Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

A brand new movie tie-in edition of the international Number 1 bestselling Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead - a dark and dangerous paranormal romance... Read it before it hits cinemas in February 2014!

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.

So I heard about this new YA Vampire series that was becoming a movie later this year and I figured it was worth a read. Always good to compare these things, I feel, especially since there has been such a spate of them over the last few years. This one seems different, although it did feel a little young (which is fair enough since it is aimed at a younger audience than I am, so will be well suited to them, but often you can't tell as obviously).

That said, it didn't detract from the book. It's a decent enough story, it has potential for the rest of the series and I like that so far it's got good strong girl characters (not the usual simpering pathetic ones aka Twilight). I think I will lend it to The Trucker's niece and see what she thinks :)

* This is one of my Featured Book Reviews, sponsored by Penguin Books. Read more here.