When a fellow book lover suggested I read the Vampire Academy series I have to admit that I was hesitant. I have read some pretty downgrading vampire novels so was worried that I would waste my timing reading another 'stupid' supernatural romance story - boy was I wrong!

Vampire Academy had me gripped from the start to finish as I followed the tale of one young and 'badass' Dhampir - Rose and her troubles as she shows her extraordinary loyalty to her best friend, Lissa, and fights to do what she believes is right. With the amount of action going on it is very hard to put down - I grantee you'll feel the same! It truly is so much more than your regular 'vampire bites human' book.

Friendship, adventure, mystery, betrayal, romance and supernatural occurrences. Richelle Mead's compelling read draws you into the world of Vampire Academy from the start to finish. It truly is a must have for any bookworm. The perfect addition to your bookcase and the latest read that isn't to be missed, a truly great novel.

A quite enjoyable first book in this much-loved series. I read it recently so that I'd have some idea what was going on when I saw the film.

The story gets high-school-angst-woe-is-me-Twilight-ish at times, but I did think the tiers of vampire society were interesting. The characters were quite well-written, even if most of the girls seemed super-bitchy, including Rose herself at times. I really hope that as the books progress the girls mature and become nicer to each other because Im not sure I can do seven books of bitch!

This is your quintessential YA paranormal romantic adventure. If you're a fan of the genre, you'll love this.

Such a great start to a great series. Rose is such a fiery and fierce character, while Lissa is her polar opposite, calm and thoughtful and responsible. I love how the story starts with Rose and Lissa out in the real world to avoid the very real treat to Lissa and her yet to be uncovered powers.

The story flows very smoothly and I love the introduction of Dimitri when he pretty much hands Rose her backside and takes the two girls back to St Vladamir's Academy.

The book is a lot less romance orientated than Twilight and it;s great to see such a strong female lead in this book, although there are many strong females in the VA series which I also love. Don't get me wrong, the steamy scenes with Rose and Dimitri are fun and fit with the story, but it's not overly sappy.

Overall I loved everything about this first book, right down to grumpy Christian Ozera. I couldn't wait to jump right into Frostbite when I had finished Vampire Academy.