I made a post asking if i should finish the series 3 months ago (ty to the ppl that suggested the audiobook cause thats prolly the only reason i was able to finish the series).

I ultimately think that bloodlines makes up for a few things va lacks. E.g., adrian and sydney have such a great relationship dynamic that couldnt be asked for from rose and dimitri who inevitably suffer from an unhealthy relationship dynamic given their age gap. Adrian and Sydney on the other hand have such great communication which is SOOOOO refreshing coming out of reading from the perspective of an irrational character who thinks she knows more than she really does in VA. Stemming off that idea, I lowk do think that Rose's stubborness and rashness makes VA the more thrilling book.

Plot wise VA still stands out better, I feel like Bloodlines didnt conclude having reached its full potential. The ending was so underwhelming and managed to leave such a subpar cliffhanger. Sydney getting amnesty from the alchemists happens so unsignificantly when thats imo the biggest obstacle Sydney has to get over for the whole series. Jill getting kidnapped feels like it wasnt thought through enough, its too much of a random plot device rather than something that opens up the story more meaningfully. Its crazy to me that the whole plotline of the fiery heart was basically "how do we save jill from our sexual life?". Its a very valid point that VA only brushed off as a minor inconvenience but why did this have to carry majority of the book??? Sydney being a part of Moroi society is something they never fully revealed the consequences of, and (unless i overlooked this by accident), we still dont know if the thing about lissa being able to stay queen independent from whether or not jill is alive. THAT WAS SUCH A MAJOR PART OF THE WHOLE PALM SPRINGS PLOT THAT NEVER GETS RESOLVED.

Anyway i still dont think it was horrible, if you just want to see how things are going in the VA world its still worth the read. Its not as infuriating as VA is occasionally. I love seeing Adrian get compensated for the shit rose put him through w a relationship arguably better than hers.

I read the VA saga back in 2009, before Last Sacrifice was out (yikes!) and I always struggled with this one. Don’t get me wrong, Zoey Deutch is perfection, but she always hit me as not being canon with the book description. I was recently watching Off Campus edits as one does nowadays and OMG Mika Abdalla????? And I’d also kinda saw it in Dafne Keen. So, what’s your take? I must add that when it comes to fancasting, I try to update the actresses in my mind cause I still hope they get to make an adaptation that actually works. Idk, let me know!

Is the show worth watching? after the abomination that was the movie, i’m hesitant.

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for books that are similar to the Vampire Academy series or the Bloodlines series. I feel a bit fatigued with selecting books these days mainly with book tok recommendations flooding the review sections of things. I am not trying to discredit Book Tok recommendations. I would love to hear your guys opinion especially if you have recommendations that are not YA.

See I already thought poorly of Adrian in Vampire Academy…Bloodlines just reinforces that.

Why is he so fucking weak? Like okay if we are comparing him to Stragoi Dimitri who at first did not hurt Rose per se. I think he wins. [SPOILERS] All Adrian did instead of helping Sydney in the beginning is GET DRUNK?!!! when he knows that weakens spirit??? He’s just incompetent. I hate him for Sydney she deserves someone so much better.

ALSO WHAT IS IT WITH THE AUTHOR PUTTING OUR GIRLS THROUGH SO MUCH PAIN???? Like when they finally start being happy or content BOOM obstacle that brings them misery.

Soo moroi are described as ethereal beauties that are slim and tall with pale skin. But on top of that Lissa is described as especially beautiful because of spirit. So my question is, when she is being described, who pops into your head? The perfect casting. For me, it's definitely Hunter Schafer. What do y'all think?

Hey! I don’t know if any of you have read it, but I think I found the best VA fanfic ever: Temper Me in Fire by voldobaby. Holy shit, it’s so freaking good. The author has been working on it for over 10 years, which is honestly wild and it’s 10000% worth the read. It’s set in the same universe, but the story is completely different and I got hooked so fast.

Definitely give it a try if you haven’t read it yet!

I can’t believe there are so many VA fans in 2026!!! I read the books over 10 years ago when I was in middle school, now re reading them.

