I am on a mission to finish all the series book that I bought last year. My to-be-read books are starting to be ridiculous. So Last year my goal was to read again....this year...it is to finish this pile of books. To that end.
Frostbite (Vampire Academy Series #2)
By: Richelle Mead
Write up:
It's winter break at St. Vladimir's, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy's crawling with Guardians—including Rose's hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if handto- hand combat with her mom wasn't bad enough, Rose's tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason's got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa's head while she's making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy's not taking any risks....This year, St. Vlad's annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.
But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price...
The installment of the series, as shown in the description, was more focused on the various characters love lives than the more action packed first book. And as they they are all teenagers, the melodrama is strong. Rose spends most of the book being annoyed/hurt/angry about Dimitri. He has been offered the opportunity to be the Guardian of a royal with fringe benefits. Since Damphirs cannot have children with each other, Dimitri has the choice of being with Tasha and making a new generation of guardians. Needless to say, Rose is not pleased even though her chances with Dimitri weren't exactly high to begin with what with him being older and she 17. So she decides to move on with someone who obviously likes and worships her: Mason. But her heart is not really in it with Mason and she starts to feel bad about leading him on. Her wishy-washyess annoys him and me throughout the book. And of course, Lissa and Christian develop their relationship further...and remain hopelessly sappy about it. So the reader spends a lot of time experiencing Roses angst about her love life and losing her best friend to Christian. At points it becomes just as annoying and tiring as when you were the one in High School going through that stuff. It was no fun then...hasn't improved while reliving it through books.
Developing of course is the story of the increasing and bold attacks by the Strigoi. And by all appearances it looks like they have been getting help from Humans...which is unheard of and scary as Humans don't have the same weakness as them: they can walk in the sun for one. Also unheard of is Strigoi working together in any manner, but both are happening. They are slowly working through the royal families in an effort to destroy them and weaken Moroi society. The attacks make everyone realize that they way the Moroi have been doing things may have to be changed if they want to survive. Some want to fight and use their magic, which is forbidden for anything other than helping people. Others want to bunker down. This leads to the main trauma/action of the book when 3 students run away in a futile and dumb quest to destroy Strigoi, and Rose and Christian follow to stop them. They get way more than they bargained for of course, since they are novices and teenagers, and Rose comes out of the experience with a better understanding of the life she has chosen to lead as a Guardian and the horrors that are waiting just around the corner.
This installment was not as good as the first book, in my opinion, but it was still enjoyable in parts. It seems to me to be more of a bridge book. It developed some of the relationships and characters further, and based on some of the reading clues, seems to lay the foundation for the next book. Some small asides about Lissa and her control of her power lead one to believe that something is afoot and building. Lissa is not out of the wood s yet. And the introduction of some new characters give us good hints that Rose's angst about her romantic or lack of a romantic life is not over. So this book seemed more like a small stop over before the real action begins.
Overall grade: B-
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