Who Wore it Better: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Who Wore it Better is an original meme I brought with me from Drugs Called Books. In it, instead of discussing fashion or cloths, we discuss book covers from different countries, and who has the best cover. The meme is co-hosted with the lovely Amanda from The Book Badger and will be featured on her blog every other week, so check her out as well!  

So after last week Amanda reviewed the different covers in Magic Study, we'll be starting a new series this week. So without father ado... Vampire Academy!
This series is probably one of the most well loved out there. It also has an unfortunate knack for shitty covers. See for yourselves - and I chose the best there were!

English One – well, this is probably the most well known cover of the series. It’s also the one I own. And I kind of think it’s butt ugly (it’s why I took ages to pick up these books). But I like it, just cause of the sentimental value, you know?... I mean, I hate faces on covers. And why did Angelina Jolie get cast as Rose, anyway? But whatever. It’s the content that matters. Though, I wouldn’t say I’m head over heels in love with the content, either… oh well.

English Two – this is the most recent cover redesign and… What. The. Fuck? Seriously? You redesigned the covers for this?! It has the exact same Angelina Jolie photo, only less opacity, the series name is WAY BIGGER than the title – which makes it hard to realize what is the title, and it’s mostly just this pink-red color. Worst redesign (almost) ever!

English Three – Well, hi there Mean Girls! Fancy seeing you here! Honestly, this one is bad too. It doesn’t bring any of the correct feelings for this book. There should be a vibe of danger, darkness, a bit of sexiness, action, friendship, etc… Yes, there is some vibe of Mean Girls in the book, but it’s hardly the main thing, is it? I would not pick up a book with this cover without a rec.

English Four – I love these covers. They’re so simple, yet perfect and beautiful. A Rose. Just a single Rose. And what’s our MC’s name? ROSE! And the background being blood red is also perfect. If I could’ve gotten these covers, I so would’ve.

Dutch cover – okay. Well, objectively, I suppose this cover is pretty. But what does it have to do with the book? Is her hair turning into butterflies? Or are those crows? What…

Turkish Cover – *coughcoughbuttshituglycoughcough*

Spanish cover – ohhh, me likey! It’s simple, yet perfect in a poetic sense – a rose covered in blood. And our main character is a Rose in a society of vampires. It fits! Plus, it gives the feeling of danger, hints at vampires, and appears quite dark. All in all, not bad at all!

Estonian Cover – again, objectively the cover is not bad. But it also feels like a poor representation of the story. Also, the model doesn’t feel like Rose (that’s not how a kickass Guardian would look like). Maybe it’s Lissa, but it feels strange that they’d put someone other than the MC on the cover of the first book…

Turkish 2 - Hello Photoshop! How have you been doing? Working your magic for Halloween, I see. That is indeed one creepy Barbie doll! I see someone broke her head and had trouble putting it back correctly. Oh well. 

Clearly, I find this cover completely disturbing with the bad photoshop and hella ugly.

Vietnamese cover - Okay I kinda… like this one?! I like the fact the background is all dark, with a girl in the night. Gives the right vibe – creatures of the night and all that, a bit dark and dangerous. Then there is Rose. She may not be how I imagine Rose, but I love the contrast – Rose is alive, Rose is firey, Rose is volatile. I get that feel through the cover. 

All in all, I really only like the forth English cover, and maybe the Spanish one...

Nitzan★

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Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy #6 
Source: bought
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: December 7th, 2010
Age Genre: Young Adult

Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules. She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir's Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardians to come.
Now the law has finally caught up with Rose - for a crime she didn't even commit. She's in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She'll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.
But the clock on Rose's life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back...and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your whole life is about saving others, who will save you?

   

Last week I told you about my struggles with Spirit Bound, but what I didn't tell you is that I immediately started the sixth and finale book at the series, which did me a world of good because there was no icky adjustment time to the writing or Rose's voice, so it somehow turned out that I read the biggest book in the series in the shortest amount of time - two and a half days. 

And to be completely honest, I'm still not sure if the book deserves 3.5 stars or four. On the one hand, I really did enjoy this book. Like, genuinely enjoyed it. On the other... some things (especially toward the end) grated on my nerves and made me roll my eyes. 

Let's start with - what I liked. First and foremost; Rose's journey. You can really tell how much she's changed from the first book in this one. She's definitely matured, and I was pretty shocked to realize the Vampire Academy series spans only a year and a half or so. It felt much longer. She did so much growing in such a short amount of time! 

