• Curse words include: "b*stard", "b*tch", "d*mn", "sh*t", "h*ll", "f*ck", "kick*ss", "smart*ss", "bad*ss".
• Potentially offensive words include: "screw", "pissed off", "slut", "crappy", "freaking", "whore",  "swear to God".

Sexual Situations

• Rose dreams about "a hot guy spreading suntan oil all over me."
• When Lissa must "feed" off of Rose by drinking her blood, Rose likens it to a feeling "better than having sex".
• There is a reference to a pedophile.
• Rose accuses more than one boy of thinking about her naked.
• Several references are made to "blood whores" who are mixed-race vampire women who allow pure-blood vampire men to visit them for simultaneous sex and feeding.
• Feeding while having sex is called "kinky" and "almost pornographic".
• There are two references to pregnancy and abortion among teenage girls.
• One character hopes "to get semi-naked" with a boy.
• Pure-blood vampires have slender bodies and the more curvaceous figures of the mixed-race vampire girls are considered sexy and a novelty "that most guys want to try".
• Teenagers talk about "sticking your tongues down each other's throats".
• Several teenage characters refer to having sex with other teens.
• A school dance features "pelvic thrusts".
• There are references to being a lesbian.
• One character jokes about saints having sex.
• One character insults another with, "From what I hear, there isn't that much there to screw."
• Rose is attracted to her 24-year-old mentor and they end up naked in bed together (though stopping short of intercourse) because of a "lust spell" cast upon both of them.
• Rose makes out with a schoolmate and removes her shirt but says, "Just so you know, I won't go all the way."

Violence

• Vampires must "feed" off of willing "victims" in order to survive.
• Some victims are killed and drained of all their blood by the evil vampires.
• There are several fist fights among the students.
• One main character cuts her arms to cope with stress.
• Several animals are mutilated and left to die.
• There is a reference to domestic violence.
• One character breaks her ankle in an accident.
• Gunshots are fired during a rescue.
• Three people die in a fatal car accident.
• There is an almost-fatal wolf attack on three teenagers.

Drugs/Alcohol

• Rose likens the vampire saliva during "feeding" to a drug and its effects to being very high.
• Teenagers are described as "wasted" at a party.
• Parties on campus are described as "wild, drunken festivities".
• One party includes "weed".
• Rose and Lissa drink peach schnapps.
• A teacher has a stash of whiskey on campus.
• One character is treated for depression with medication.
• Rose says, "Being head-over-heels drunk would be really fun."

Race Issues

• There is a hierarchy in the vampire world in which the full-blooded vampires have more social rank (including royalty in some cases) and the mixed-race vampires are relegated to being their guardians.

Religion

• A Russian Orthodox Church is part of the school's campus to "meet the school's religious needs."
• There are several references to Saint Vladimir as a vampire who achieved sainthood in the Russian Orthodox Church.
• Rose wisecracks, "I found Jesus while I was gone."
• There is a reference to taking communion.
• Rose gets a new dress that she describes as "The kind of dress that starts a religion."
• One character says, "Swear to God or whoever you believe in."
• Rose's mentor says he goes to church to find some peace after having to kill six evil vampires.
• Rose jokes that she agreed with God to believe in Him, barely, if she can sleep in on Sundays.

Politics

• There is a passing reference in one class to evolution and survival of the fittest.