Frostbite

THIS IS THE SECOND BOOK IN A SERIES THERE ARE SPOILERS.

Frostbite is the second novel in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead.  This book picks up where the first left off; with Lissa and Rose safe at the academy and with Lissa on medications to control her magic.  This quickly takes a turn for the worse when there is a Strigoi attack and the dhampir's worst nightmare becomes a reality: the humans are helping the Strigoi.  The students and their families are sent on a "school vacation" for Christmas break to a Moroi-run ski resort where they will hopefully be protected from Strigoi attacks.

This book had less action than the first with only one big fight scene at the end, but a few new characters were introduced.  In this book you meet Tasha, Christian's aunt that has learned how to use her magic as a weapon, and Janine, Rose's mother.  You can imagine that Rose would not be happy about this, Rose resents her mom a lot for being absent while she was growing up.  It was nice seeing their relationship change through the book as they got to know each other better.  Tasha... I didn't like Tasha that much - mainly because she was interested in Dimitri - but once I got past that she was a pretty cool lady.  She is one of the few Moroi that uses her magic as a weapon, and one of the few Moroi to have survived a Strigoi attack.  Of course, she didn't survive without any scars.

Another new character in this book is Adrian Ivashkov, who is a spirit user like Lissa.  Unlike Lissa, Adrian can see "auras" and can communicate with Rose in her dreams.  He is very mysterious and many people don't trust or like him, including Rose's mom.  Adrian is constantly drunk as a coping mechanism for the emotional side effects of using spirit.

This book adds to the romance drama for Rose.  From the beginning of the book Rose knows she needs to get over Dimitri but no matter what she does it doesn't seem to work.  Then she decides to give Mason a chance and they start dating.  In the end, Rose decides that she cannot lead Mason on and decides to break up with him.  Unfortunately, something happens to prevent this that changes her life forever.  At the end of the book Rose and Dimitri finally get together with the reasoning that they aren't Lissa's guardians yet.  I was very satisfied with this book and can't wait to read the next book in the series.

“You can't force love, I realized. It's there or it isn't. If it's not there, you've got to be able to admit it. If it is there, you've got to do whatever it takes to protect the ones you love.” 

                                                             -Frostbite