Then, this book was kind of filled with happenings. The action may not have been nonstop, but you always felt like what was happening was important and made the plot move farther, which I really liked. 

Then there were the additions of some characters which I adored--and quite frankly, I am so happy they got their happy endings! Hopefully, Mead won't ruin their happiness in the spin off. 

Now, what I didn't like. First, there is the book long theme of Rose "moving on". It's mentioned pretty much from the first chapter, and it made me upset because: she, what, decided to "move on" two days ago!? How is that moving on? Moving on doesn't happen in a day! And they all speak as if she's "moved on" for months. Which everyone--ADRIAN included--know isn't true. 

Then there was the issue of "forgiveness". Forgiving one's self is a big issue in this book - and I totally get why. But Mead completely baffled me by doing it in a realistic and gradual way in Dmitri's case, then completely changing "tactics" and doing it in the most ridiculous way in Rose's. If you're going to make forgiveness a big issue... don't solve it on the same page it's brought up. Seriously. One conversation is not going to effect you if you truly feel that way. 

Third... [cheating]. Not cool, Rose, not cool at all. In fact, I kind of hated her when that happened. The fact she completely forgot about the she even [had a boyfriend] made me want to kill her. You don't do that. Or at least, you don't do that and expect everything to be okay... because it won't be. I was kind of disappointed in Dmitri, too. [The excuse of "I'm with him but meant for you" should not have moved him.]

Now, there is another matter that bothered me a tiny bit. I knew who the villain was beforehand. A while back, I decided I need some spoilers about Dmitri (cause I was anxious to know everything will be okay), and read a bit more than I meant to. So the entire read, I was looking for... clues. There weren't any I could see. That was a bit disappointing, to me. What about you?

In general, I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. On the one hand - I did like it. On the other... some of the stuff that happened... I didn't like them. I didn't get why they were necessary... Also - cheese factor! Made me roll my eyes how sweet and sugary they were *gags*. 

P.S I want an Abe spin off, because he is golden. 

Nitzan★

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Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead

Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy #5 
Source: Bought
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: May 18th, 2010
Age Genre: Young Adult

Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. But she chose wrong...
After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri's birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir's-and to her best friend, Lissa. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can't wait for their real lives beyond the Academy's iron gates to begin. But Rose's heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows he's out there, somewhere.
She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and now he is hunting her. And this time he won't rest until Rose joins him... forever.

So, as I'm starting my Vampire Academy experience on The Book Babe's Reads at book five, I'll sum up some things for you: I have been reading the Vampire Academy series for about a year now. I have owned all the books in the series for a similar amount of time. Fact is, I enjoy these books... but they lack that certain something that makes me need to read them.

Which is why, I brought this book with me on my trip to Europe, with the intention to just, once and for all, read it. That didn't work quite as well as I hoped. I had so much trouble immersing myself in the story for the first 200 pages that I had to read other books between every 70 pages or so. This is the main source of my rating - this book just didn't grab me, and so, though I enjoyed it, I can't give it more than 3.5 stars.

I think, finally, after five books, I've come to understand why I have so much trouble with this series - it's the writing. Something about it just... doesn't click with me. Doesn't flow smoothly as I read it.
If this book (and series) was written slightly differently, I think I might've loved it. I think I might've finished it in a week (like I did Percy Jackson) instead of a year (and I'm not finished yet). But it's not, so I struggle.

I will say this - half way through the book, things finally started happening in a way that made me want to read the book nonstop. Which is funny, cause from that point on it was all basically Mead setting things up for the final book.

Now, let's go into some specifics, since I realize this "review" is mostly very vague and general so far. I love Rose. I love Dmitri. I love Adrain. I love Lissa and Christian (he is probably my favorite character in the series). But they all kind of annoyed me this book. Especially the thing with Adrian and Rose, because he deserves better. At the very least, someone who will truly love him, and not just use him (albeit, probably unconscionably,) to forget someone else.

Oh, and Lissa and Christian need to get over themselves and go make some beautiful babies with snarky humor and kind hearts (okay, maybe not right away, but you get my drift).

Okay, this review is kind of lacking... as all my Vampire Academy reviews seem to be. I feel like a failure, but I just really wanted to share my revelation with you guys! It's not everyday that you finally figure out what has been bothering you for 5 books...

Nitzan★

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