So today's gonna be a booktalk on Frostbite by Richelle, the second book in the Vampire Academy series, so if you haven't read the first book, leave now because I really don't want to spoil it for you.
*Warning, spoiler for the first Vampire Academy book ahead*
"...Winter break turns deadly
A massive vampire attack had put St. Vladimir's Academy on high alert. With the deadly creatures closing in. this year's trip to the wintry peaks of Idaho has just become mandatory.
But Rose Hathaway can't escape her (guy) troubles. Her relationship with gorgeous tutor Dimitri can never be and her closest friend has just confessed to his huge crush on her...
The glittering winter landscape may seem like the perfect hideaway- but Rose, and her heart, are in more danger than she ever imagined.
Forbidden temptation lies behind the iron gates..."
-From the blurb of Frostbite
Okay so first thoughts. Overall I think this was about the same level as Vampire Academy, which as you probably already know, I thought was amazing, so about an 90% again.
The story picks up with Rose going off to her Qualifier, an incredibly important test that she missed while off hiding Lissa in the human world. Rose's test was to be taken by Arthur Schoenburg, legendary Guardian, who was busy protecting a royal family, so herself and Dimitri travel to their home. On arrival they find the whole family (plus Guardians) massacred, most likely by Stigoi. The wards had been broken by a stake due to the conflicting magic which meant that humans had to be helping the Strigoi- news that causes uproar for both dhampir and Moroi. So they come up with a plan to bring all students St. Vladimir's to a ski lodge to collect lots of guardians in one place to make safety easier.
Rose also has to deal with a fair bit of boy trouble- the temptation to be with Dimitri, the confusing feelings she has for Mason as well as a whole lot more. But to be fair I feel like the blurb is a little misleading for this one though, because it really isn't ALL about the relationships (between the guys that is) and more about the growing unease in the vampire community. I'm not sure if I should say much more on that front.
There's also a surprise visitor from her past that causes lots of tension and a black eye...
So if you've read the first Vampire Academy book I would definitely recommend reading Frostbite and then come back to read the rest of this booktalk.
Goodbye non-spoiler people- Byeeeee!
*Warning, spoilers for Frostbite ahead*
(A/N: So this next section was actually written like a week after what's written above so forgive me if I forget to mention things)
Okay- Non spoiler people gone? Good.
So I actually really enjoyed reading this book- full of funny one liners and it was nice to have Lissa be fairly normal in this one as opposed to her being half crazy.
But there were a few bits and bobs that annoyed me....
First off- the way no-one even THOUGHT of using magic while they were locked up, until like a week into being captured! Okay fine if they had thought of it but there never seemed to be a good way of pulling it off or they would be seen or whatever but not at any point did they even think about trying earlier on. It pretty frustrating that Rose -who watched while Tasha and Christian were practising magic, who was there when her best friend was giving her speech on using magic offensively - who we already know is supposed to be smart and yet at no point did it cross her mind! And the same for Christian who was all for using it in the last book. I mean don't get me wrong, I get that it was supposed to be "ingrained" in them not to use it - but still - if it was a life or death situation,that'd be one of the first things I'd try, so that seemed a bit of a weak excuse.
Okay so that's the main rant over- I mean it bothered me more I after I finished the book than at the time...
The second thing was Masen's death. I sort of understand how it was supposed to show the dangers and the harsh brutality of being a Guardian as well as a wake up call for her (since she always seemed to idolise being a Guardian). But at the same time I feel like the way he died could've been done better- it seemed really dumb of him to just walk out of the protection of the sunlight, unarmed and with no experience of actually fighting Strigoi... then to die pretty much two seconds later. But maybe that was to show how easy it is for Dhampirs to die. *shrugs shoulders*
But luckily those points were pretty minor things (but the first one annoyed me more) so they don't really make me hate the book or anything.
Ok so about the whole thing with Rose having these darker moments (supposedly from Lissa). I actually guessed really early on that it was something where Rose was taking Lissa's pain (unintentionally I might add) through their bond. And this seemed right, especially when Rose has that weird moment after the first Strigoi attack.
And Lissa maybe having a chance to use her powers without teh craziness? Well we'll have to see what happens for her there.
I really liked Mia's character development on this one and you really see how the loss of her mother is affecting her and the effects of the many people have have left her- Andre, Aaron, her mum ( even if her mum couldn't exactly help it). AND, it was great to see her kick some ass with her water magic and be less bitchy in this one.
Also, it was cool to see her mum come into play in this book. All we've got description-wise on Janine Hathaway before now, is through the telegrams she sends Rose- which we immediately know how cold and condescending she is to Rose. But as the book goes on we really get to see what her story was. I almost even felt sorry for her on page 231 when she talks about Rose not having enough life experience for a baby and we realise that she's probably talking about herself rather than Rose. It's kinda sad to think that she didn't get to where she wanted in life because she had Rose so young.At the end I really liked the conversation they shared about Rose's dad and the hints dropped that their love was the real thing rather than what Rose had been guessing at- Janine just carrying out her duty to have dhampir children. It seemed to help patch up their damaged relationship.
And Adrian? Well I was pretty wary of him at first but I feel he's gonna be a pretty funny and important character to have around in the rest of the series. Don't really have all that many thoughts about him :)
As for the main relationship in the story -Rose and Dimitri- I really liked the way they interacted in this one- especially on page 233-237 where it wasn't tense and Dimitri didn't have his guard up around her as much- such a sweet scene. And then again at the very end of the book when Dimitri tells Rose about declining the offer with Tasha- I really think they came to an understanding. It really wrapped things us for this book but left me yearning to read more about these characters. I've really come to care about the characters, even more than at the end of Vampire Academy.
So that's it for booktalk today- hope you enjoyed it! What did you think about Frostbite? Leave your thoughts below. I'm just waiting now for the next book , Shadow Kiss to arrive at my library but I'm also trying to get a chance to buy the whole series since I've seen them in a shop near me.
I'm off to write my next booktalk ,spoiler, its on the Maze Runner ;)
Bye for now,
Amber xxx
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