Shadow Kiss
Vampire Academy #3
Author: Richelle Mead
Source: Personal Purchase
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Publisher: Razorbill
 (November 13, 2008)
ISBN-13: 978-1595141972

Is Rose’s fate to kill the person she loves most? It’s springtime at St. Vladimir’s Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. Since Mason’s death, Rose hasn’t been feeling quite right. She has dark flashbacks in the middle of practice, can’t concentrate in class, and has terrifying dreams about Lissa. But Rose has an even bigger secret …. She’s in love with Dimitri. And this time, it’s way more than a crush. Then Strigoi target the academy in the deadliest attack in Moroi history, and Dimitri is taken. Rose must protect Lissa at all costs, but keeping her best friend safe could mean losing Dimitri forever…

This series is getting better and better with each book I read.  I liked the first book, loved the second book, but I am head over heals IN LOVE with Shadow Kiss.  This one had the action, the romance, and of course more heartbreak and angst.

Rose has matured a bit for me in this book.  I especially love how she stood up for her own needs over what Lissa wants near the end.  I love how she finally has realized that there are things she needs to have in her life at this moment in her life she is going to finally use her courage and strength to do it.  Every time Rose thought she was having a ‘crazy episode’, my heart started to crack with sadness.  When she starts seeing Mason, I wanted comfort Rose and make her believe that she is not seeing things.  I really wish she would have told Dimitri sooner though so that they could have figured out what was really going on sooner.

I also feel that Rose needs to take the advice that others have given her and accept that Lissa is stronger than Rose realizes.  She should have also confided in Lissa about being in love with Dimitri.  They are suppose to be best friends, but it seems Rose never uses her as a best friend should in sharing secrets.

When the puzzle starts piecing together and the action really kicks into full gear, the author again wreaked havoc on my emotions.  How could she do this to our beloved Dimitri?  After Rose and Dimitri finally figure a possible way of making a relationship work, she pulls the rug out from underneath us and does the worst.

Then we have Adrian. Oh playful and flirtatious Adrian.  I have fallen for him as well.  I love his witty humor and laid back personality.  I enjoyed it when he was trying to capture the magic of Spirit and bring the plants back to life with Lissa.  I loved his actions with Rose and how he would do anything he could for her.  The final scenes with Rose and Adrian were so sweet and tender that I found myself crying with his words.

Overall, these books are just getting better and I keep having to change my favorite book in the series as I go.  If you haven’t read this series yet, you are definitely missing out on not only a great story but amazing writing as well.

Outstanding book that will stay on my bookshelf for rereading!

Frostbite
Vampire Academy #2
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Publisher: Razorbill
 (April 10, 2008)
ISBN-13: 978-1595141750

Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose…


It’s winter break at St. Vladimir’s, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy’s crawling with Guardians—including Rose’s hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if hand-to-hand combat with her mom wasn’t bad enough, Rose’s tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason’s got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa’s head while she’s making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy’s not taking any risks… This year, St. Vlad’s annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.


But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price…

Over two years ago I started reading this series.  I read the first book Vampire Academy and loved it.  I don’t know why I didn’t continue on with the series, but I really wish I had kept reading them.  Now that I am back to reading them, I am just glad to have the whole set so I don’t have to stop again!

We return back to St. Vladimir Academy shortly after the last one left off.  Rose is still training with Dimitri and protective of Lissa.  Lissa is still in love Christian and Mia is still the witch of the group.  Now though, the Strigoi are getting bolder and smarter though.  When they target the Royal families by working with humans, many will die, and few will make it until the end of the book.

While Rose tended to get on my nerves just a tad bit with her whining and attitude,  I found that I was willing to embrace it because it is that personality that makes her Rose.  Without the bad attitude, she wouldn’t be the character we love.  I could understand some of the resentment she had towards her Mother, but I still wanted to slap Rose at times and to tell her to show her Mother some respect.  For all of her Mother’s fault, she is still her Mother and a strong fighter at that.

Mason was great in this book.  I really wanted him to have a happy ending, but I just didn’t want it to be with Rose.  Dimitri will always be the one I hope Rose ends up with no matter what.  I just feel a better chemistry is evolving between Dimitri and Rose.  Mason though does have some strong traits that made me swoon.  I loved his loyalty to his friends, and his love for Rose felt to me to be more than just a crush.  I seriously cried for hours after his final scene in the book.  When Rose protected him and wouldn’t let anyone near them was truly heartbreaking.  In a way, I wish the author wouldn’t have put me through this but I do know it was a story that helped the book progress.

Dimitri is still Dimitri.  He is still sexy and fierce, but he does show a softer side in this book.  I loved seeing him struggle with his emotions towards Rose.  It just goes to show how much he is holding back where Rose is concerned.  They both have feelings for each other, but they also know they can’t act on them.  When Dimitri is presented with a chance to have a different job opportunity along with a different female, I felt what Rose was feeling in her heart.  I was jealous, angered, and overall disappointed at the thought of him leaving.  When his decision is revealed though, it is sweet and so Dimitri.

I think I loved this book even more than the first one.  The author knows how to write perfectly and makes reading the series exciting and suspenseful.  The romance is sweet, hot and perfect as well with plenty of action on the battle field to keep it balanced.  Another hit from a well loved author and a series that I will continue reading this time!

MY PREVIOUS REVIEW OF VAMPIRE ACADEMY #1: FOUND HERE

Outstanding book that will stay on my bookshelf for rereading!

Isle of Night
The Watchers #1
Author: Veronica Wolff
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Publisher: NAL Trade
  (September 6, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-0451234629

Is life offering fewer and fewer options? Then join the dead.


When Annelise meets dark and seductive Ronan, he promises her a new life-if she has the courage to chance the unknown. Now, she’s whisked away to a mysterious island and pitted against other female recruits to become a Watcher-girls who are partnered with vampires and assist them in their missions. To survive and become a Watcher, Annelise has to beat out every other girl, but she’s determined to do so, because to fail doesn’t mean dishonor-it means death.

Loved the cover.  Loved the plot concept.  Didn’t like the book too much.  That about sums up my experience of Isle of Night.  I have seen people compare it to The Hunger Games and Vampire Academy mixed together into one book, but this one didn’t have near as much impact as the previously mentioned books had.

Yes, Annelise must learn to survive and fight for her life to become a Watcher on the small secluded island.  Yes, she is surrounded by male vampires and other girls who are out to make sure she doesn’t survive.  That is about where the similarities end.  Ronan was mysterious and had some sexual appeal to him, but we never really got to see that much of him.  When we did it was more as an instructor and less of a possible romantic interest for Annelise.  I am still not sure about why the male vampires need Watchers and why Watchers are only women.  There are no women vampires either which was never really explained.

The author left too many things unanswered for the plot to fully take shape.  I feel this book was a mediocre book when a first novel in a series should set certain things in motion.  Instead I am left wondering who Annelise is suppose to be falling for in the love department, where the vampires are taking the weaker girls, and why they really need to be training to be a Watcher in the first place.  I really had to struggle to continue for the first half of this book.  The last half of the book does have a bit more action but it wasn’t enough to carry the book.

Is it something I would read again? Probably not.  Would I continue with the series? Yes just so I can see if things are resolved and to see if the author is going to explore more options in the next book.

If the library doesn’t have it, don’t worry about reading it!

* I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review *