Wednesday, March 30, 2011

WoW - March 30th

WoW is a weekly meme I participate in, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  It stands for Waiting on Wednesday, and the point is to share to the Blogging world what book you're most looking forward to that week!  This week, I can't wait to read The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab!






Summary (from Goodreads):  The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.
But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.
The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.
As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Why I want to read it: It sounds kind of creepy, and the paranormal aspect to it also looks really good!

Monday, March 28, 2011

The Iron King

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

My rating:  4/5
Summary (from Goodreads):  Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.
But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

My review:  The Iron King was a new take on the life of the fey that I loved!  Often, I see the same sort of books about faeries all the time, with nothing exciting and original, but this one was definitely an exception.

The thing that really stood out to me was the setting.  For the first part of the book, I was thing: Wow, this is so. . . Normal.  Usual.  Nothing interesting about it.  But my thoughts changed after a little while.  The first thing that got me intrigued was the way the Nevernever was slowly dying.  I wanted to know why it was like that.

I must admit that the book got a lot better as I went along.  I could see the characters changing, and I loved the way that Meghan grew used to the Nevernever.  She began to figure out some of their tricks, even though in the start she was completely blinded to what they really wanted.  I found her an excellent character to read about, mostly because she was so believable.  I can easily see someone growing to adjust to their surroundings the way she did, and having the same emotions.

As I got to the end, it was definitely getting better for me, and the very last pages held me in suspense.  I am still trying to get my hands on a copy of The Iron Daughter from the library.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Wither Giveaway at The Irish Banana Review

Hannah, from The Irish Banana Review is giving away a copy of Wither by Lauren DeStefano!






Summary (from Goodreads):  What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.



Head on over to her blog to check out the contest!

In My Mailbox - March 27th

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted at The Story Siren, in which you show the books you got that week.  They can be borrowed from friends, bought, or been taken out from the library.  This week, I only received one book (I'm still going on all the books I got a couple weeks ago!), and that was:


Jessica's Guide to Dating on the dark side - Beth Fantaskey

What did you get in your mailbox?  Leave a link to your post in the comments!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Stylish Blogger Award






From Vy, at Vy's Blog, I was awarded the stylish blogger award!  Thanks, Vy!  The rules of the ward are to link back to her blog, then state 7 things about me.  And, finally, I'll give this award to 7 other stylish bloggers!

7 things about me:

1.  I always choose teams when I'm reading a book, for example: Team Peeta (The Hunger Games), Team Ky (Matched), and Team Jace (The Mortal Intruments).

2.  My two favourite sports are horseback riding and gymnastics.  I ride a horse named Sugar.  I also do karate and diving.

3.  I`m not very organized.  Ever since I was very little, I've always had a mess following in my wake.  Luckily, I just cleaned my desk in my room so I actually have room to read and write there now.  I'm also master at losing pencils because of this.

4.  I have two pet chinchillas, named Smokey and Houdini, who are very cute.

5.  I didn't read Harry Potter until the summer of 2009 (I can't believe that I was missing out on so much!).

6.  I love to write.  I'm currently working on something that I'm calling (for now) Raven's Call.  It is, of course, YA fantasy.

7.  My favourite colours are green and blue.

The 7 blogs I'm awarding:

Cleo, MarMar, and Baylee @ The Booklopedia
Priya @ Book Crumbs


Go check out these other fabulous bloggers!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday - March 23rd

WoW is a weekly meme I participate in, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  It stands for Waiting on Wednesday, and the point is to share to the Blogging world what book you're most looking forward to that week!  This week, I can't wait to read A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young!






Summary (from Goodreads):  Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger.

There have been others before who’ve felt the Need, but they’re gone—erased from the memories of everyone whose lives they had touched. It's as though they never existed. This is the fate that awaits Charlotte. But the last thing Charlotte wants to do is disappear, to be Forgotten. She wants to stay with her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend’s arms forever. She wishes she could just ignore the Need, but she can’t. And as everyone important in her life begins to slowly forget her, she has to decide if she’ll fight the Need in order to remain herself—no matter how dark the consequences.



 Why I want to read it:  It sounds like a new take on angels, one that sounds interesting and complicated!  I love the cover, too.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Nevermore

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

My rating:  2/5
Summary (from Goodreads):  Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due—so unfair—on the day of the rival game.

Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he’d rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can’t help but give this enigmatic boy with the piercing eyes another look.

Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life.

As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined, and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind.

Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares.



My review:

Before I start actually reviewing this book, I'd like to say that I didn't actually finish Nevermore.  I got about a hundred pages to the end, so around page 450, but then I decided to give up on it.  


