Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead and Emma Vieceli

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. The title is so cheesy. I think it's intentionally cheasy though. I chose it because I wanted a fun book to read instead of something so serious.

Not only was the book a fun read it was finally a very different take on vampires. I've been searching for a series that doesn't follow the cliche formula regarding vampires, especially teenage vampires.
Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. The Dhampir protect the Moroi from the "evil vampires" called Strigoi. Moroi vampires are good, peaceful, and have magical abilities but are not immprtal while the Strigoi are more your cliche bloodthirsty immortal vampire. The girls have been on the run foe two years from their boarding school but the school authorities have finally caght up with them and am forcing them to retrn to St. Vladimir’s. Unfortunately, this is the least safe place for Lissa. It's also a social nightmare with cliques and"queen bees" just like any normal high school.

I liked that the book had mystery and adventure along with the clique wars and some Harry Potter-like magic thrown in. Rose is kind of an underdog as a guardian. She has used her street smarts to protect Lissa despite never having been formally trained  At first I thought she was entirely shallow but my favorite thing about her is that she truly makes protecting Lissa a priority no matter what's going on with the friendship. That also happens to be her fatal flaw because she tries to control Lissa too much. Actually Lissa used to be "queen bee" at the school and has to deal with her jealousy when Lissa replaces her.

I liked the romance between Rose and Dimitri but I did find the age difference to be just a little bit on the creepy side. My favorite character was Christian but I'm always drawn to the misunderstood bad boy with a heart of cold. The villian behind the whole mystery was rather unexpected and a good plot twist.

Even though I enjoyed this book there were a lot of things I didn't understand or like. Here's a list:

• Why are the Moroi and Strigoi feuding in the first place? What's the history behind this vampire conflict? 
• Why are there two races of vampire and where id they come from?
• Vampires are Christians and go to church? I can accept that they may go to church but wouldn't they be more likely to have a religion of their own? 
• Morai are magical vampires but can't protect themselves? They need half-human guardians who have to learn combat skills and use weapons against the superpowerful Strigoi? This isn't even believable.
• Lissa is a cutter. While I thought this part of the story was done pretty well, at the same time I felt is didn't belong in a vampire fantasy novel. 

I liked this book enough that I want to read the entire series. My rating  

The Movie
I knew the movie had bad reviews but I never expected it to be so bad. The actors and actresses did what they could with the script but the writing was just atrocious. There were some clever one liners but it overall it was pretty hard to sit through. The book was so much better.