Vampire Academy: A Graphic Novel

Aug 232011

I’m not a huge fan of comics and graphic novels but there are a few I love, generally ones that have been created from books I love.  When I heard a graphic novel of Vampire Academy was being made, I was excited and had a lot of hopes for it.

I’ve just finished reading it and quite honestly, it exceeded my expectations.

The artwork is beautifully rendered by Emma Vieceli and I think she caught the characters really well.  I sometimes wonder if an illustrator has even read descriptions of  main characters let alone read the books, but I think a lot of attention was given to getting it right in this graphic novel and the characters matched the images I have in my head.  Lissa, Christian, Rose and Dimitri were all captured perfectly.

The scenes from the book were well chosen and adapted by Leigh Dragoon, it tells the main story of Vampire Academy neatly and has the key scenes which I would say were essential to making this a great experience and an enhancement to the first book.  Definitely one I will read again and again.

Whether a fan of graphic novels or just love the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead, this adaptation is a must.

Rating: ★★★★★ 

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Bound to Shadows

Jul 292010

A beheaded vampire is found outside a Melbourne vampire club and an already testy Riley is sent in to investigate.  As the body count starts rising, Riley has her work cut out for her to find out who, or what, is behind the murders.  With civilities between the local vampire and human population breaking down it’s only a matter of time before violence breaks out.  Dante Starke, the owner of the club is a vampire with an aura that makes even a Guardian nervous, but Riley has to get answers.  Two human women are found dead in their beds, with no discernible cause of death and Riley feels there is somehow a link.  How or why is something she has to figure out, even with the distraction of her hated soul-mate Kye making a reappearance.

I’ve hugely enjoyed the previous books in the Riley Jensen Guardian series.  They are easy to read, exciting, erotic and action packed yet Bound to Shadows takes it to the next level.  The emotions inherent throughout the book seemed more real, more tangible.  Fear, rage, lust, love and sorrow and the latter is what got me in the end.  It made me cry.  Without spoiling anything, the big kick in the gut was something I knew might happen and something I knew had to happen but the way that whole section was written was just perfect, right to the last word.

Riley is definitely up there as one of my favourite urban fantasy heroines.  Conflicted often by her half-vampire, half-wolf soul, she tries to do the best she can for each but also stay true to herself.  She’s fierce in everything she does whether it’s loving or fighting and while diplomacy might not be her best trait, she achieves what she needs to sometimes at the cost of herself.  Brilliantly and consistently written.

I loved that we saw more of Quinn in this book and the bond that is between him and Riley.  They are a great foil for each other and while you learn more of his history and how powerful he can be, I sense that there is a lot more to come and it won’t necessarily sit well with Riley.

I still love the interactions with her twin brother Rhoan and his mate Liander, they make a great couple and the big question they ask Riley, something she never thought would be possible brought a tear to my eye.

I can’t really say much more (and I really want to!) without spoiling it so I will just say this; Bound to Shadows – Read it… just read it.

If you are new to the series then get started as this is book 8,  Find ‘Full Moon Rising’ and get going!

Rating: ★★★★½ 

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Midnight’s Daughter

Sep 242009

For Dorina Basarab, being a dhampir is not easy.  Half-vampire, half-human and reviled by the vampiric community for being an abomination.  Unpredictable due to blackout rages and short life spans, dhampirs usually go insane but Dorina manages to hang on to her sanity by being near her null friend Claire and unleashing her fury on those she believes deserve it.  Dorina isn’t just any dhampir however, she’s also Mircea’s daughter.

I’m a big fan of Karen Chance’s main series, the Cassandra Palmer books, and I was keen to read this offshoot and I ended up quite disappointed.  I didn’t gel well with the lead character of Dorina, she irritated me and really, the only thing that made the book worth reading were the rare appearances of Mircea.  That’s not to say the book wasn’t well written or the story not interesting but it just didn’t have the charm and magic that the Cassie books do in abundance.

From an author whose work is usually outstanding, this is pretty average.  There is one interesting thing I quite liked however, there is a very subtle but brief moment where Midnight’s Daughter melds with the first Cassie book.  I won’t spoil it by saying any more than that but it is very subtle and a friend and fellow fan had to point it out to me the first time!

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

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Deadly Desire

May 242009

Life is never normal for Riley Jensen.  Being a rare hybrid of vampire and werewolf she often finds her dual natures at odds with each other, often wanting or needing different things.. or people.  Add in her Guardian duties for the Directorate, a role which she never wanted in the first place and it fast becomes a pain in the ass.  When strange murders of both humans and vampires start happening, it’s up to Riley to find out if there is a link and if so, to stop the killer.  But how does the mysterious and annoying Kye Murphy fit into it.  With the Moon’s heat rushing through her, can she focus enough to solve the murders before any more victims turn up.

This is the 7th Book in the Riley Jensen series and I have enjoyed the previous five a great deal.  They are gritty, fast paced, exciting and also quite erotic at times.  However, I’m not really sure what the problem is with this one.  I found it hard to get into the flow of it, kept putting it down to do other things but I did persevere and it was worth it in the end.  The plot was quite good, the characters consistent but it wasn’t really until the second half of the book when it finally engages you.  It almost felt like Keri Arthur had grown a bit tired of the series and nearly produced a book by the numbers, the saving grace being that she does write very well and her characters are interesting and for the most part lead you to care about them.

As a ‘just OK’ book is the exception rather than the rule for Keri Arthur, I would definitely read the next one as I do want to find out how Riley adapts to the new changes in her life.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

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