VAMPIRE ACADEMY READATHON discussion

Discuss thoughts but keep in mind of spoilers!

I'm not sure if people have started reading yet or maybe just forgot or something lol but these are my thoughts from almost 16% done the book. I thought I wasn't going to like this but I am trying to keep an open mind. It is so trashy but it's kind of addicting.
My only complaints are that Rose is a virgin with a bangin' body (so I'm not sure what's up with her situation) and that there are a few inconsistencies, such as how often Lissa was feeding from her.
I am shipping her with Dimitri bc why not. Victor, Mason, and Jesse Zeklos are my fav characters rn. Victor is such a cinnamon roll and I love him so much.
I know that dhampir is pronounced like vampire (dam-pyre), but I can't stop saying it as "damp-ear". The names I am basically taking free will with but I'm pronouncing Vasilisa as "vass-i-lisa" and her nickname Lissa as Alyssa without the a.

I been reading a chapter a day so i up to chapter ten
And my thoughts are that I like it cause it moves along a nice steady clip and for a first book it does a great job of explaining things as things pop up in the story. I think the kid who keeps meeting Lissa above the church is very creepy. I love how dirmik handles rose when he catches her with the boy and explains how she does not have the luxury of acting like other girls nor should she want to. Just my thoughts without giving to much detail.

Kyla wrote: "I'm not sure if people have started reading yet or maybe just forgot or something lol but these are my thoughts from almost 16% done the book. I thought I wasn't going to like this but I am trying ..."

Oh my goodness, I will totally be calling it damp-ear from now on that's hilarious!

I'm on chapter 6 (I started a few days ago) and so far Christian has been really nice to Lissa. I don't think he's creepy at all and he warmed the room for her when she was cold. If he turns sour I will be posting with caps lock on.

Just finished anyone else close to finishing ?

Anyone made any progress thoughts etc?

I'm about 60 pages in, I've been avoiding looking here cause we don't have discussions from a certain page count or part of the book. I don't want to be spoiled but would love to discuss :)

Mimmi wrote: "I'm about 60 pages in, I've been avoiding looking here cause we don't have discussions from a certain page count or part of the book. I don't want to be spoiled but would love to discuss :)"

We do have a spoiler free thread! If you want to throw out some thoughts on whatever part you are at feel free!

Jan wrote: "Anyone made any progress thoughts etc?"
I'm less than 100 pages in on my re-read, and I'm loving it! I've been noticing things I haven't before, and it's a very interesting experience. I can't wait to continue!

I'm on chapter 14 and I am really enjoying it so far. I might even just power-read and finish tonight.

Finally got around to starting it! This is a re-read for me and I'm glad I still love it. I was a bit worried I had grown out of the story.

I've been reading it on Overdrive - I haven't read it for 2 or 3 days but I got to chapter 19. I was really shocked that I'm liking it as much as I am. Not even really a spoiler but make sure you're to about chapter 15 before you read this: (view spoiler)[I quickly figured out the connection between Lissa, Ms. Karp, and St. Vladimir, but I'm still having trouble with the shadow-kissed thing (POSSIBLY figured it out as I was typing this) (hide spoiler)]

Just finished. I liked this book so much more than I thought I would.

I kinda picture Dimitri as Adam Driver but less goofy hahah. Add a hint of Bucky Barnes and we've got ourselves a new winter soldier.

Book one a re read but I not read the rest of the series so I am ready to continue on with book two

I finished it today and sadly only gave it 2 stars. I really disliked Rose as a character and hated the whole trope, everyone thinks she's a "slut" but she's still a virgin thing. I don't know if her relationship is going to develop like I think it is, but I have a problem with the age gap and power dynamic in that relationship if it becomes romantic. There was a lot of slut-shaming and girls hating on each other. It just wasn't my thing but i'm glad everyone else here seems to like it.

Jessye wrote: "Just finished. I liked this book so much more than I thought I would.

I kinda picture Dimitri as Adam Driver but less goofy hahah. Add a hint of Bucky Barnes and we've got ourselves a new winter s..."

That is awesome! I read Adam Driver and I cracked up! That's hilarious. Just looked up Bucky Barnes and YES! SO MUCH!!!

