Vampire Academy (novel)
Vampire Academy is the first out of six books in the worldwide bestselling series "Vampire Academy" by American author Richelle Mead. This book chronicles the life of 17-year-old Rosemarie Hathaway, commonly known as Rose, a dhampir and her Moroi best friend Vasilisa "Lissa" Dragomir after being brought back to their school "St Vladimir's Academy" after being on the run for two years. The novel was adapted into a film, also titled "Vampire Academy", released on February 7, 2014 in the United States. Plot. Rose Hathaway is a dhampir, half-Moroi and half-human, who  is training to be a guardian at St. Vladimir's Academy along with many others like her. There are good and bad vampires in their world: Moroi, who co-exist peacefully among the humans and only take blood from donors, and also possess the ability to control one of the four elements - water, earth, fire or air; and Strigoi, blood-sucking, evil vampires who drink to kill. Rose and other dhampir guardians are trained to protect Moroi and kill Strigoi throughout their education. Her best friend is Princess Vasilisa Dragomir (Lissa), a Moroi and the last of her line, with  whom she has a nigh unbreakable bond. Rose is able to feel Lissa's emotions through her bond and can sometimes enter her body without Lissa knowing when her emotions are too strong. Rose and Lissa ran away from their school, the vampire academy, two years ago and survive through the use of compulsion and by feeding off of each other. They had been moving from places to places, but this time, they got caught by the school guardians and returned to their school. Reception. The book received positive reviews, with a Goodreads average of 4.19/5, based on 227,620 ratings . It was listed on the list of Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers and recommended by "Booklist", teenbookstoo.com, and Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA). Vampire Academy was also voted number four after "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling, and "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" on ALA's teens top 10. The Vampire Academy series was also one of the New York Times Bestseller top ten in the children's books series division.