When I started Nevermore, I loved it.  The writing was good, the words flowing together.  Unfortunately, I couldn't stay interested.  The characters were fine, the writing style was perfect, and so was the description and setting, but the plot?  I found that it was very slow.  I was at page 350 by the time anything interesting started happening.


So what happened, that I lost interest, if I managed to get to the major plot point?  Answer: the major plot point wasn't anything major.  Lots of stuff was happening, yes, but it was all going so quickly that I had no idea what was happening.  I was reading each page a couple times over, trying to follow along, but it all seemed so crammed together that I couldn't quite tell.


I couldn't decide whether to give Nevermore two or two and a half stars, because even though I did quit reading it, I managed to get really far into it.  Maybe sometime I'll try it again; see if I like it any more.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

In My Mailbox - March 20th

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted at The Story Siren, in which you show the books you got that week.  They can be borrowed from friends, bought, or been taken out from the library.  This week, I didn't get much, mostly because I got about 12 last week.  So, I only got one book this week, and I'm not sure if that even counts, because I haven't picked it up from the library, even though it's on the hold shelf for me.  Here it is:


Torment - Lauren Kate

What did you get in your mailbox?  Leave a link to your blog in the comments!

Along for the Ride

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

My rating:  5/5
Summary (from Goodreads):  It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.

A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend. 



My review:  Once again, Sarah Dessen has left me amazed by her writing.  Along for the Ride was a beautiful read, full of emotions and gorgeous descriptions.


One of my favourite things about the book was Auden's nighttime habits.  I didn't think that staying up all night then sleeping until mid-afternoon the next day was so strange, especially considering what sort of life she had up until that point.  It just made a lot of sense for her, it was like an escape from everything else she has ever known.


Eli was also a very interesting character.  I liked the interesting way that he handled the death of his friends; appearing quiet and not very willing to talk, but deep down, he wanted to still  chat with his friends, but it was his way of punishing himself.  It was quite intriguing that he hadn't actually given up on biking, he just chose to do it when no one would see him.  I loved that eventually, after knowing Auden, he went back out there to the biking competitions.


Another one of my favourite things was how Auden's relationship with her mother and her stepmother began to change.  With her mother, Auden started to break off from her hold a bit more, changing, even though her mom was always saying that people never change.  In the beginning, with Heidi, Auden's stepmother, Auden didn't like her very much.  She was too exuberant all the time, and very girly.  As Auden is staying with her, though, I could see her beginning to adapt to those ways.


Sarah Dessen is one of my favourite authors, and I suggest anyone with a love of contemporary fiction to go and get one of her books and start reading!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Jennifer Lawrence has been cast for Katniss!

I found out yesterday that Jennifer Lawrence has just been cast to play Katniss Everdeen!  I haven't seen anything with her in it, but I think she looks like a good Katniss!


Doesn't she look like Katniss (if she dyed her hair brown)???

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

WoW - March 16th

WoW is a weekly meme I participate in, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  It stands for Waiting on Wednesday, and the point is to share to the Blogging world what book you're most looking forward to that week!  This week, I can't wait to read Possession by Elana Johnson!

  
Summary (from Goodreads):  Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

Why I want to read it:  It sounds like a great dystopian book; sounds a bit like Matched or Delirium, which were both really good!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Luxe

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

My rating:  5/5
Summary (from Goodreads):  In the self-contained world of young Gilded Age Manhattan socialites, Elizabeth and Diana Holland reign supreme. Or so it seems. Scratch the surface, though, and you can detect festering jealousies that threaten to topple them. Elizabeth suffers a more literal fall when her carriage overturns and she is carried away by the swift East River current.





My review:  What a twisted story!  That's all I can say!

Why do I say that?  If you've read the book, you'll know what I mean.  In short, though: Elizabeth is to be married to a man, Henry, that her best friend Penelope hopes to marry.  Elizabeth doesn't want to marry Henry, but it's not her choice.  Meanwhile, Penelope is doing everything she can to stop their wedding.  Henry, though, is in love with Elizabeth's sister.  Elizabeth is in love with a man named Will, which is forbidden, because she is high up on the social scene and he's just a servant.  Elizabeth's maid, Lina, also like Will a lot and eventually she becomes fired because she becomes so cruel to Elizabeth.


See what I mean when I say it's a bit twisted?  I loved it!


I loved the set of characters in The Luxe.  Because it switched between them all, I got to see how each one of them was feeling, and they were all very different.  I'm still not sure who was my favourite out of them all.  Elizabeth was probably my favourite if I had to choose one of them, because she was so caught up in all of these problems.  She wasn't sure what to do about everything that was happening.