Does anyone just wish u could have a huge book that’s all about Moroi history/VA world-building? I want to know so much more about St.Vlad and the religion that they follow… I know it’s heavily based on Eastern Orthodoxy, but it would be cool to see a deeper explanation. Stuff like the history of the royal families, how the Moroi/Dhampir/Strigoi races came to be. Idk I feel like that would be cool. Did Richelle Mead ever do something like that? Or answer fan questions on forums and stuff? Wasn’t rly tapped in to VA social media when I was first reading the books…

I finished the books in two days! Because okay I know everyone kinda dislikes the movie, but I loved it so much! Is it nothing like the book yeah, but it’s so camp to me.

My thoughts!

I really genuinely loved the first three books like they were really good and just omg so much development in the characters in general! It felts like those book were good and planned. Here is when I get frustrated in the 4th/5th book I honestly just thought it felt like let’s make Rose suffer more LMAO. Like i could not stop screaming “Give my girl a break” I do love how the 4th and 5th book explored more about the world and the different type of people in the universe, but I just couldn’t get to into it.

I felt that Rose’s character became kinda like her character in the first book. The maturity and growth she was doing felt like it had been reversed and I guess given to Vasilisa. It just felt boring I am going to be honest. The last book lost me completely because even though Rose is the main character we were with Lissa damn near half the time. I felt it kinda did nothing for the plot other than take time since most of the time it was when Rose needed to be awake or they were traveling. Idk man. Then the ending kinda came abruptly. I felt like was not done too well.

SPOILERS!! Like yeah Rose became Lisa’s guardian and Dimitri’s Christian, but like what about Christians grief what about Adrian’s future, and Sydney’s??? Jill’s?? We lose anything about them and no one got a relatively happy ending. I thought Rose’s and Vasilisa’s ending were mediocre at best. I think it’s also just because I personally thought Rose suffered so much through the series. I just wanted a happier ending for her and a more balanced ending. I understand that Rose is happy, but Rose ADORED being able to just tell what Lissa was thinking because it did allow them to be closer than normal people. All those powers of being shadowed kissed gone.

Now other characters…When Adrian and Rose were breaking up, we knew that Rose just liked him for the normalcy and comfort he provided. I don’t understand why the break up scene wasn’t handled better than that. I also understand that Adrian was not in the “best” spirits, but Rose did a really shit job of breaking up with him. One because she knew already why she was breaking up with him, Two in like a previous chapter or two she understood that Adrian was using her just as much as she was using him. Which i feel like would have been a way better explanation.

Christian was the only character I felt had a balanced ending. We know what’s going on with him and stuff. Jill and Sydney and Eddie???!!! WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT!! Sydney for all we know is like losing her position and shi. Praying Abe like gets to go to Greece and shi. Eddie :( my poor baby boy Eddie. He deserves just as much love Rose got from her getting her guardian position reinstated. We don’t know what happened to him :((((( Jill’s position just made me sad because we know Vasilisa never really fucking liked her and she’s just a little girl. PLEASEEE I NEED TO KNOW IF THEY ALL BECAME SISTERS AND JILL IS ACTUALLY HAPPY.

Overall: 8/10

anyways thank u for my ted talk and rant

Even though the TV series has been out for some time, I have finally started watching it. As someone who has loved the books since I first read them as a teenager, I don't know how I feel about the series just yet.

Soon as it started, I could see that they weren't going by the books and I watched the movie, so I felt like the story still had potential to go by the books at least mostly. I am kind of disappointed that the books won't get played out on screen how I have always wanted. I know the movie did really poorly, and I was not happy with the movie myself, but I feel like it could've been done again and better.

I don't know, I feel like my inner teen is just disappointed that one of my favorite book series will probably never get done the justice it deserves. Does anybody else feel that way?

I like seeing the characters come to life but also some of the characters are just not who pictured, so it just seems weird to me. I definitely was disappointed to see who played Dimitri lmao just didn't give those vibes.

I am only on the first episode, but I can tell it's so vastly different from the books. Has anyone else given it a chance? Is it worth it to continue?

I'm enjoying the series again, and I'm at Shadow Kiss. I find it so amusing that they have boy/girl moroi/dhampir pairs for the field training. In past books there were precautions taken to keep the boys and girls apart (obviously those precautions failed but they were attempting to stop it). In this book they are having boy and girl moroi and dhampirs share a room. You can't tell me this has never led to some more dhampir babies.Maybe that's the point 😂

Obviously this is just a funny thing I noticed this time around, it's not serious. Just poking fun at a series I have loved since childhood.

