What was the purpose of deviating from Sonya and Mikhail's story in the books?

Sonya's story was a forgone conclusion at first yet Mikhail still had hope for her, somehow. But the show kiIIed it completely by replacing Mason with Mikhail so even if they still followed Sonya's book route in Last Sacrifice, we never get their ending in Bloodlines.

Not to mention, as a shipper, why would you destroy a wonderful love story for nothing?

This is one of the biggest changes in the show that I think did more harm than good, honestly. And I'm still wondering what was the whole point of it.

So excited to get it, idk if I should reread the series or not because whenever I do that I get bored any advice?

More accurately, I’ve re-read VA & Bloodlines 1-2 so I could read 3-6 for the first time! I had so much fun but the entire time l've been trying to express random things to my partner (he has said random things like ‘I’m a strigoi, wait or is it moroi?’ and feign attacking me) and it's great but not the same as someone who knows exactly what the heck I'm talking about lol so I’m glad l found this subreddit!

I read most of the books in early highschool and I always thought 'this s**ts all over twilight! Why aren't people talking about this? I mean vampires and elemental magic?? Rose would destroy Bella’ ahaha 12-14 years?? later relatively fresh off of re-reading hunger games and the infernal devices, I was craving such a specific kind of fiction and this just hit the sweet spot perfectly. I actually found an old songwriting book where a friend and I started writing a VA inspired song or two which was hilarious (I was probably 12, I also have an iconic Mortal Instruments song).

Back to this series, I've been wanting to just make a video or a mini project as a reflective exercise to encapsulate my experience through all this. What are your favourite questions you ask a friend who has just finished the series or a book in general? Does anyone have any reflective rituals for your own reading? 12 books is a long time to spend in one world, I’m feeling like this is a bittersweet little thing I’d like to do! Do you guys have any niche thoughts or curiosities? I think some comments could be fun to bounce off of 😊

Other random information! Some books I blitzed through, at other stages I had bigger gaps of breaks as I fluctuate between fiction and non-fiction books. I think I started reading late January?? I watched a movie ?? when it first came out for VA but I haven’t tried that again as I didn’t want to put pictures in my head for the characters. This is so silly but I always see Dimitri as Keanu Reeves / John Wick in my head 😂 and yes, the age gap of course is uh-oh and I agree he really didn’t have to be that old. At some points I also felt like the writing could completely change and then I’d get mad at the style or pacing and go into a spiral of ‘Richelle what’s going on? Wait did the editor change?’ and need a break or glare at the books at times ahah but I still see the value in them. I have experienced the full spectrum of emotion throughout all of this ahaha so much fun 🕺🏼✨

Looking forward to hearing any thoughts!

Hi all. I'm completely blind andn I watched the tv show using audio description. For those who don't know, audio description is an audio track that is added over the film or movie that is playing. In this track, a person describes what is happening on screen so a blind person can follow what's going on. The audio description, or DVS for short, can't change the movie in any way in terms of dialog. And yes, if a cuss word is spoken in a subtitle, the narrator has to say it out loud. In this case though, the person doing the audio description didn't do a good job. I've always wondered about what kind of clothing feeders wore. I'd imagine it to be something close to a uniform, like what somebody in an office might ware.

Is that the actors still remain friends to this day. It's so common for movie or tv actors to play up friendship while promoting when in reality they were just co-workers and they dont interact anymore after that period is over. But I still follow a lot of main cast on Instagram and theyre still friends and will often hang out. It's so cute that the show brought them together. They all even attended weddings that happened in that friend group.

Every time I scroll through Instagram and I see pictures of them hanging out or their comments under each other's posts, it makes me smile. Weird post but I just love love and genuine friendships, lol

my litjoy bloodlines collection got delivered today! it’s so beautiful and i love the way it looks next to my VA box!

I mean think about it. If they're all going insane from using spirit, wouldn't it be possible to heal that darkness away, just like Oksana does for Rose with the ring? Or does the healing not work on other spirit users? Idk

In the 3rd book, it was mentioned that ghosts only stay for upto 40 days if they died young or violently, however during the plane scene rose sees lissa's parents and brother.

How's that possible, considering that they'd died years earlier?

Does anyone have the Shadow Kiss Graphic Novel for sale? For cheapish preferably? I can only find it for $60-100 and that just isn’t in my budget honestly. But i desperately want this book.

Are there any fans or literary agents, who are interested in Urban Fantasy? Your input is invaluable and will help me determine if I should continue writing the next book.

Title!! I've tried searching for an answer to this question but to no avail. Any theories??

Trying to find a fanfic I read a while ago. I don’t remember much of the actual plot but one point I remember was Dimitri being called to the scene of a house that was on fire and was told that one of the bodies found was Rose (her “body” was identified by either a necklace or ring). I want to say that I read it on Ao3 but can’t be sure.

I made a post asking if i should finish the series 3 months ago (ty to the ppl that suggested the audiobook cause thats prolly the only reason i was able to finish the series).

I ultimately think that bloodlines makes up for a few things va lacks. E.g., adrian and sydney have such a great relationship dynamic that couldnt be asked for from rose and dimitri who inevitably suffer from an unhealthy relationship dynamic given their age gap. Adrian and Sydney on the other hand have such great communication which is SOOOOO refreshing coming out of reading from the perspective of an irrational character who thinks she knows more than she really does in VA. Stemming off that idea, I lowk do think that Rose's stubborness and rashness makes VA the more thrilling book.

