Vampire Academy…
Have you ever liked a series? Like, really liked a series? Everything about it is really good. Like so good. Like everything works, and you don’t have any complaints with characters, plot, setting, worldbuilding, writing??
But there’s just one little thing? Just that teeeensy little thing that just makes you literally sick to your stomach. That One Little Thing?
Yeah, well, Vampire Academy has that one thing.
In its case…
It’s literally pedophilia.
The main ship of the series is Rose and Dimitri. Rose is 17 and Dimitri is 24. Rose doesn’t turn 18 until the third book of the series. The end of the third book is her 18th birthday, and we know this because it’s important to the plot.
Note that I said… end of the third book.
Right before the climax of the book… about a week before Rosemarie Hathaway 18th birthday… she and Dimitri have sex. Yes, you read that right. A 24-year-old has sex with a 17-year-old. Good old Dimitri has sex with a minor, or more simply put Dimitri commits statutory rape.
I don’t care if Rose is on the brink of a breakdown. Actually, that makes it worse. She’s in an altered emotional state, so he’s seriously taking advantage of her.
I don’t care if Rose had a legitimately horrifying and traumatic event happen in the last book. Again, that makes it worse. She’s fragile and not in her right mind. She can’t really consent. Not that she could before because, and I’ll say it again
SHE’S A FUCKING MINOR.
Trauma doesn’t make you legal age. Being legal age makes you of legal age. I do not give a SHIT about what the legal age is in Montana–where the books take place. Their age is way too fucking young. 16 is too young. I go off the national age for these matters.
There’s no fucking reason a 24-year-old should be sexually attracted to not only HIS STUDENT but also his UNDERAGE STUDENT.
Do not try to give me some bullshit about soul mates. Do not try to give me some bullshit about how Rose loves him.
Dimitri is a child molester. He is a sex offender.
No one can change my mind.
Even Edward fucking Cullen keeps the relationship PG until Bella is 18.
One argument I’ve heard is that “well they’re from a society of vampires, they’re used to being around immortals.” Well, if you think that, you’re absolutely, unequivocally wrong.
Here’s why: They hang with the Moroi.
In the world that Mead has created, there are two kinds of vampires. Moroi and Strigoi. The latter is the very typical vampire, weak to light and silver, drink blood, immortal, kill people, and are generally evil.
The former are basically human but they drink blood and can do magic. Their lifespan is the same as the average human.
They’re mortal. The dhampir are mortal. It’s not an excuse.
I want to recommend this series, I really do. But I just… can’t. Not on good conscious. The story is good, but when the pairing is god damn supporting pedophilia…
I used to like this book series. I really did. It was inspiring for me, and the writing is really good. But, when I realized that it basically glorifies a pedophilic relationship I just kinda…
Anyone wanna help me find a gif accurate enough to describe how salty I am about all this pedophilia?
And on that note… I’m out.
DNF Diaries 
I completely agree. Rose turned 18 a week after they had sex. Really? They could not wait a week? Richelle Mead should have made sure Rose was 18. I could deal with the age difference. The teacher/student relationship is extremely creepy, but the statutory rape is completely unacceptable. I don’t know why a publisher of YA lit would allow such a plot, romanticizing something that would send any parent of a 17 year old girl screaming into either the principal’s office or the police department or both. If Rose absolutely must be 17, set the stories in England where consent is 16–but even there 16 with a teacher is illegal. Creepy, creepy, creepy.
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