I recently have been rereading the vampire academy series since April and I finally finished and moved onto the Bloodlines series. I am now 22 and haven't read the books since I was 16-17. But I have forgotten how absolutely hilarious it is every time they have a plotline with Wolfe. He has slowly become one of my favorite characters in the book series. I am now on Fiery Heart but the more I learn about this man the harder it is to stop myself from cackling every time. He just seems like such a ridiculous and enduring character. From training his chihuahuas to be more stealthy. To the lore of the eyepatch and insane gun collection. I just cant help but giggle every time he is in a section of the book. I don't remember if he shows up more in the later scenes but he genuinely gives me so much joy reading about him. I don't know what it is about him that just keeps me so amused. I really hope he shows up more with the last two books.

I've always felt like, if Dimitri had found out before the whole cheating thing that the reason the girl he loved started dating the rich, royal Moroi, Adrian—who had pursued her multiple times even though he could literally see the two of them were in love, and who she'd rejected multiple times—only a few months after she watched Dimitri die in front of her was because Adrian had given her the money to go on what was basically a suicide mission to another continent to kill Dimitri, a mission that ended with Rose being kidnapped, drugged, and abused in ways that were probably very similar to how Dimitri's father treated his mother, all in exchange for Rose agreeing to go on a date with him when she came back, he would have absolutely crashed out.

You also have to consider that Rose never even had time to properly mourn Dimitri after the cave, and she wasn't even done processing everything she'd already been through before that. On top of that, there's the blood-whore culture in Moroi society, and the way female dhampirs are treated by Moroi men—all of which are important context when looking at Rose's state of mind and the choices made.

Hello everyone! I know it can be hard to find any hardcover editions of the first three books and I recently got an alert from thriftbooks about a library bound edition of shadowkiss for only like 9 dollars! I found my hardcover at a goodwill so I don't need it anymore and thought I would post the link here ◡̈ https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/shadow-kiss-by-richelle-mead/246320/?edition=7877838&utm_canvas=InstantWishList2024_touch3_day14&utm_campaign=instant_wishlist_a_touch3_day14_dynamic&utm_variant=instant_wishlist_a_touch3_day14&utm_source=auto_promo&utm_medium=email&utm_content=wishlist_item#edition=7877838&idiq=27143118

Hi, can you recommend a movie or a book? I watched the \*Vampire Academy\* movie and liked the couple Lisa and Christian, so I read the book and really enjoyed their relationship. The problem is, I’m not much of a reader (I’ve read maybe 10 books in my life, and I’m actually quite old), and it’s even worse because I hate the protagonist, Rose. So, I wanted to know if anyone knows a book or movie featuring a couple just like Christian and Lisa. P.S. I really liked Christian’s powers and would even have the courage to read the next book if it weren't for Rose—does she become more bearable?

Ok so I read vampire Academy in my native tongue as a teen, but when bloodlines aired it was only in English. I bought it in this language but it was before college (i studied in English fully) and I was not so fluent so I quit reading early. A few years later bloodlines was finally translated in french and I loved it, but for reason of bad sales, the rest of the book were not

I’m totally fluent now, so I finally started and I’m on book 5 already and….

…When Sydney is in trouble, Rose Lissa and the others are assholes. Rose would be dead by now without her help, and she would never have find Dimitri. And everyone keeps acting normal

Adrian is treated like shit by Dimitri and Rose but I love his relationship with Sydney. He’s never as toxic as Dimitri was and it’s refreshing.

But I am still so mad at the others for not giving a fuck

Maybe they do but I did not reach that part yet so fingers crossed

What I mean by this, is what irritates you the most about the series? Anything you could rant on about the books in both themes and characters?

