Vampire Academy Richelle Mead 5 Points

I haven't read a young adult romance novel in a very long time. I expected the usual teen drama, of course, but, I forgot how nonsensical most teenage arguments are. Most of the problems could have easily been solved with just a simple conversation, but then, I guess, there would be no meat to the story. Vampire Academy is directed towards a younger audience with it's more modern version of the vampire. In the same way that Twilight fantasized the blood-sucking immortal beings into highly sought after, untouchable teenagers, Vampire Academy turned the modern version of vampires into almost royalty that always needs to be protected. It's interesting that Richelle juxtaposed her shiny new version against the old standard of a monster vampire.  It's very rare that the characters are referred to as vampires, and with very humanized characters, it's easy to forget that about fifty percent of the characters are bloodsuckers. The Moroi is the name given to the more humanized vampires and the Strigoi is the name given to the vampires who succumb to darkness and prey on the Moroi. 

In parallel to Interview with a Vampire, Richelle wrote her humanized vampires as mostly human. They look human, have to eat regular human food, they can go in the sunlight... you get the idea. Besides having to drink blood as well as eat food and the ability to do magic, the Moroi are pretty regular people. I forgot to mention, Moroi die. They aren't immortal. Pretty humanizing, right? Juxtaposed to the Strigoi who can't walk in the sun, live primarily on the blood of Moroi, are mindless, and destructive. 

 Is it too cliche to write that the two different species of vampires represent the constant struggle between good and evil? Personally, I think so. Everyone already knows what it's like to struggle between the right choice, obvious or not, and the choice that is easy or seemingly better. I think that the deeper meaning is seemingly normal people can easily become dark and destructive, and when darkness is hanging over someone's head, the easy way out seems more and more like the right choice. The idea of a vampire is centered around death, a literal version of death, and the creation of death. Though this book is a little light-hearted sometimes, it is shrouded in death and the dying; Lissa is haunted by her families brutal death, Rose is basically brought back to life by Lissa, Victor is dying from a disease, and the constant omminence of Strigoi (walking death). 

The key aggressor in the story is Victor, who had grown afraid of his own impending death, had forcefully tried to get Lissa to heal him, and then when he failed, manipulated his own daughter into becoming a Strigoi so she could get him out of jail. 

There is a lot of forbidden romance happening with both Rose and Lissa, but they're forbidden for different reasons. Rose and Dmitri would have been together, it was clear both of them had feelings. It was a sense of duty that kept them apart, as well as the age difference. It's funny that in the book she describes him as in his mid-twenties but in the movie, even though he looks young, she comments that he looks old enough to be her father or grandfather. While Lissa stays kind of stays away from Christain, a social outcast for various reasons. Christain's parents willingly turned Strigoi which is a big taboo in the Moroi community. Meaning, they willingly turned themselves into monsters. I think this is one of the big arguments in this book. It's the Moroi against the Strigoi. I think a lot of this book is about the psychological battle about giving in to your carnal desires, whether it be driven by romance or need for power. This book definitely expresses a very simple morality on the surface and a more complex one underneath. On the surface, it's about two best friends protecting each other during a turmulous time and underneath, it's more about ignoring your own needs for a sense of duty and the psychological battle between right and wrong.