Frostbite by Richelle Mead, UK edition cover.

Title: Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2)
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre:  Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  Razorbill (1st October 2009)
Blurb:

. . . WINTER BREAK TURNS DEADLY

A MASSIVE VAMPIRE ATTACK HAS PUT ST. VLADIMIR’S ACADEMY ON HIGH ALERT. WITH THE DEADLY CREATURES CLOSING IN, THIS YEAR’S TIP TO THE WINTER PEAKS OF IDAHO HAS JUST BECOME MANDATORY.

But Rose Hathaway can’t escape her (guy) troubles. Her relationship with gorgeous tutor Dimitri can never be and her closest friend has just confessed to his huge crush on her . . .

The glittering winter landscape may seem like the perfect hideaway – but Rose, and her heart, are in more danger that she ever imagined.

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Frostbite is the second book in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. Rose and Lissa have settled back into life at St. Vladimir’s, but things are starting to heat up and the Strigoi are getting bolder.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It took me on an emotional rollercoaster, where I was rooting for Rose. This book is action packed with plenty of physical and emotional turmoil. I didn’t get into this book as quickly as I did with Vampire Academy, but once I sat down and seriously started reading I just could not put it down and finished it within hours. It was easy to fall back into the Vampire Academy world; it felt like only last week that I had read Vampire Academy, when it’s been more like two or three.

I really enjoyed getting reacquainted with Rose, Lissa, Dimitri, and Christian. I loved the way Mead wrote the friendship between Rose and Lissa in the first book, and she keeps up the excellent work in this one – you can tell that they are really close friends. I also liked that way that Mead handled and used Mia in this book. She has the potential to be an awesome and interesting character, and I look forward to seeing her in future books. I also enjoyed the arrival of several new characters. It was brilliant to see Rose’s relationship with her mother first hand.

The action in this book didn’t really happen until the last quarter, but the story was still a compelling one. There was a real sense of there being a great change hovering in the future in this book. Mead makes it very clear in Frostbite that things are changing in the world, and the ideals held by the Moroi and dhampirs may be challenged and changed in the future. It was interesting to see how the Moroi and dhampir society reacted to these changes. In the last quarter, Mead handled the action brilliantly. There was some serious stuff handled in this book, and at times it was a ‘hard’ read – I wanted to hug a couple of characters, cause they really needed it.

Frostbite is a brilliant second book. It adds to and builds upon the brilliance of Vampire Academy. If you like vampires and you haven’t read this series yet, then you should definitely give it a go. I can’t wait to get my hands on book number three.