Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2) - Richelle Mead
Synopsis:
It has been some time since Rose Hathaway found herself face-to-face with a Strigoi, and things are only just starting to get back to normal for her at St Vladmir’s Academy. Still attending daily training sessions with her handsome Guardian mentor Dimitri, Rose is determined to eliminate any weaknesses she may have against her biggest enemies, the Strigoi, with the intention of destroying them and protecting her best friend Lissa Dragomir.
However, when a large family of Moroi royals are found slain, along with their Guardians, all previous notions that the Guardians held of the Strigoi are challenged. It looks as though a whole group of Strigoi have worked together, a concept previously unheard of due to their violent natures, and it looks as though they have had outside help in carrying out their murderous ways.
With the Christmas holidays approaching, and as a way of keeping the families united during the break, the Academy decides to schedule a ski trip at an Idaho resort where all families are invited, hoping to keep the Moroi safe from any unforeseen dangers.
But while the Academy students and their families enjoy their trip, news breaks that another royal family has been attacked and killed.
Three students, frustrated about the lack of action being taken by the Guardians, decide to go and fight back against the Strigoi, and it’s up to Rose and Christian Ozera to put aside their mutual dislikes of one another and go to rescue them.
But the students are in more danger than they realise, and one of them won’t make it out alive…
What I gained from reading this book:
One of the themes in this novel is relationships, and how external forces can affect them. Rose’s friend Mason has a big crush on her, and wants to be more than friends, and for a while, Rose ignores it, preferring to focus her attention on her attraction to Dimitri. But when Dimitri starts seeing somebody else, Rose decides to give Mason a chance, and even though she likes him, she finds herself unable to give him her full attention. Rose’s relationship with her estranged mother Janine is also difficult. Her mother’s sudden return into her life, even if it’s just to accompany the family she protects, means that Rose is suddenly forced to look at why her mother is less maternal than others and yet so successful as a Guardian. She learns a lot about her mother, and through the process, about herself as a person.
Most people have relationships with others where, like Rose, they are ignored by those who should be close to them, or revered by those who they are not entirely interested in. Reading of Rose’s interactions with her mother, Dimitri and Mason help to make more sense of these relationships, and highlight any familiar interactions that readers may face with people in their own lives.
Positives:
There is a lot more action in this novel, whether Rose is learning how to stab a vampire in the heart with a silver stake, facing off with the evil Strigoi or even performing aerial skiing stunts to impress Mason. These actions give the story an exciting edge.
Negatives:
Rose and Lissa’s friendship, while still strong, is not as noticeable in this novel as it was in the previous one. Their friendship seems to take a backseat to the love life of Rose, and the Guardians’ clashes with the Strigoi.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Genre: Teenage Fiction
Recommended for: People who want to find out what happens to Rose and Lissa after the first Vampire Academy novel.
Synopsis:
It has been some time since Rose Hathaway found herself face-to-face with a Strigoi, and things are only just starting to get back to normal for her at St Vladmir’s Academy. Still attending daily training sessions with her handsome Guardian mentor Dimitri, Rose is determined to eliminate any weaknesses she may have against her biggest enemies, the Strigoi, with the intention of destroying them and protecting her best friend Lissa Dragomir.
However, when a large family of Moroi royals are found slain, along with their Guardians, all previous notions that the Guardians held of the Strigoi are challenged. It looks as though a whole group of Strigoi have worked together, a concept previously unheard of due to their violent natures, and it looks as though they have had outside help in carrying out their murderous ways.
With the Christmas holidays approaching, and as a way of keeping the families united during the break, the Academy decides to schedule a ski trip at an Idaho resort where all families are invited, hoping to keep the Moroi safe from any unforeseen dangers.
But while the Academy students and their families enjoy their trip, news breaks that another royal family has been attacked and killed.
Three students, frustrated about the lack of action being taken by the Guardians, decide to go and fight back against the Strigoi, and it’s up to Rose and Christian Ozera to put aside their mutual dislikes of one another and go to rescue them.
But the students are in more danger than they realise, and one of them won’t make it out alive…
What I gained from reading this book:
One of the themes in this novel is relationships, and how external forces can affect them. Rose’s friend Mason has a big crush on her, and wants to be more than friends, and for a while, Rose ignores it, preferring to focus her attention on her attraction to Dimitri. But when Dimitri starts seeing somebody else, Rose decides to give Mason a chance, and even though she likes him, she finds herself unable to give him her full attention. Rose’s relationship with her estranged mother Janine is also difficult. Her mother’s sudden return into her life, even if it’s just to accompany the family she protects, means that Rose is suddenly forced to look at why her mother is less maternal than others and yet so successful as a Guardian. She learns a lot about her mother, and through the process, about herself as a person.
Most people have relationships with others where, like Rose, they are ignored by those who should be close to them, or revered by those who they are not entirely interested in. Reading of Rose’s interactions with her mother, Dimitri and Mason help to make more sense of these relationships, and highlight any familiar interactions that readers may face with people in their own lives.
Positives:
There is a lot more action in this novel, whether Rose is learning how to stab a vampire in the heart with a silver stake, facing off with the evil Strigoi or even performing aerial skiing stunts to impress Mason. These actions give the story an exciting edge.
Negatives:
Rose and Lissa’s friendship, while still strong, is not as noticeable in this novel as it was in the previous one. Their friendship seems to take a backseat to the love life of Rose, and the Guardians’ clashes with the Strigoi.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Genre: Teenage Fiction
Recommended for: People who want to find out what happens to Rose and Lissa after the first Vampire Academy novel.
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