linakv

Note: I originally gave this series a three star review, but looking back on it I felt that it deserved less.

2'nd review (written on the 1'st of January 2014)
First of all, I must admit that I didn’t hate this book, at all. I found that it was a light and easy read, which I overall enjoyed and even liked quite a bit. But the thing that counted the most for me when reviewing and rating this book (I gave it two out of five stars), was that it was average. I’ve read it before, just with different names. I mean, the premise is basically the same as in The House of Night series by P.C and Kirsten Cast, with the badass heroine and the best friend who isn’t like everybody else.

What I found was very evident with this book, was that it was a first in a series. Nothing wrong about that, I assure you, I’ve read Marked and Dead Until Dark, but Vampire Academy was just a build-up. I felt that everything that was said and done were just to set the premise of the world and overall quite boring. I’ve heard that once you get through the first and the second book, this series gets oodles better, but I’m not interested in reading a series that gets better when it’s not all that good to begin with. I’ve done that before, but life is too short to wait for a book series to get better. Of course, if I were to get the books for free, that would be a whole different matter.

But it definitively wasn’t bad. I just felt that it could have been shortened down, and maybe the writer could have put the first and the second book into one. Removed some of the cattiness and drama, and gone over to actually having a plot. Because when I read it, I was looking for a plot and some personality in the book, but it felt just like every other teenage read ever.

A huge issue I had with this particular read though is the self-harm. I don’t have anything against the self-harm in itself, because it is an issue that definitively needs to be addressed in young-adult fiction, it’s just that it wasn’t addressed. It existed for one or two pages, Rose told her to stop, she stopped. They didn’t resolve the issue; it was just quit cold turkey. If you’re going to address these kinds of issues in your books, then do it properly you moron. That was my thoughts after reading that part of the book. This had a lot to do with the rather low rating, because it probably lost a whole star for it.

Just a question at the end: Why does every female vampy character have to be so damned sarcastic? Is it some kind of unwritten rule? Rose is good at it, Zoey Redbird is probably the queen of sarcasm (and whoring around, but that’s for another time), Bella from Twilight isn’t lost behind a wagon on it, and Sookie Stackhouse as well. I’m just wondering.

Overall, as I’ve pointed out earlier, I enjoyed it, but it just didn’t do enough for me. I liked the general plot a lot better than the House of Night series though, even though I missed the funny writing style and easy comedy from the latter, but Rose is a much more likeable character than Zoey. Even though both of them are very easily distracted by the opposite sex.

I’m not going to go into the writing style, except for the fact that there were a few phrases and sentences I cringed at. But that’s the case with a lot of newer writing, so I’m not going to bitch and moan too much about them. The writing in this was much better than that of the Switched book I reviewed earlier though, so I guess there is no complaining.

Two out of five stars, would have three if there was a bit more character depth and issues were actually addressed.


1'st review (written when I first read it
So. Yes. Vampire Academy. Let's just for a second take into account that I've read fanfiction better than this. But then again, I mostly read very good fanfiction. But some sentences I thought. WTF. Because I've read bad fanfiction better than that, you know?

Overall. I liked it. It was light and easy and a great way for me to avoid writing my examns. If I obtain the other books cheap/free, I will read the rest. If not, I won't. It's clear that this is the start of a series, because it was kind of... I dunno, catty and not-important. I hope that when I read the second book, I will be more impressed with that.

But and taking the new review policy into mind it wasn't bad per se. I just feel that it could have been shortened down a little bit. No. The plot could have been tighter. That's it. I didn't spot any plot holes though, but that could just be me not looking to closely.

I'm just rambling. Never take my reviews into account for reading a book, because it's only what I mean. And this one, I can't really make up my mind about. I liked it, but I didn't like it.

A question: Why does every female vampy character have to be so damned sarcastic? (read: the female vampy characters I've read about). It's Rose, and Zoey Redbird (from [b:Marked|30183|Marked (House of Night, #1)|P.C. Cast|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1368453848s/30183.jpg|30573]) and Bella from ([b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (Twilight, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1361039443s/41865.jpg|3212258]). I liked this a whole lot better than House of Night though. I missed the funny-writing and easy comedy from the HoN series, but I felt the character sort of had more depth? Even though both Rose and Zoey are boy-crazed and easily distracted. I'm not going to compare it to Twilight, because I have so many contradicting feelings about Twilight it's not even funny.

I can compare one thing though. Bella and Rose. We don't really find out what they look like. Just that they have long, brown hair and (in Roses case) big boobs. I dunno.

I'm gonna stop now.