So…if you are into Young Adult fiction at all, you know that this past Friday marked the opening of a book-to-movie adaptation called Vampire Academy. It is based on the first installment of a bestselling book series by Richelle Mead.
The book follows teen BFF’s Rose Hathaway and Vasilisa Dragomir. Vasalisa (nicknamed Lissa) is a vampire (called Moroi). She also happens to be royalty and is next in line to ascend the throne. Rose is a Dhampir (half-human/half-vampire) who is training to be a full-fledged Guardian. These Guardians are responsible for protecting the peaceful, mortal Moroi from their bloodthirsty immortal counterparts — the Strigoi. The book finds our two protagonists on the run from the people at their school — The Vampire Academy. The rest of the story brings us along for a ride as we meet the broader cast of characters in a vampire story that offers up lore that was both interesting and new to me. The book was enjoyable.
Now…the movie. That is a whole other animal. If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, here are a few for your viewing pleasure:
The movie, as is often the case, fell short of the potential that it had. The writers, directors, and producers took a lot of liberties with the story, the cast, and the acting. There were things left out that shouldn’t have been. There were things that were stuffed in there that should have been left out. They took a book that was generally a serious one and turned into something that felt more like a vampiric Mean Girls than anything else (which isn’t all that surprising since it was produced by the same people who did Mean Girls). There is much to be said about this adaptation.
Instead of telling you what I thought of it, I linked up with some of my friends from The Grand Shuckett and Your Urban Fantasy to do a collaborative review of the book and the movie. Enjoy the audio review below and keep a look out for more reviews.
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