Our Life: 9/1/10

I have bee

n reading the Vampire Academy Series and wanted to share them with you... WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!!!

CHARACTERS:

Rosemarie "Rose" Hathaway - Rose is the seventeen-year-old, half-vampire half-human (Dhampir) protagonist of the Vampire Academy series and is best friends with Princess Lissa Dragomir. She has a one-sided connection (bond) to Lissa, allowing her to read Lissa's thoughts, sense her feelings and see through her eyes. Sarcastic and quick-witted, Rose is training to become Lissa's Guardian and fiercely protective of her. Rose has semi-exotic desert-princess features: big dark eyes, dark brown hair, and lightly tanned skin. She is 5'7 with an athletic but curvy figure(which is envied by the slim Moroi girls). Rose is usually impulsive and believes in physical combat rather than talk.

Vasilisa "Lissa" Dragomir - A seventeen year old Moroi princess and Rose Hathaway's best friend. Lissa is the last vampire in the Dragomir royal line, giving her the title "Princess". Her family, died in a car accident when she was fifteen. Lissa is described as beautiful, with long, platinum blond hair and jade green eyes, and having the typical slim Moroi build that makes her look like a runway model. Before she left the Academy, she was in a relationship with Aaron, who Mia Rinaldi started dating after Lissa left. Lissa is usually perceptive and reasonable, managing to think things through which Rose has never been able to do. She is also a very compassionate individual, knowing and wanting to help in the pain of others.

Dimitri Belikov - He is a well respected twenty four year old Dhampir of Russian origin, from Siberia, assigned to be Lissa's Guardian along with Rose. Dimitri has a slight Russian accent, and likes old western novels. He is described to be about 6'5 or 6'7; has brown eyes, shoulder length hair a few shades lighter than Rose's dark brown hair, and tanned skin. He is sometimes described as a 'God', referring to his reputation as one of the most 'badass' Guardians around. He offers to mentor and train Rose after their return to the academy. He is described as serious and dedicated and slightly non-social, preferring the company of his westerns rather than socializing.

Christian Ozera - He is an outcast because his parents willingly became Strigoi. He's a royal Moroi who holds radical ideas about fighting against Strigoi. He specializes in Fire magic. His physical appearance is described to be tall with black hair and winter blue eyes. He takes an interest in Lissa which is returned.

Mason Ashford - a Dhampir who is one of Rose's best friends, and also a novice Guardian like her. He is interested in her romantically, but Rose prefers to see him as a friend though they flirt. He dies in Frostbite and then haunts Rose.

Mia Rinaldi - A non-royal Moroi who's element is Water. Mia holds a grudge against Lissa (and by default, Rose). The reason is found out near the middle of the book. She is described as having a soft-face and curly blond hair that makes her look very young and almost doll-like.Victor Dashkov - A royal Moroi with Sandovsky's Disease. He is Natalie's father and was a dear friend of Lissa's father. Due to his disease, he does not have a chance of ever becoming king of the Moroi. He was an individual highly respected and liked by Lissa, until he kidnaps her and uses her to treat his illness. He is captured and imprisoned for his actions.

Natalie Dashkov - A royal Moroi with jet-black hair and jade green eyes. She is very awkward among other royals and is known for talking a lot. She turns Strigoi later in the series.

PLOT:

Guardian in training Rosemarie "Rose" Hathaway and Moroi princess Vasilisa "Lissa" Dragomir are brought back to their school St Vladimir's Academy from where they had run away two years back after accident causes Lissa to lose her parents and brother. On returning Guardian Dimitri Belikov, who was the leader of the team of guardians sent to retrieve the two, assigned to be Lissa's guardian. He offers to mentor Rose in her guardian training as he feels she has potential and with training can make up for the years she has lost. He also believes Rose can be an excellent guardian to Lissa due to the presence of a rare one-sided psychic bond to Lissa which allows her to know the latter's, emotions, thoughts and whereabouts. Rose agrees knowing this is the only way she will be allowed to remain and on graduation be Lissa's guardian to whom she is fiercely protective. Though they soon fall into the academy life, they find that Lissa has lost her social standing among the other Moroi royals owing to her running away and decide to keep company with Lissa's "cousin" Natalie Drashkov who is the daughter of her father's sick and dying friend Victor Drashkov. On the very first day back they find that another Moroi student Mia Rinaldi who is dating Lissa's ex-boyfriend Aaron holds a grudge against Lissa(and by default Rose). Mia finds every opportunity to insult Lissa and is in turn insulted and threatened by Rose. Lissa finds a friend in Christian Ozera much to the irk of the ever protective Rose. Christian's parents had turned Strigoi(undead vampires) of their own will for immortality and had been killed by guardians. Rose mistrusts Christian because of his family history, also it is implied that she is jealous of Lissa's interest in him. Rose in her turn starts is falling for Dimitri. Things start going worse when Lissa starts finding dead animals in her room along with threatening letters. Lissa starts going into depression and engages herself in self mutilation. It is revealed that though she has not specialized in any elemental magic(Air,Water,Fire and Earth being the four elements), she has a miraculous ability to heal which was witnessed by Rose and their earlier teacher Ms Karp two years back. Rose finds out that this gift is shared by Ms Karp who is then taken to a mental institution. This incident along with her increasing depression was what had caused Rose to run away with Lissa. While attending Sunday service, Rose hears that the Moroi saint St Vladimir could heal people, and suffered from some form of depression(given as fighting inner demons). Also he was protected by his loyal companion the "shadow kissed" Anna with whom he shared a bond. On returning from a shopping trip with Lissa, Victor and Natalie, Rose has an accident and on waking up deduces from what Dimitri tells her(that she had a miraculous recovery) that Lissa had healed her. She reaches into her bond and finds that Lissa is lying on the attic of the Church bleeding from self-inflicted cuts. Her reporting this incident causes a slight break in their friendship. Somehow discovering this,Mia insults Lissa calling her unstable causing Rose to punch her and break her nose. Though unable to follow her owing to being detained by teachers and guardians, Rose reaches through her bond while in her room and finds that Lissa is being kidnapped by some guardians who assault Christian when he tries to save her. She tries to go and warn Dimitri and instead ends up nearly having sex with him. They stop when Dimitri unclasps a locket gifted by Victor from her neck and he manages to throw it away. It is later revealed that Victir had charmed the locket with a lust charm which causes people to act on already existing attraction letting go of the inhibitions. Through the bond Rose finds out that Victor is the one who kidnapped Lissa and plans to use her to heal his genetic disease. He reveals that Natalie was the one who left the animals in Lissa's room to see her heal them after accidentally catching her doing so while following them. He also reveals that Lissa had specialized in the rare fifth element Spirit, and that her bringing back Rose from the dead after the accident was what caused them to have a bond, which was also what had happened to Anna and was why she was called "Shadow Kissed". Also using spirit is what was causing her depression. Though Lissa heals him for the time being, the school guardians are able to reach the place and rescue her. On returning Victor convinces Natalie to turn Strigoi by killing while feeding and gets her to break him free. She injures Rose who was visiting Victor, but is killed by Dimitri. Dimitri reveals that he too feels for her but cannot have a relationship with her because of their age difference and because he won't be able to guard Lissa whole-heartedly if she is near him.

PLOT:

