Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2) Review

Title: Frostbite
Author: Richelle Mead
Published: April 10, 2008
Publisher: Razorbill
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Pages: 327
Source: Personal Copy

Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose…

It's winter break at St. Vladimir's, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy's crawling with Guardians—including Rose's hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if hand-to-hand combat with her mom wasn't bad enough, Rose's tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason's got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa's head while she's making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy's not taking any risks… This year, St. Vlad's annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price…

In Vampire Academy, we met Rose and Lissa, best friends, but also something more. Rose is destined to be Lissa’s guardian, and the two share an unshakable bond, one that keeps them together at all times. But life isn’t all roses and peaches now. After a massive attack, the school is overrun by new guardians, throwing Rose’s distant mother into the mix, as well, and when the school is thrust into a mandatory “holiday” to protect the students in one place, things threaten to go from bad to worse. Rose is learning more about herself every day, and every revelation makes life a little bit scarier and a lot less safe.

Ok, remember how I told you I hate vampires? Well, I still do, so don’t get your hopes up (Ginger). That said, I was blown away by Frostbite. I liked Vampire Academy enough, don’t get me wrong. I think the world that Richelle Mead set up was fantastic, but I wouldn’t say it really blew me out of the water. Frostbite, however, was completely and utterly captivating. The world within the walls of the Vampire Academy grew exponentially, the boarding school was magically deceptive and the cast of characters grew in leaps and bounds, all of which heightened an already tumultuous and riveting plot.

There were so many highlights in Frostbite that I don’t think I could adequately pinpoint them all. That said, the character development of Rose was a huge strength. While I knew her background before, the introduction of her mother, as well as new secondary characters like Aiden heightened the tension and discovery of more of her background. Lissa, too, grew in my opinion and was less of a whiny little mope than before. Plus, there’s Dimitri…swoon. I swear that the Rose/Dimitri plotline is killing me, too, and every chapter just had me reading faster and faster to see where that would end up. Frankly, I can sum it up like this – Frostbite featured an amazing cast of characters, a fantastically developed plot and a speedy pace that kept me guessing throughout.

Frostbite was a fantastic sequel to Vampire Academy, and I’m officially hooked on the series (even though I swore I’d never be.) I give it a 5 out of 5, and I’d recommend it to all fans of the Vampire Academy series and YA fans, especially those who enjoy paranormal and paranormal romance stories.