Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger. . . .

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

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Last night I finally had the chance to watch the Vampire Academy on DVD. I remembered seeing it advertised for theater release but never got the chance to get to the movies. Such is life with a very active 5-year-old. What I remembered from the movie trailers had me excited for the movie. Rose, the main character, seemed strong and quarkie, just like in the books.

I got my copy from the library after I discovered the DVD had been released. The Vampire Academy was my guilty pleasure while home on Friday. Guilty not because it's a YA book or even vampire movie but guilty because I should have been cleaning and folding laundry.

I will say the movie did a good job of sticking with the books. At one point I was like, "that didn't happen" and then I discovered it was a dream sequence...so the "never mind" followed.

Since I liked the movie because I really liked the book, let's talk about the book. I came across Vampire Academy while waiting for Harry Potter books to come out and after discovering and loving Twilight (and waiting for the remaining books to come out too). Almost any book gets compare to the Twilight series. First, there's no shame in loving that series. Second, and most important, the Vampire Academy is nothing like Twilight (as stated in the beginning of the movie. LOL!). Vampire Academy had a whole new thinking on what it meant to be a vampire and a guardian and the bad guys. I really loved that Rose was this strong, kick butt female character who was loyal to her best friend Leesa. 

If you haven't had a chance to read Vampire Academy yet, I would encourage you to do s, especially if you like a strong female character POV and vampire. It's a great series that was on the NY Times Best Seller list.