I really felt as though I was there in New York in 1899.  The description was in vivid detail, and I felt as though the author knew what she was talking about when it came to the 19th century.  I can honestly say that it's the best historical fiction book I've read.


I loved the ending of The Luxe, and I can't wait to read Rumors! 

Monday, March 14, 2011

The Five Breathless Books Contest!

Beth Revis, author of Across the Universe, is holding a contest at her blog to win all five of the Breathless Books autographed by the authors!  It's easy to enter, just head over there and check it out!

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

My rating:  4/5
Summary (from Goodreads):  Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn't remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers?





My review:  The Adoration of Jenna Fox was a very compelling book, one that made me want to know more about Jenna Fox and the accident.  I'll try not to ruin it for those who haven't read it in this review!

Jenna was a bit difficult to read about in some bits, because she was quite difficult to connect to.  Although in most books I wouldn't like that, this was an exception.  I think that the author might have been going for that when she wrote the book, and, honestly, Jenna is so different from everyone in the world right now that anyone could have difficulty connecting to her.  She was a wonderful character!

The plot satisfied me, too.  It was well written, full of twists and turns about what was happening to Jenna Fox.  Unfortunately, there are still a few things that I don't understand about her and what she is.  It was interesting to watch the relationship between Jenna and her grandmother grow stronger throughout the book, and I could comprehend why her grandma didn't like her very much in the beginning.


The ending didn't quite meet up to my expectations.  I felt that too much time was missed out, and it doesn't go into enough detail about what happened, and it's like Jenna doesn't care that all her family was dying while she was living on and on.


The Adoration of Jenna Fox was, overall, a great book!  My favourite thing about it was that it was very original; I've never seen a book that's anything like it!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

In My Mailbox - March 13th

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted at The Story Siren, in which you show the books you got that week.  They can be borrowed from friends, bought, or been taken out from the library.  This week, I received:

From library:






















And an ARC:





1.  Rumors - Anna Godbersen
2.  Envy - Anna Godbersen
3.  Possessions Nancy Holder
4.  Along for the Ride - Sarah Dessen
5.  The Iron King - Julie Kagawa
6.  Wicked - Nancy Holder
7.   Nevermore - Kelly Creagh
8.  Divergent - Veronica Roth (click here for review)

What did you get?  Leave me a link to your blog so I can see!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Divergent

Divergent by Veronica Roth  (May 3, 2011)

My rating:  5/5
Summary (from Goodreads):  In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.


**Warning!  There may be some mild spoilers!**

 My review:  I admit that I love dystopian worlds.  Many of my favourite books are post-apocalyptic; so it's not a huge surprise that I liked Divergent.


The book started with Beatrice being in the Abnegation faction: the selfless.  Even though she had been raised in this faction, she was not as selfless as everyone else there.  When her test came to see what faction she should choose, her results were inconclusive.  When she was at the choosing ceremony, she finally decided to choose Dauntless.  When she gets there, she finds out that only seven of the twenty there will make it into Dauntless; the others will become factionless.  There are three stages that will earn them their ranks.


Dauntless was a scary, but great setting.  I really got a feel for what it was like there: dark, twisting halls, a sort of spooky feeling hanging over your shoulder.  And then there was the fact that they had to fight each other until one was unconscious to gain themselves ranks.  I really felt what Beatrice (now Tris) felt.  She was horrified and scared, but also very determined.  I thought that she was a great character to read about.


Four (the instructor) was also a very interesting character.  He had many mixed emotions, so I wasn't sure how he felt about Tris.  Sometimes he would act like he loved her, other times he would be yelling at her for being pathetic and weak.  It wasn't until later in the book that I realized who he was and what exactly he was doing when he shouted at her.


The plot kept me eager to keep reading, always making me feel like I needed to know more about what was going on.  There was never really a dull moment, especially with the other Dauntless trainees around, plus there were some exciting twists.  I had quite a few surprises as I read towards the end of the book!


In all, Divergent was a book with vivid descriptions, a twisting plot, a gorgeous setting, and fresh characters!  I loved every page of it!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

WoW - March 8th

WoW is a weekly meme I participate in, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  It stands for Waiting on Wednesday, and the point is to share to the Blogging world what book you're most looking forward to that week!  This week, I can't wait to read A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies!






Summary (from Goodreads):  Skye never questioned the story of her life. Her Aunt Jo adopted her after the death of her parents when she was just a child, and together they flip through memories the way some people flip through photo albums.

She never questioned if the stories were true.

