"Vampire Academy"

This week I read Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, and I have to say I was disappointed. The story was great, but I felt that the writing was lacking.

In an interesting new twist on vampire lore, Mead has created a world where only vampires who drain humans are evil. There is another sect of good vampires, who have magic and use it for the good of the world, who don't hunt humans, and who are actually so weak against the evil vampires that they need guardians to help them protect themselves. The story of Lissa and her mind-linked best friend/guardian Rose is quite original - told from the point of view of Rose the guardian, not the royal vampire princess Lissa, it's nice to have a story not be so ego-centric.

The writing, however, was definitely lacking. Too-convenient reveals of vitally important information happen over and over again, making the reader feel like the author doesn't think he or she is very intelligent. It is much more satisfying to receive information with no context, then see how it fits into the story later, rather then just being given the information at key points of the story - not only is that lazy writing, but it takes the reader out of the present and sends them to the past, jarring the flow of the story. Doing this as many times as Read does makes the whole experience feel like a segmented bad dream.

However, I really liked the story, so I give this one a 6. I'll probably try to read the sequel at some point, but next on my reading list is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Stay tuned for that review in a few days!