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Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead is the first of the series by the same name.  A world where there are vampires, both good and bad.  The good vampires are the Moroi.  They are not immortal, and have the ability to wield elemental magic.  They are born, not made.  The Strigoi are the bad vampires.  They are Moroi who have chosen to give up their magic and kill to become immortal.  They can also be Moroi, human or dhampir who have been forced to turn.  The dhampir are half-human half-Moroi that serve as the guardians to the Moroi.

Lissa, Moroi royalty, and her dhampir, Rose, ran away from St. Vladmir's Academy two years ago, after several events that lead Rose to think Lissa is no longer safe there.  When they are finally caught and dragged back, neither is very happy about it.  Plus Rose would have been completely expelled if not for her bond with Lissa, a bond between Moroi and dhampir which many thought was just legend.

To better be able to protect Lissa, Rose begins extra training with Guardian Dimitri, who according to the other novice dhampirs is a god. Rose is pushing herself hard to be the best guardian she can be for Lissa, but nothing is that easy.

Coming back means having to navigate the high school politics again, like the new queen bee Mia, who seems to have it out for Lissa. Dealing with catching up on school work and boys. Not to mention that someone has been leaving dead animals for Lissa hoping to expose her secret.  As if Rose did not have enough to deal with, she is developing a serious crush on Dimitri, who is not only older, but long term relationships between dhampirs is a taboo in their world.

I had two reasons for wanting to start this series. First, I already read the first book in Bloodlines, the follow-up series, as part of the United States of YA and felt like I was missing a lot by not having read this series first. Second, the movie just came out, and I usually try and read the book before seeing the movie, which hopefully I will go see next weekend.

I really enjoyed this book.  I liked the strong female lead in Rose.  Sure she is a little brash, but sometimes that is just what needs to be done. She is fiercely loyal to Lissa, and even when they are fighting, she still protects Lissa from others.  She is smart, and a smart-ass, which honestly I like in a character.  Although it is interesting to me, that others think that Rose is the unstable one, and I suppose outwardly that is what it seems like, but for me, Lissa is definitely the more unstable of the two with her emotions and magic both contributing to it.

Ms. Mead does an excellent job of building the story of who knows Lissa secret and what exactly her secret is through out the novel.  I was genuinely surprised to find out who was behind the dead animals, which is rarity for me.  Usually the un-revealed antagonist  is on a short list of suspects for me at the very least, so kudos to Richelle Mead for surprising me.

I can't wait to see where the rest of the series goes from here, and how Rose and Lissa continue to develop as characters.

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