Mimmi wrote: "I finished it today and sadly only gave it 2 stars. I really disliked Rose as a character and hated the whole trope, everyone thinks she's a "slut" but she's still a virgin thing. I don't know if h..."

I can definitely see your point. The slut shaming is definitely a part of this book, and it definitely makes me feel uneasy too. I think it's so ingrained in the world due to their prejudiced view of dhampir women as "blood whores ".

Swoon

I know this group was directed to read one book a month but... I'm loving this too much and couldn't help myself! I am now onto Blood Promise :)

Caroline D. wrote: "Mimmi wrote: "I finished it today and sadly only gave it 2 stars. I really disliked Rose as a character and hated the whole trope, everyone thinks she's a "slut" but she's still a virgin thing. I d..."

Yeah I know what you mean and the history in the books is fairly interesting, but I just think I should have read this series before when I liked vampire books. I read like four books of the House of night series a few years ago and then stopped because I wasn't into it anymore.

I saw the movie first, many times...so many times. I love the movie. I know that lots of people hated it and they hated the actress that played Rose but I can't see anyone else playing those characters at all.

We loved the movie but since reading the books it's just a movie that is sort of like Fan Fiction, based on the book but the movie doesn't actually have a lot to do with the actual story line.

Rose grows so much in the first year back at the academy and by leaps and bounds in the rest of the series. Dimitri is not much older than her but he's been out in real life for several years now. So he's much more worldly than she is. He understands parts of her that she doesn't even know about and vice versa. They are perfect for each other. But he's so noble and has such strong standards that he doesn't allow himself to act on his feelings.

Like I said, I loved the movie and would have loved having all the books made into movies but only with the same actors.

Rose's virginity.

She left the academy with Lissa and has been on the run for a couple of years. So she was 15? when they ran away? That's too young, even at Vladimir's Academy to be out screwing around. She was raised by the Academy and would have been taught from a very young age that she is not allowed to have relationships because "they come first, the Moroi.

She has been Lissa's only protection in all that time. She never thought they were completely safe so she was always on alert. Thinking about boys would have deterred and distracted her from that job. There is no way she would have risked Lissa for a quickie.

Now that she's back at the Academy she goes back to being a big flirt but she's still hesitant because she's still looking after Lissa. All the things going on would keep her from stripping down and getting down with anyone.

BUT if she had stayed at the Academy those years I do believe she and Mason would have done the deed before this time frame because she did like him and she could have been happy with him if she hadn't fallen for Dimitri, and having all the extra training with him was a result of her running away and being behind everyone else's level of training.

She tried to be Mason's girlfriend a bit but there just wasn't enough chemistry between them. She loved him though. That shows through the rest of the series. They remain close friends and allies.

I finished yesterday and I rated it 4 stars, although it is probably a 3.5. Goodness, I don't know who I pictured Dimitri to look like -- I personally don't think that any of the above people are very attractive, so none of them would play him. He has a tan. I'm not sure where that came from but I generally bend characters to my liking, Rose reminds me of Elizabeth Gillies -- Lissa looks more like the girl on the cover than Rose does.

I didn't like that Rose was a slut/bloodwhore but also a virgin. I also didn't care for the ridiculing of Rose for feeding Lissa while she was gone. I thought that their friendship was so awesome because Rose trusted Lissa enough to let her drink her blood and leave her weak and dizzy for hours.

I'll probably post more thoughts as I think of them but here's general stuff for now:
Chapter 21ish: (view spoiler)[It realized that it was Victor whenever Dimitri picked up the necklace again after putting it beside the bed. (hide spoiler)]
Chapter 23ish: (view spoiler)[I thought that I was nearing an epilogue-ish chapter but it wasn't over yet! It came to a pretty good close and then started right back up and it was unique, to say the least. (hide spoiler)]
Chapter 24: (view spoiler)[Ok, that was a wild ride. I was getting a lot of deja vu at the point where Natalie knocked Rose into the wall and opened the cell for Victor. I saw that coming. I was like, "Why does she have a red ring around her eyes?". Then they were like, "she had skin too pale even for a Moroi", and I was like OMG. The raven part at the end was so cute, but it took me until the part when Rose is talking to the priest to find out what shadow-kissed meant. (hide spoiler)]

I liked the first book enough to pick up the second eventually, but I'm not sure if I will. The ending was satisfying, and I just feel like the plot is going to be similar in each consecutive book.