The story begins with Rose and Dimitri traveling to meet the legendary guardian Arthur Schoenberg for Rose's Qualifier Exam. Once they arrive at the home of the Moroi family he protects, they discover a bloody massacre of the entire family and their guardians, including Arthur by Strigoi. Rose also discovers a silver stake, a magical device which Strigoi cannot touch, meaning the Strigoi must have had human assistance in their attack. The massacre puts the vampire community on high alert, and to keep the students at St. Vladimir's Academy safe, a ski trip to a lodge owned by a wealthy Moroi family is required right after Christmas. During the ski trip, panic sets in when news of another Strigoi attack on a royal Moroi family spreads, where one of the dead was Mia's mother. During her stay at the lodge, Rose meets a Moroi named Adrian Ivashkov, who shows obvious interest in Rose, and later becomes friendly with Lissa after they both discover they are spirit users. During Adrian's pool party, Mason, his friend Eddie, and Mia begin voicing their opinions about hunting Strigoi. After a heated argument with Dimitri, Rose tells Mason confidential information that Dimitri had given her before about the possible whereabouts of the Strigoi's hideouts. Using Rose's information, Mia, Mason, and Eddie sneak out of the ski lodge and travel to Spokane, Washington, to hunt down the Strigoi themselves. Rose discovers their plan and together with Christian, run out to stop them. Rose and Christian find the group and convince them to return to the lodge. However, they are ambushed by Strigoi, who hold them captive for days, threatening to kill them. Rose eventually comes up with a plan to escape, and they all manage to get out of the house into the protection of the light, except Rose, who is left fighting two Strigoi. Mason is killed when he returns and attempts to help Rose. Rose then kill both of the Strigoi by beheading them, and then collapses into shock, as Guardians arrive after being informed of where the students were. Once back at St. Vladimir's, Rose receives two molnija marks for her Strigoi kills. Dimitri also tells her that he turned down Tasha's offer to become Lissa's guardian, admitting that his heart is with Rose.

PLOT:

Rose, still in shock over Mason's death, prepares with the rest of the novices for the qualifying exam in which the novices protect the Moroi students from "attacks" by "Strigoi" (their dhampir teachers). Rose is positive that she will be paired with Lissa, but instead is paired with Christian Ozera, while Eddie Castile (Mason's best friend) is paired with Lissa. Rose complains to her teachers, but ultimately resigns herself to guarding Christian. During the first attack on Christian, Rose sees Mason's ghost and freezes-and is accused of being a sore loser by her teachers. In a sudden twist, Christian is the only person who truly believes that Rose didn't screw up on purpose. Meanwhile, Rose learns from Dimitri that Victor Dashkov's trial is coming soon-and she and Lissa aren't going to be called to testify. She begs Dimitri to find a way to get them into the trial, and he promises to see what he can do. Adrian and Lissa are growing closer (in a teacher-student sense) to each other while practicing their Spirit using, making Christian jealous. After Rose settles a fight between Lissa and Christian, she begins to sense changes in herself-mainly feelings of intense anger (even more than is usual for Rose). Christian is also approached by Jesse Zeklos to join a secret "club" he and Ralf have started, though Christian turns them down. Rose gets suspicious, and starts trying to learn more about this club, which she later learns is called "Mana". Although Dimitri tries to get Rose and Lissa into Court to testify, it is ultimately Adrian who gains them entry. On the plane ride to Court, Rose is struck with a horrible migraine, but shakes it off as they arrive at Court; Dimitri and Alberta accompany Rose, Lissa, Christian, Eddie (who insisted on tagging along to continue protecting Lissa), and Adrian. Dimitri and Rose go to visit Victor in jail, who is as maddeningly pleasant as ever, and who also threatens to reveal what really happened between Dimitri and Rose the night he kidnapped Lissa. Dimitri threatens to have him killed in jail, but Victor taunts them with his knowledge. The day of the trial, Victor does reveal that Rose and Dimitri almost slept together, but everyone in the courtroom automatically believe this to be another one of Victor's lies. He is sent to prison by the court. Lissa meets with Queen Tatiana to discuss her future: she agrees to go to a college close to Court, and voices her opinion on Moroi fighting with damphir. Rose goes in to meet with Tatiana next-who insists that Rose stop sleeping with Adrian and call off their "engagement". Rose is stunned, and listens to Tatiana call her everything but a whore. Tatiana then reveals that she has been planning a marriage between Adrian and Lissa, and that they don't need to be carrying any of her "emotional baggage" around with them. Rose shrugs off the queen's accusations and meets up with Lissa, lying to her about her conversation with the queen. Lissa takes Rose for a pedicure, where Rose is treated by a young man who turns out to be a damphir-and a blood whore. The queen's blood whore. He takes Lissa and Rose to a fortune teller, who gives Rose a rather boring reading. Dimitri finds them and agrees to have his fortune read. The fortune teller predicts that Dimitri will "lose that which he treasures most". On the plane ride back to the Academy, Rose gets another horrible migraine, this time drawing the attention of Alberta and Dimitri. When they are forced to make an unscheduled stop at a human airport to refuel during a snow storm, Rose's migraine becomes much worse, and when she steps off the plane, she sees the ghosts of Lissa's parents and brother. When she comes to, she is in the infirmary back at the Academy. Rose is finally forced to come clean about seeing Mason's ghost, and she is ordered to see a counselor. Her "guardian time" with Christian is also limited. While back at school, her temper still increases, though she does successfully defeat Dimitri as a "Strigoi" while guarding Christian. Lissa is approached by Jesse and Ralf to join Mana, and she accepts their invitation as a chance to spy on them, without Rose's knowing. Lissa is led into the woods and attacked by Jesse and the other magic users. Rose senses something is terribly wrong and runs to Lissa's aid. She beats Lissa's torturers-fellow students-and Lissa tortures Jesse using Spirit. Rose realizes that whenever Lissa uses Spirit, dark emotions fill Lissa-which caused her to cut herself int he first book-and tells Lissa to let the dark emotion flow through their conenction and into Rose-which is what has been causing Rose's mood swings and violent behavior. Lissa obeys, and Rose suddenly begins beating Jesse fiercely. Alberta and Dimitri appear, and Alberta has several guards take Jesse away, while ordering Dimitri to handle Rose, who is still in a manic state. Dimitri takes Rose to an old cabin that Tasha Ozera stayed in when she visited the Academy. Rose attempts to run to the infirmary, where she knows they would take Jesse, but Dimitri subdues her and forces her to let go of her anger. She collapses terrified that she is going crazy. Dimitri listens to Rose's explanation and insists that he won't let Rose go crazy. They have sex, and start to head back to the school, when they are attacked by a Strigoi. Dimitri sends Rose back to the school to warn the guardians, while he stays behind to hold off the Strigoi. The guardians react quickly and send Rose back to her dormitory, where she and the other novices are told to stay put. Rose is sent to guard a small window, where she is finally given a silver stake. She senses immense fear from Lissa, and learns that Christian is in the church, where he was supposed to meet Lissa to talk about Jesse and Mana. Eddie and several other novices are guarding Lissa and the other Moroi, so Rose sneaks out the small window to go after Christian. She and Christian rush to the elementary school, where there would be much less security, and combine Rose's fighting skills with Christians Fire magic to destroy many Strigoi. After the battle, Rose learns that this is one of the biggest groups of Strigoi-who are typically loners-to ever attack any Moroi or damphir. Along with many dead guardians and Moroi, several damphir and Moroi were captured by the retreating Strigoi-including Eddie. Rose's mother, Janine, comes to the aid of the guardians with reinforcements, and with Mason's help, Rose figures out where the Strigoi are holding the hostages. Before they leave, Dimitri tells Rose that he is going to ask to be placed with a different Moroi close to Court, so that he and Rose can be together. Janine, Dimitri, and Rose plan a counterattack, and reluctantly enlist the help of other damphir novices and-surprisingly-several Moroi teachers to harness their power as a weapon. When the army reaches the caves the Strigoi are hiding in, Rose is forced to stay outside while Janine and Dimitri lead the attack inside. Once all the hostages are out, Rose goes into the caves to assist the retreat. Just as she thinks everyone she loves is safe, Dimitri is attacked and left behind as Janine forces Rose out of the caves. Rose later finds out that Dimitri's body wasn't found when another team of guardians went back into the caves the next day, confirming that Dimitri was not killed, but was made Strigoi. Rose realizes that the fortune teller's prediction came true: Dimitri lost "that which he cherished most"-not herself, as Rose believed, but his soul. Rose decides to leave the Academy to go after Dimitri and kill him. After she files the necessary papers, Lissa meets her just before she leaves and reveals that she figured out Rose was in love with Dimitri. Lissa begs Rose to stay, even tries to use compulsion on her, but Rose snaps and tells Lissa that all her life she's been told that Lissa comes first. Rose says that she needs to do something for herself for once. Rose asks Adrian for money, which he willingly gives to her, and asks her if she will come back. Rose says she will eventually, and tells Adrian that she will give him a chance-go out with him-when she comes back. As she leaves the Academy, Rose says good bye to Mason, then heads off to Siberia, where she believes Dimitri would go first; back to his home.