Until the night of her 17th birthday, when the arrival of two strangers intrudes on her cozy life. Polar opposites, like fire and ice, Asher is dark and wild, while Devin is fair, cold, and aloof. Skye has no idea what they want—only that their presence coincides with the beginning of some shockingly strange events. Events that Skye, if she dares to think it, might be responsible for causing.

High up in the mountains of Boulder, Colorado, Skye finds herself caught in the middle of an ancient battle, one that began untold millennia ago. Torn between unpredictable Asher, whom she loves, and the infuriating Devin, who she can’t stay away from, her fate is murky as a starless night. And as the secrets of her true identity are revealed, Skye realizes that her destiny may reside in the Heavens—or somewhere darker.




Why I want to read it:  Sounds really fun and interesting!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Hex Hall

Hex Hall - Rachel Hawkins

My rating:  5/5
Summary (from Goodreads):  Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters. By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.
As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

 My review:  Hex Hall met up to my expectations and more!  I felt like I was being sucked into another world, one full of vampires, witches, warlocks, and other creatures!

My favourite thing about the book was the setting.  Hex Hall was a great, complex place to be reading about, mainly because it was so original.  It was quite different in the way that sometimes it made me feel like it was some old castle, but at some points it seemed like a place that everything shimmered and glowed, like on the cover.  It was a setting where there were twisted emotions all around: everyone liked and disliked a different person.  No one liked Sophie's roommate except Sophie; lots of people loved the three girls that Sophie was instantly enemies with; and the best thing was that no one in the school ever suspected who was behind the mystery.  I never even guessed until he/she (not giving it away : D) told Sophie that they did it.

Overall, there's not really much I can say about Hex Hall.  The setting was exquisite, the plot kept me interested the whole way through, the characters were very lovable, and the description was gorgeous.  Definitely a book I would recommend!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

In My Mailbox (2)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted at The Story Siren, in which you show the books you got that week.  They can be borrowed from friends, bought, or been taken out from the library.  This week, I received:

From library:




























I was given:











So that was:
1.  Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater
2.  The Luxe - Anne Godbersen
3.  Bitten - Kelley Armstrong
4.  The Adoration of Jenna Fox - Mary E. Pearson
5.  The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks
6.  Crusade - Nancy Holder
7.  The Screaming Season - Nancy Holder

What did you get?

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Divergent - Contest won!

I'm very excited at the moment, because, from Goodreads, I just won a copy of Divergent by Veronica Roth!





As you may know, I haven't been blogging very long, so this will be the first book I've received before the release date.  It should be coming in the mail in 4-6 weeks, so I can't wait to review it!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

WoW - March 1st

WoW is a weekly meme I participate in, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  It stands for Waiting on Wednesday, and the point is to share to the Blogging world what book you're most looking forward to that week!  This week, I can't wait to read Supernaturally by Kiersten White.



Summary (from Goodreads):  A lot has changed in the six months since Evie escaped from the International Paranormal Containment Agency with her shape-shifter boyfriend, Lend. She finally has the blissfully normal life she’s always dreamed of, including:
1) A real live high school
2) A perfectly ordinary after-school job
3) Her very own locker (and by the way, rusted metal is every bit as awesome as she imagined)

But Evie’s not-so-normal past keeps creeping up on her...and things get pretty complicated when you factor in:
1) A centuries-old, seriously decaying vampire stalker
2) A crazy faerie ex-boyfriend who is the perpetual bearer of really bad news
3) A major battle brewing between the faerie courts where the prize in question happens to be...Evie herself.

So much for normal.



Why I want to read it:  I loved Paranormalcy and Kiersten White`s style of writing.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Vampire Academy

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

My rating:  5/5
Summary (from Goodreads):  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:   Vampire Academy is one of the best books/series I've read in a while.  It doesn't quite beat Matched or The Hunger Games, but its pretty amazing.

The first thing I'd like to focus on is Dimitri.  He is one of the best male protagonists I've come across (besides Peeta, of course), and I love his battle skills.  I wish he wasn't so tall though. . . 6 foot 7?  Crazy.    Oh well.  He's still awesome anyway!

I really admire the author, more and more as the series go on.  I'm now currently reading the last book in the series, and it happens lots throughout the books.  Rose and Lissa have a bond that allows Rose to go into Lissa's head.  That must be quite difficult to write, because you're writing in the point of view of a character that's in another character's head.  Difficult, right?  I sure think it would be.

I love the idea; it's full of creativity and originality.  I like the idea of all those different types of vampires: Moroi, Strigoi, and Dhampirs.   Vampire Academy is a great choice for people who don't like typical vampire books!