I'll go first:

• The: "They Come First" motto, I'd totally understand if it was at least late teens early twenties training (so long as they're at least graduated from high school, though even then it's still questionable). But it gives off child soldiers vibes when given the context that (seemingly) most of the Dahmpiers don't have much autonomy and get to have loads of brain washing from an incredibly young age due to the closed off nature of the academies and the vampire subculture as a whole, Unless they have a community to come back to like Dimitri (and maybe Mason?). Even then it still has the influences of the Moroi society if they live in those communities. While those that defy expectations of either: You're a blood whore in a commune (or in the case of Ambrose a pool boy blood whore) or fight to protect the poor "defenceless" maroi, that's just away of the rich lazy leaders getting body guards. Are just out right ignored and information seemingly suppressed just because a few run away and refuse to fight or protect. Rather going on either their own vigilanty work, body guard work, or just saying "nah dawg, I'm going to be living with humans." Which is only very shallowly gone into and explained in the later books imo.
• Rose's fluctuation between: "Ah yes I'm an adult and I'll make sure I don't tell ANY ONE this important information," and "Here let my yap my mouth off because I'm full of angry teen spite because I'm mad Dimitri set boundaries." This happens so much in the books! Less so as she's out doing stuff later on, but I really hate the fluctuation between: shallow teen grifter attached to a rich kid giving her a sense of entitlement because of parties, luxury labels, and being a rich kid with out actually being a rich kid; and: ahh yes I'm so wise and grounded because I've learned a lot from my god of a mentor and having died and come back thanks to my best friend who has badass healing powers.
• The whole age gap between Rose and Dimitri being both simultaneously ignored but acknowledged! It literally should be a bigger part of the story, because that age gap is not only a significant one, but as some one older than both with living experience. I cannot imagine as a 24 year old wanting to date any one in high school! I get it if it's a 17 and 18 year old. But gods damn it! Adjust this BS, either have a culture thing where for the first five years at least post Guardian stuff have the younger people be guardians at the schools and doing paper work. Or age Rose and Lissa up by at least three years! I don't care if they're forced to grow up quickly or what ever excuse people use for this relationship. It's not cool period.
• Rose being a cheater, Not once, but twice: Emotional cheating with Mason and actual cheating on Adrian. Not just hurting them but actually getting Mason killed because of it because she knew how impulsive he was. Because she describes him as just as if not more impulsive than she is. Along with knowing how damaging that sort of thing could be to a spirit user like Adrian, it literally could have gone so much more badly for both her and Adrian at the end because of that "subtle" kiss. Literally put yourself in both of these mens shoes, for me I can imagine being BEYOND pissed with Rose for this in both situations at her basically ruining not just a romantic relationship but an otherwise okay friendship.
• Lissa also being a cheater! Don't care if it was alcohol, the influence of Avery, being hurt by Rose, or having stress over royal stuff. It still should have been something she, at her core shouldn't have done. She didn't cheat on Aaron while they were together, just broke up with him multiple times and used him as a social pawn. But it's okay to have a drunk kiss with him while dating Christian because he saved her from falling. 'Cause who cares about Christians insicurities when she probably would have had MULTIPLE conversations about this with him at some point or another. Even if it wasn't that deep, there should have been some sort of relationship talk with them.
• How Lissa basically treats Rose, for pretty much the entirety of the series save for the last two books or so. Basically taking her for granted and actually never having a sit down with her on page/screen (until at the VERY end of Blood Promise) to actually talk and have an actual conversation about Christian being in their lives. I get that both are busy. But if you have, in essence, a found sister as family. Y'all should have learned better communication skills, especially for Lissa who's supposed to learn this as one of the families that LEADS the Moroi, she's literally supposed to be the more emotionally mature because of therapy, having literal magic powers attached to her her soul, being a leader, and being some what responsible for those around her.
• How LITERALLY every one treats Sidney lesser than them. As well as an errand/tech person that can get things done for them at any moment, and are more than willing to yeet her into dangerous situations that literally at worst could get her harmed by her own people or at "best" killed. Between the whole treck through Siberia and Russia, coercing her into taking Rose and Dimitri across country as criminals, and basically manipulating her through deals.

I literally could go on for more time about each of these. I do love the series as a whole because I love the idea of living magical vampires, having hybrids of vampires and humans, and the classic dark and evil vampires. I just feel that over all things could have been adjusted or modified for it, each one of these themes needed to either be done in a different way or given the actual time and care to better go into depth with the whole: "two things can be true" saying. It'd honestly be great to have that nuance, especially for teens.

I guess it's a spoiler.

4 books and Lissa still pisses me off. Yeah, she had problems and plot and whatever and was nice at the end, but im sick of her and dread her parts in the books more than I dreaded the whole captivity arc.

I didn't even check if there were posts about this but I feel like we're not acknowledging the insane amount of trauma and abuse this arc was??

