never read any vampire books before. I'll admit that I thought I didn't like them and that they weren't my kind of book at all when I hadn't even read one. So, as the release of the last book in the Vampire Academy series is soon to be released, I thought I'd give the series a go.

At the beginning of the book, Rose and Lissa find themselves captured and taken back to the St Vladimir's academy hidden deep in the forests of Montana after two years of freedom in the human world. Mysteriously, they share a bond that means Rose can read Lissa's thoughts and emotions that helps Rose to protect Lissa but this must be kept a secret between them.  Rose must continue her Dhampir education in training as a guardian for a Moroi like Rose and Lissa must take up her position as the only Moroi royal left in the Dragomir line.The 2 girls soon realise that the social scene they find themselves in is completely different to the one that they left and several rumours have been circulating about them. Everyone seems to be abuzz in answering why they ran away, how they survived and why they have returned. However the truth would be more harming than any of the rumours and neither of the girls can afford to let their guard down.

It took me quite a while to get into the story, understand the world of the vampires and get used to the voice of the narrator Rose. I was not used to the shorter sentences and the way Rose narrates the story as if she is talking casually to you but I think this is what made the story so alluring for me once I was immersed in the  world of Vampire Academy. Also, I think the author did a fantastic job of building up the pace of the book by making sure all the background is clear first leading to the suspenseful and thrilling atmosphere that escalates at different points throughout the story.

I found Rose was a very hard character to like, especially at first because she is often aggressive, reckless, selfish towards other people as well as being your typical 'bad' high school girl stereotype. Underneath though, she is not as tough as she seems on the outside and really does care more than she shows. My favourite thing about her is her devotion to Lissa, which really bought out the best in her personality and helped her to develop slightly as a character.

On the other hand, I much preferred her best friend Lissa, who feels a sense of duty to her deceased family to mix with the other vampire royal in their elite social circle but feels uncomfortable and shy about it deep inside. Lissa seemed to be much more wary of others feelings, and is known as one of the nicest girls in the school. I love the fact that she can be very outgoing when she tries and chooses not to let her family and who she is go to her head. Throughout the book, we get to see glimpses of all sides of her character and how she develops and I liked how Rose had a bond with her that meant she could read her thoughts. I wish I could read the story from her point of view. She is perhaps the saving grace of this book for me because it was the danger that she was frequently in that kept me turning the pages to find out what happened.

I find it very interesting that Richelle Mead used supernatural figures in myths and legends to create the different races of Moroi, Dhampirs and Strigoi.  These different races and their place in society is very well explained and my understanding of them increased throughout and this helped to make the world of the book more complex and believable.

Verdict: Vampire Academy has a thrilling storyline set against a brutal social scene complete with mean girls and cliques that grabbed my attention and got the pages turning . I enjoyed it so I will read the rest of the series to find out what happens to the characters but I am not rushing out to buy the next book. I would also like to point out that it is not a completely clean read so I would recommend that teenagers under 14 should be a little bit cautious.

Giveaway to come

I am very excited to say that to celebrate the release of the last book in the series Last Sacrifice on December 7th, Penguin UK have given me 3 copies of either the first or last book in the series to give away but unfortunately this will be for UK entrants only. Sorry to all my US and international followers!
Look out for the giveaway post to come soon!

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is held by Kristi from the amazing Story Siren, where bloggers share what new books they have every week through the post, at the library or what they have bought.

This week I got:

An audio book of The Betrayal by Mary Hooper (won on Mary's Facebook page, thank you Mary!)

Need by Carrie Jones (borrowed from the library)

For review (from Penguin):

Vampire Academy (#1) by Richelle Mead - I am about half way through now and am really enjoying it

Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen

I am a huge fan of Godbersen's Luxe fan so I am very excited to receive this and can't wait to start reading it. The Penguin release date is in January so I will be reviewing it near then.

I have now run out of room on my bookshelves in my bedroom so I am very glad that my family's new guest room/study/library will be built and finished by the end of this month!

What did you get in your mailbox this week?