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| Vampire Academy |
This year I am thrilled to be partnering with my dear friend Jamie for her Before the Silver Screen project. She is reading the books this year's blockbusters are based on before they hit theaters. Check out her blog to real all the reviews!
If you have been a regular reader lately, you know how awesome Jamie's posts have been. So far, she's covered Labor Day and The Monuments Men. Both great posts!
Today, we're taking a sharp left turn as far as genre goes.
I'll be honest - I had not even heard of Vampire Academy before this post - the book or the movie. I'm not sure if that means I'm out of touch or just out of my comfort zone. Either way, take a look at what Jamie had to say:
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The
Book:
So
this is the first book that I didn’t finish before the day of the film release.
I moved this past Thursday and currently have the flu so I’m a little behind on
things. Thankfully that gave me some time in between my last book and Vampire
Academy, which is a bit of a genre jump!
I
was really looking forward to reading this book for this challenge because I
liked that it gave me an excuse to read a genre that is a total guilty
pleasure. I love YA books, especially supernatural stories, and this is one of
those books that I wouldn’t tell people about reading.
The
quality of the writing is about where I expected it to be, definitely a YA
feel, but not too immature for me to get through. The beginning was a bit too
filed with cliche tropes, which made me want to rush through the story to get
to the good stuff.
As
I read through the book I definitely didn’t identify with either of the main
characters but I did care about what was happening with them. I was interested
in the experiences they were having, which were quite unlike anything I’d read
before. Richelle did a good job of capturing the reader’s interest but I felt
like she didn’t quite figure out when to do the big reveal.
I
really didn’t mind the book, it was short and sweet taking me only a day to
read. I’m definitely curious about the rest of the series and I’ll probably
pick up a few during any lulls in this challenge!
The
Film:
What
a completely ridiculous movie. The best word I can use to describe it is simply
entertaining. The writing and acting were definitely sub-par. Nothing
extraordinary and nothing too horrible but extremely mediocre. The story line
is fairly accurate to the book, with a few understandable changes, which I’ve
definitely come to expect with every film.
One
thing that surprised me was the level of attractiveness that was lacking in the
characters. These were supposed to be the beautiful and affluent Royal Moroi
(mortal vampires) but what we got was average teenagers with the exception of
the two main characters. I suppose it made the film more relatable for the
average viewer but I was expecting something more supernatural.
I
will admit that the use of cheesy one-liners and absurd quips made me laugh out
loud at inappropriate times but it was incredibly ridiculous for the most part
which made it a fun watch!
Overall:
It’s
your typical teen vampire film, this time with a different “style” of vampires
and a completely average script. Definitely a guilty pleasure film/book series
for me!
Well, Vampire Academy probably will not be making its way to my On Reserve list, but I am so glad to hear that it's a fun, light read. Everyone needs a book like that every now and again. I think that is part of the beauty of YA books. They really do have something to cater to any unique interest or genre preference.
I love how Jamie called this book out as one she typically wouldn't tell anyone she read. Don't we all have books like that? In fact, were it not for this blog, I'm pretty sure I would have stuck Austenland into that category myself.
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