I feel like this is going to haunt me for the rest of the series and Rose just forgot about it and moved on? It was HORRIFYING

Hi fellow VA fans!

I am re-reading the VA series again and during my reading have come across a few spelling errors. Two within a matter of flipping one page to the next. Have you found any? This book is a 2007 edition so it's nearly 20 years old.

I find it so interesting that a published book (who have professional editors) can have errors - these might have been small but they are significant enough to notice. How many eyes would have been over these pages and they were still missed? So fascinating.

It doesn't bother me at all as I love this series.

Have you found any glaring mistakes in this series? It'd be interesting to know how the other books fared!

Hi all! Re-reading the series again, as it's pretty much the only book series I have ever finished (and Bloodlines). I got a box set of all 6 books, and looking at them, I thought I was having a Mandela Effect moment. So I found a picture of when I got the books as a Christmas gift back in 2010, and Shadow Kiss had a purple cover, and Blood Promise had a green cover. But now, I'm sure you all know, Shadow Kiss is green and Blood Promise is purple. I'm sure there isn't a super deep meaning, but I was just wondering if anyone knew why they changed the colors!

aka more thoughts and opinions because i have a lot of those. my opinion!!! very subjective!!!

VA: The very first chapter. Introduces Rose, Lissa and the bond pretty effectively. Quickly establishes Rose's character as a strong woman, who makes stupid teenage brain decisions sometimes but is very noble and has a strong set of morals. Watching her desperate struggle to defend Lissa from the guardians makes you root for her from the beginning, and shows how at this point in the story she lives with a strong guardian ‘they come first’ mindset, setting up her character arc. Most important: there is a cat. 

 Oh and Dimitri is there I guess!!!  His iconic "I'm Dimitri Belikov, I will take you to the Academy" (not verbatim) line is so cool I hate him fuck him I want to be him aaaa. 

Honorable mention to the Dimitri-Natalie-Rose(somewhat) Smackdown scene following the ‘you are shadow kissed Rose you died fr’ speech from Victor. I love lore drops, I love smackdowns, and I love how it makes you as a reader put on the thinking cap and question how Victor of all people knows about this super secret fifth element no one knows about. 

Frostbite (I have a soft spot for this book): The climax. Do I think Christian and Rose's telepathic masterplan where he just happens to know to burn the handcuffs is pretty idiotic? Yeah. (It reminds me of this BNHA movie in the tech island where deku and all might just stare at each other while all might is taken hostage and communicate with just their eyes and idk their souls?? for about five minutes idk it was just funny to me). It doesn't matter though, since I like pretty much everything else in that handful of chapters.

(Almost) Everything that happens is a consequence of Rose’s actions. Mason dies because he loved her so much he forsakes duty to save Rose (this part is not her fault no one asked homeboy to do that???). Rose led him on (it's just mean,but she gets credit for wanting to break up with him when she realized she was never going to stop loving Dimitri TOO BAD THIS LESSON GETS FORGOTTEN LATER!!!!), and was the reason he was even there in the first place by telling the location of the Strigoi. Christian was there because Rose didn't think to tell anyone with real authority about what Mason, Eddie and Mia did and by that point was still trying to resolve the situation on her own so she wouldn't get the blame from babbling the strigoi hideout location. She decided to involve another Moroi, and got him kidnapped alongside everyone. Etc. etc. Ofc she cant really control other people’s actions, but man, the second she gave away the info about Spokane, you just knew shit was going to go wrong.

And shit goes so wrong!! It gets REAL. The Strigoi are set up as the looming threat for the whole series and the overarching main antagonists that can't really be defeated lmao (AND THEY SHOULD'VE BEEN, WE COULD'VE HAD PEAK AND WE GOT LAST SACRIFICE INSTEAD) (this issue is easily solved by reading asoiaf instead i love those books so much i hope rr martin never dies). It's Rose's turning point as a character. Her true loss of innocence. The effect this incident has on her is felt throughout the rest of the series. It also contains the scene that made me ship Rose and Christian for about 5 paragraphs.

Honorable mention to the scene at the beginning where they find that Moroi family and their famous guardian dead and Rose thinks oh damn guess I’m not getting tested today but then the other guardians start asking her questions and Rose gets to show off how she is smart and talented and competent for about five seconds before they find that message written with blood that says that the strigoi will kill every royal family.