It's July 1st! Can you all believe it? That means that Frostbite is our book of the month. I'm hoping we can do a live show and/or VA movie watch with you all early this month, but until then, if you finished Vampire Academy, on to Frostbite! If you would like to discuss the first book, be sure to respond on our spoiler thread.

Kyla wrote: "I'm not sure if people have started reading yet or maybe just forgot or something lol but these are my thoughts from almost 16% done the book. I thought I wasn't going to like this but I am trying ..."

Rose and Lissa left the academy 2 years earlier. That would have made her 15ish when they left. For her to be sexually active at 15 is young, no matter what the circumstances.

She was protecting Lissa and focused on staying hidden so she didn't have the opportunity to run around and have sex.

She tried to remedy that, in my thoughts, in that room with Jesse and if he hadn't tried to bite her I think Dimitri would have walked in on a lot more of a situation than he did.

Then she was "crushing on her mentor" and boys were nothing when compared.

She could have been happy with Mason or even another person if Dimitri hadn't been there.

Jan wrote: "Just finished anyone else close to finishing ?"

I'm done.

July is half way over, can we please discuss the plots and theories and stuff now? With spoilers and all? Isn't that what the point of THIS thread is?

Kyla wrote: "I finished yesterday and I rated it 4 stars, although it is probably a 3.5. Goodness, I don't know who I pictured Dimitri to look like -- I personally don't think that any of the above people are v..."

I love the movie so the actors that played them are part of my reading. I see their faces when I think of the characters. I can't see anyone else playing them but if they ever do another movie I'm sure they'll change it up and make them some popular cute people instead.

When I read the whole series and got to the end I thought about something. In Stan Alto's first class after they returned, Rose had been called up front to be humiliated, he said " There are Strigoi who have lived for thousands of years and fed off generations of Moroi.".

Can you imagine the stories they could tell? If they weren't evil and wanting to kill of course.

I just kept thinking about how much change in the world they'd seen. What do you think they might have to say, again, not evil undead killers but if they could sit down and tell stories about their life and things they'd seen change over the centuries.

I have a question. I have just recently found the books after having the movie for a while. We loved the movie, once I read the book I completely understand why fans of the novels hated it. Now I don't want to see it anymore.

But now, I found out by accident there is a 6.5 story, graphic novels, ultimate guides, 10th year anniversary edition of book 1, and more that seem to come from Penguin books and Richelle Mead. Are the short stories added to book 1 worth buying? I don't have the book. I have 2, 4, 5, 6. I'd like to keep them all the same edition so the spines match on the shelf. If I get the anniversary edition it will be different.

I want to figure out what all has been written by the author or company so I'm not missing anything.

I would really like to hear that she's writing more short stories especially since there were 2 books released in 2008.

Can someone help me out so I can make sure I have titles to all the extra stuff?

Is the companion book by the author?

I just got through my 10th Anniversary Edition Vampire Academy short stories. I LOVE LOVE LOVE "Hello, My Name Is Rose Hathaway".

I loved one little part of a paragraph. It says it all to me. PG 467

"...Mason made me laugh with his stupid jokes and always brought me effortless comfort when we were together. When I was with him...I just was. But Dimitri...Dimitri caused my breath to catch and my heart to do gymnastics. Around him, I wanted greatness. I pushed myself to be better, smarter, faster, sharper. And when I wasn't with him, I felt like the world was incomplete..."

Kyla wrote: "I finished yesterday and I rated it 4 stars, although it is probably a 3.5. Goodness, I don't know who I pictured Dimitri to look like -- I personally don't think that any of the above people are v..."

The remaining books are VERY different than this first book in my opinion. By the 3rd book Rose is completely different. Tragedy changes her in book 2 and in book 3 she faces heart breaking sadness.

The last three books, 4, 5, and 6, are just as intense and amazing too, so if you do plan on reading the rest of the series can I suggest you make sure you have the remaining books on hand so you can pick the next one up and continue the story as quickly as possible.