Author: Richelle Mead
Original title: Frostbite
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Series: Vampire Academy #2
Publisher: Bonnier Carlsen
Format: Paperback
Pages: 334
Finished: 10/01/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! 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...
My thoughts: I read this book with the motivation to work on two of my reading goals for this year; to continue series I’ve already started, and to read books I’ve owned for several years. I read the first book in 2014, and have owned this second book for just as long. It was a really quick read, even surprisingly quick, and I’ll be moving on to the next book right after this. “Fruset blod”, or “Frost Bite” in English, was entertaining, but I didn’t love it. Don’t worry, I didn’t dislike it either. I just didn’t love it, which is rare for a book that I finish so quickly without forcing myself. I had a few issues with the novel that weren’t glaring to me, but which definitely affected my judgement. One negative aspect was an underlying sexism and quite blatant heteronormativity through the whole book; something I would probably barely have noticed had I read this years ago. It wasn’t annoying to an extent that I felt annoyed, but, you know, I noticed it and it was consistent. The other big thing was the main character, who is cocky and impulsive… a bit too impulsive, sometimes, for my liking. She often acts completely without thought for consequences, and more than once I felt an urge to face palm at her rash actions. Nevertheless, I don’t dislike her at all as a main character; in fact I can see good potential for her character development in later installments of the series.
Other than that? The romance is nice, the plot is exciting, and the world building credible. The language is easy and fun, and the amount of swear words seems to me a nice choice of style for a YA series. I had fun reading it and look forward to the third, but not final, book!
Rating: 3/5
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Title: Shadow Kiss
Author: Richelle Mead
Original title: Shadow Kiss
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Series: Vampire Academy #3
Publisher: Razorbill
Format: Paperback
Pages: 443
Finished: 12/01/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! Rose knows it is forbidden to love another guardian. Her best friend, Lissa - the last Dragomir princess - must always come first. Unfortunately, when it comes to gorgeous Dimitri Belikov, some rules are meant to be broken... Then a strange darkness begins to grow in Rose's mind, and ghostly shadows warn of a terrible evil drawing nearer to the Academy's iron gates. The immortal undead are closing in, and they want vengeance for the lives Rose has stolen. In a heart-stopping battle to rival her worst nightmares, Rose will have to choose between life, love, and the two people who matter most... but will her choice mean that only one can survive?
Author: Richelle Mead
Original title: Shadow Kiss
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Series: Vampire Academy #3
Publisher: Razorbill
Format: Paperback
Pages: 443
Finished: 12/01/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! Rose knows it is forbidden to love another guardian. Her best friend, Lissa - the last Dragomir princess - must always come first. Unfortunately, when it comes to gorgeous Dimitri Belikov, some rules are meant to be broken... Then a strange darkness begins to grow in Rose's mind, and ghostly shadows warn of a terrible evil drawing nearer to the Academy's iron gates. The immortal undead are closing in, and they want vengeance for the lives Rose has stolen. In a heart-stopping battle to rival her worst nightmares, Rose will have to choose between life, love, and the two people who matter most... but will her choice mean that only one can survive?
My thoughts: Spoiler free section: aaaAAaaaAAAAAaAaAAaaaaaaaaaaAaskjflkdsjgskl!!!!!!!!!!1! OMFG!!! ...phew. Damn. Wow. Where to start?
This book had me warming up to this series in just the way I was hoping it would. After the second book, “Frostbite”, I was entertained, but a lot was still missing for me. I wanted to see more character development for Rose, more wider world building, and definitely development in the main romance. Guess what I got? I got ALL OF THAT, baby! Woop! I think I prefer the English version over the Swedish translations, but as I already own books 4 and 6 in Swedish, the only other book I’ll read in English will be “Spirit Bound”, the 6th instalment. However, I’m not moping! I’m so looking forward to continuing with this series! This book had my adrenaline rushing and my blood pumping. If I could see the potential after reading book 2, imagine my anticipation after this! Kkjslkdjgksldg
Spoiler section: (mark white text to read spoiler review) Rose is still being called whore left and right, I feel, which had me siding with her a lot more than I thought I would. All the other characters having prejudices and suspicions about her just made me cheer harder for her. And fuck Queen Tatiana! >:( Some of the things I really liked about this book were the new aspect of Rose being affected by being shadow-kissed in a more clear way. It definitely adds more to her character. I only wish she would've taken time to talk more to Mason's ghost and, idk, apologised for never telling him she could never love him back? But I guess he got the message anyway. He didn't seem too upset. We also saw Rose developing a lot as a person, both after the finale of the last book, and in her interactions with Dimitri and evil peeps like Tatiana and Victor. Her new perspective on the relationship between herself and Lissa also brought a lot of credibility to Rose’s character and had me sympathising with her. Also, we got to know more about Dimitri’s side of the romance. He’s been pretty silent about the whole thing for the past two books, but in this one his character was really pushed to talk and act more, which I found to be positive. Therefore, I also felt a lot more about the romance in this book than earlier. Also, THE PLOT TWIST. I had Dimitri becoming a Strigoi spoiled for me years ago, so I KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN sooner or later and I could sense it towards the end and I didn’t really want to finish the last 40 pages but I DID and it was rough but I also LOVE how the book ended with Rose leaving the school and Lissa (temporarily, maybe, according to her) to try to find Dimitri. I like Lissa and her friendship with Rose, but what I like more is Rose being strong enough to leave Lissa and do something for herself. Awesome characters development! Great plot! Woop!
Rating: 4,5/5
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Author: Richelle Mead
Original title: Blood Promise
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Series: Vampire Academy #4
Publisher: Bonnier Carlsen
Format: Paperback
Pages: 522
Finished: 17/01/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters ... Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved?
My thoughts: Big spoiler warning! After “Shadow Kiss”, I was super excited to continue the series, which I of course did immediately. Unfortunately I read this fourth book in Swedish, which was a bit of a downer. The translation is at times faulty, words are sometimes misspelt or completely missing from sentences, and the language overall feels stilted. There were jumps in time in the plot which seemed sudden and confusing, and I can’t tell if that’s the translator’s fault or the author’s. Overall, this book was darker than the last one, and I missed Dimitri a lot. Rose was distanced from her own self in a way for the whole book, which is understandable when you think about what she’s going through, but it also had me feeling unsettled at times. We followed another story in this book, namely Lissa’s. I was irritated at her character in the beginning of this novel, which I hadn’t really been before, but I also think we got to know her character better as the story progressed. The relationship between Lissa and Rose grew stronger and more credible. We’re also getting more familiar with both Adrian and Jill, which I like. Other than that, I don’t have much to say, except that I’m anxious to get my hands on the next book in the series.
Rating: 4/5
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