Shadow Kiss: The final battle again, yes sue me. Strigoi were supposed to be the main antagonists for the whole series, they're cool villains. It lands very well with the setup done in Frostbite. Rose and Christian are cool, I shipped them for about 2 pages here. (These days I’m a Dragoway truther and a Romitri enjoyer but I had a VISION ok sue me) That scene where Rose runs to the guardians to warn them about the attack and she says ‘Buria’ and everyone gets into serious business mode gives me genuine chills you really feel the gravity of the situation the first time I read it I was sweating bullets its so stressing which means is really well written.

Honorable mention to the scene where Rose leaves the Academy. The whole book gives us these crumbs of Rose's character arc of questioning the system that has raised her, and how 'ok' she really is with putting Lissa's life first every time. When she leaves, she puts herself first for once. She's allowing herself to be her own person, outside of the Academy, away from the guardians and from Lissa. 

Blood Promise (and this is the best scene in the whole series): The final confrontation on the bridge. Literally everything thus far was building up to this. The ultimate 'student surpasses the teacher' mixed with the emotional climax of Rose's situation in the latter half of the book. When she asks Dimitri why does he want to turn her and he just says "oh because I want you" and she just tries to kill herself because that was not the right answer, and Dimitri saves her at the last second and she stabs him and throws him in the river... oh god, oh god. I genuinely felt like this was it. It doesn't get any better than this. I can't even explain it. It's just peak.

And then it was all for nothing because Rose can't be allowed to grieve Dimitri properly and grow as a character. I came to appreciate this Dimitri storyline and the irony of him needing to DIE to start living his own life, and his scenes in Last Sacrifice are some of my favorite because you can really see the impact his time as a Strigoi had on his life. I just like to wonder sometimes how the last books would have changed if we removed Dimitri from the situation. (This issue is easily solved by opening an ao3 tab. or a google docs tab i might write it myself someday be the change you want to see in the world folks).

Honorable mention to the prologue, as it contains my favorite quote from the whole series: “If your eyes weren't open, you wouldn't know the difference between dreaming and waking.”

Spirit Bound: I have no love lost for this book. If I had to choose, I'd say Rose's final exam, the prison breakout, or I don't know, the sequence where the age law is approved, Rose calls Tatiana a sanctimonious bitch, and Dimitri's public questioning all in the span of like a chapter or two. What I can tell you is my least favorite scene, which is of course the “Love fades, mine has” BOO TOMATO TOMATO unnecessarily cruel AND a lie, two of my least favorite things.

Last Sacrifice: This book is a mixed bag for me. For the best scene, it's a tossup between  Rose and Dimitri, looking at that travel guide in that library and talking about where they would like to go (the yearning there was superb, both for each other and for a different life.) and the scene where Rose kills Victor, that one was pretty good. You could feel Rose’s distress through the pages. The books had built up that breaking point of Spirit darkness for a WHILE so it was as horrifying to witness as it was satisfying. Victor as a character is so confusing to me, because I think he works fine as the first antagonist of the series, and his appearances in later books never feel like he is overstaying his welcome, but at the same time he feels like someone who could've done so much more. We know he had plans, ideals and even his own followers, so it sucks we don't get to see him work towards the goals that initially made him target Lissa back in VA. What's really interesting too is how Victor and Lissa weren't THAT different in the end, and would've agreed on a lot of politics.

well we are here in three days i have unfortunately made it to the last book, i might split this up over a couple of days to savor it but knowing my own lack of self control ill most likely cave and finish in two days at best

starting off strong

Immediately." I backed up, nearly sat on the bed, and then felt a new surge of adrenaline. "Immediately? So. Two weeks. In two weeks, I could be . . . dead."

WAS SO PREOCCUPIED WORRYING ABOUT DIMITRI AND HIM GETTING EXECUTED OR JAILED AND IT ENDS UP BEING ROSE??? SHE CANT CATCH A BREAK EVER😟

edit: gang i’ve realized that in the past three days ive spent all day reading these books doing nothing else without exaggeration only stopping to shower and sleep 😟 upon further review ive realized this is unhealthy behavior and that i might have adhd🥸

TLDR: Vampire Academy led me to schedule an appointment for an adhd exam