Read. Write. Repeat.

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:

~            ~           ~

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!