Frostbite is the second installment in the Vampire Academy series, and it’s just as entertaining as the first novel. If you haven’t read my review of the first novel, I thought the series could have been better in a college setting. And I stand by that.
Summary:
A strigoi attack on a prominent family puts the academy on high alert and tosses its student into a mandatory ski trip. An early vacation with her bestie Lissa? What more could Rose Hathaway want? Well, maybe not her mother trying to flex her parenting skills for the first time in Rose’s life.
Meanwhile, Rose has chosen to move on from Demetri and give her friend Mason a chance despite their lack of sparks. But then Rose meets Adrien, an annoying Moroi vampire- who loves flirting with the little Dhampir.
But when Demitri tips Rose off about a potential strigoi nest in Washington, she lets it slip to Mason- who along with a group of students- decides to take out the Strigoi nest themselves. Once again, Rose will have to join forces with her friend-enemy Christian to stop them.
Thoughts:
Rose has grown a lot since the first novel, and a lot of that influence has come from returning to the Academy, Demetri’s mentorship, and learning everything she can to become a great guardian. At the end of the first novel, Rose learns to trust some of the adults around her and seeks help for Lissa.
And in Frostbite, Rose maintains that maturity until her mother visits the school. I let that slide as Rose as some unresolved issues with her mother, but by the end of the novel, I felt like the progress Rose had previously made turned to dust. She runs off with Christian to Washington without consulting any guardians when she knows it’s super dangerous. I could write this off as Rose acting her age and being stupid, but I wish it hadn’t occurred. But I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t entertained by the messy drama that resulted from it.
I enjoyed the introduction to Rose’s mom and the tense dynamic that Rose must navigate with her. I hope she comes back in future novels! I’m also awaiting the reveal of Rose’s father.
I HATE the romance between Rose and Demetri’s because she’s 17 and he’s 24!! I like their dynamic, and it was one of the big reasons, why I thought this story could have easily worked in a college setting. And when a new love interest, Adrien, was introduced I should have known he would also be too old for Rose. Yes, Rose is almost 18, but as I stated in my previous review adults shouldn’t date minors even in fantasy.
Lastly, Demetri’s needs to calm down! I get it. Rose makes him feel seen, and as the workaholic loner type, this boy gobbled up that attention, but he knows he can’t date her. And at times, I felt like he was leading Rose on. Especially those kisses at the end of the novel.
Disclaimer- I disliked this series after reading the 4th novel and I dropped the series. This post and the next will just be me ranting my grievances.
until next time I’ll be hunting for more vampire novels,
Gaby
livinginlibros.com 
Oh, 17 and 24? No, just no! Sigh, this is a prime example of how having the books set in college rather than high school would have fixed so much. 😣
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For real! It was so unnecessary
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