Vampire Academy

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead is the first book in her Vampire Academy series. From the back cover.~

Only a true best friend can protect you from your immortal enemies...

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess:a mortal vampire with an unbreakable bond to the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Stigoi; the fiercest and most dangerous vampires-the ones who never die.

The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a Dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Stigoi, who are hell-bent on making her one of them.

After two years of illicit freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. Rose will continue her Dhampir education. Lissa will go back to being Queen of the elite Moroi social scene. And both girls will resume breaking Academy hearts.

Fear made Lissa and Rose run away from St. Vladimir's - inside the Academy's iron gates, their world is even more fraught with danger. Here, the cutthroat ranks of the Moroi perform unspeakable rituals, and their secretive nature and love of the night creates and enigmatic world full of social complexities. Rose and Lissa must navigate through this dangerous world, confront the temptation of forbidden romance, and never once let their guard down, lest the Strigoi make Lissa one of them forever...

Vampire Academy is a wonderful paranormal young adult novel. Richelle Mead gives the reader a wonderfully complex story set in the world of vampires.  I loved the true-to-life friendship between Rose and Lissa. Both girls will do just about anything for each other. Even though they are vampires, they still have the same concerns as any other teenage girl, the right clothes, fitting in, and guys. There was also a bit of mystery thrown into the story to keep the reader on their toes. I liked that about this book and figured out much of the mystery before the end of the story, although I didn't figure out everything.

This was my first book by Richelle Mead, but I really enjoyed the story and plan to read many more books by her in the future.  There are currently 2 more books in her Vampire Academy series. I also recently found out about her Georgina Kincaid series that I can't wait to read.