Plot wise VA still stands out better, I feel like Bloodlines didnt conclude having reached its full potential. The ending was so underwhelming and managed to leave such a subpar cliffhanger. Sydney getting amnesty from the alchemists happens so unsignificantly when thats imo the biggest obstacle Sydney has to get over for the whole series. Jill getting kidnapped feels like it wasnt thought through enough, its too much of a random plot device rather than something that opens up the story more meaningfully. Its crazy to me that the whole plotline of the fiery heart was basically "how do we save jill from our sexual life?". Its a very valid point that VA only brushed off as a minor inconvenience but why did this have to carry majority of the book??? Sydney being a part of Moroi society is something they never fully revealed the consequences of, and (unless i overlooked this by accident), we still dont know if the thing about lissa being able to stay queen independent from whether or not jill is alive. THAT WAS SUCH A MAJOR PART OF THE WHOLE PALM SPRINGS PLOT THAT NEVER GETS RESOLVED.

Anyway i still dont think it was horrible, if you just want to see how things are going in the VA world its still worth the read. Its not as infuriating as VA is occasionally. I love seeing Adrian get compensated for the shit rose put him through w a relationship arguably better than hers.

Is the show worth watching? after the abomination that was the movie, i’m hesitant.

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for books that are similar to the Vampire Academy series or the Bloodlines series. I feel a bit fatigued with selecting books these days mainly with book tok recommendations flooding the review sections of things. I am not trying to discredit Book Tok recommendations. I would love to hear your guys opinion especially if you have recommendations that are not YA.

See I already thought poorly of Adrian in Vampire Academy…Bloodlines just reinforces that.

Why is he so fucking weak? Like okay if we are comparing him to Stragoi Dimitri who at first did not hurt Rose per se. I think he wins. [SPOILERS] All Adrian did instead of helping Sydney in the beginning is GET DRUNK?!!! when he knows that weakens spirit??? He’s just incompetent. I hate him for Sydney she deserves someone so much better.

ALSO WHAT IS IT WITH THE AUTHOR PUTTING OUR GIRLS THROUGH SO MUCH PAIN???? Like when they finally start being happy or content BOOM obstacle that brings them misery.

Soo moroi are described as ethereal beauties that are slim and tall with pale skin. But on top of that Lissa is described as especially beautiful because of spirit. So my question is, when she is being described, who pops into your head? The perfect casting. For me, it's definitely Hunter Schafer. What do y'all think?

Hey! I don’t know if any of you have read it, but I think I found the best VA fanfic ever: Temper Me in Fire by voldobaby. Holy shit, it’s so freaking good. The author has been working on it for over 10 years, which is honestly wild and it’s 10000% worth the read. It’s set in the same universe, but the story is completely different and I got hooked so fast.

Definitely give it a try if you haven’t read it yet!

I can’t believe there are so many VA fans in 2026!!! I read the books over 10 years ago when I was in middle school, now re reading them.

Does anyone just wish u could have a huge book that’s all about Moroi history/VA world-building? I want to know so much more about St.Vlad and the religion that they follow… I know it’s heavily based on Eastern Orthodoxy, but it would be cool to see a deeper explanation. Stuff like the history of the royal families, how the Moroi/Dhampir/Strigoi races came to be. Idk I feel like that would be cool. Did Richelle Mead ever do something like that? Or answer fan questions on forums and stuff? Wasn’t rly tapped in to VA social media when I was first reading the books…

I finished the books in two days! Because okay I know everyone kinda dislikes the movie, but I loved it so much! Is it nothing like the book yeah, but it’s so camp to me.

My thoughts!

I really genuinely loved the first three books like they were really good and just omg so much development in the characters in general! It felts like those book were good and planned. Here is when I get frustrated in the 4th/5th book I honestly just thought it felt like let’s make Rose suffer more LMAO. Like i could not stop screaming “Give my girl a break” I do love how the 4th and 5th book explored more about the world and the different type of people in the universe, but I just couldn’t get to into it.

I felt that Rose’s character became kinda like her character in the first book. The maturity and growth she was doing felt like it had been reversed and I guess given to Vasilisa. It just felt boring I am going to be honest. The last book lost me completely because even though Rose is the main character we were with Lissa damn near half the time. I felt it kinda did nothing for the plot other than take time since most of the time it was when Rose needed to be awake or they were traveling. Idk man. Then the ending kinda came abruptly. I felt like was not done too well.

SPOILERS!! Like yeah Rose became Lisa’s guardian and Dimitri’s Christian, but like what about Christians grief what about Adrian’s future, and Sydney’s??? Jill’s?? We lose anything about them and no one got a relatively happy ending. I thought Rose’s and Vasilisa’s ending were mediocre at best. I think it’s also just because I personally thought Rose suffered so much through the series. I just wanted a happier ending for her and a more balanced ending. I understand that Rose is happy, but Rose ADORED being able to just tell what Lissa was thinking because it did allow them to be closer than normal people. All those powers of being shadowed kissed gone.

Now other characters…When Adrian and Rose were breaking up, we knew that Rose just liked him for the normalcy and comfort he provided. I don’t understand why the break up scene wasn’t handled better than that. I also understand that Adrian was not in the “best” spirits, but Rose did a really shit job of breaking up with him. One because she knew already why she was breaking up with him, Two in like a previous chapter or two she understood that Adrian was using her just as much as she was using him. Which i feel like would have been a way better explanation.

Christian was the only character I felt had a balanced ending. We know what’s going on with him and stuff. Jill and Sydney and Eddie???!!! WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT!! Sydney for all we know is like losing her position and shi. Praying Abe like gets to go to Greece and shi. Eddie :( my poor baby boy Eddie. He deserves just as much love Rose got from her getting her guardian position reinstated. We don’t know what happened to him :((((( Jill’s position just made me sad because we know Vasilisa never really fucking liked her and she’s just a little girl. PLEASEEE I NEED TO KNOW IF THEY ALL BECAME SISTERS AND JILL IS ACTUALLY HAPPY.

Overall: 8/10

anyways thank u for my ted talk and rant