Review: Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Last Sacrifice

Author: Richelle Mead

Publisher: Razorbill

Series: Vampire Academy #6

Pages: 594

Genre: Paranormal

Release Date: December 7, 2010

How Received: Bought

Summary: Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules. She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir’s Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardians to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose—for a crime she didn’t even commit. She’s in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She’ll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose’s life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back... and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your whole life is about saving others, who will save you?

My Thoughts:

As the final chapter closes to this amazing series, all I felt was a bittersweet goodbye. It’s so hard to let go of a series you love, and I definitely love the Vampire Academy series.

The previous book, Spirit Bound, was closed on a big cliffhanger, so I couldn’t wait for Last Sacrifice to be released. I had to restrain myself from combing through all of So. Cal. B&N’s and Borders the day before to see if any had stocked it earlier. I had been waiting such a long time for this book, and thankfully, it was one that totally lived up to my expectations (more or less).

I’ve previously mentioned that in every book, you could see Rose maturing from the hard-headed, stubborn, outburst-prone snark that she was... Well, actually, she’s still all those things! However, Rose also pissed me off in this novel. Probably moreso than she did in Blood Promise. The actions she did towards the end of the book pissed me off so damn much. I can’t say too much without being spoilery, but I’ll say this: Rose had matured so much since Vampire Academy, but with the actions she took in Last Sacrifice, it felt like she was going downhill instead of maturing. She was taking steps back. What Rose did was not what I would have expected of her character – she’s better than that, so when it happened, I was nothing short of disappointed.

Most of the book was action-packed. Rose was a fugitive and was running from the Guardians, so there was a lot of running, close-calls, and insane plans from front to finish. For someone who is supposed to be laying low, Rose found herself in a lot of dangerous situations. It sure did keep me turning the pages like a wild woman, though, since I absolutely had to find out what happened.

Every single book, Richelle continuously surprises me. You’d think that by 6 books in, there’d be nothing she could throw at me that would faze me. Nope, wrong! While I understand her writing style more and can predict when she’s throwing us something fake or getting ready for something big, I don’t understand the big plot twists until I’m right on them. And boy, did this book have plot twists! Rose even candidly mentions that her life was turning into a soap opera – it was funny, because I was thinking the exact same thing as I was reading. One thing is for sure: Richelle knows how to drop bombshells on me.

While I’m a bit bittersweet that the series ended, I also didn’t like the ending. I had pretty much guessed what the “last sacrifice” was before I even bought the book (there were only so many options), so I wasn’t too shocked when it rolled around. In fact, even though there was a happy ending, there were so many loose ends and so many hurt feelings that I couldn’t feel happy about the ending Rose got. I’m sure those loose ends were left so they could be tied up in the next VA spin-off books, but I would have liked a more conclusive ending in Rose’s perspective.

Regardless of how I disliked the ending, overall, the book was amazing. And then some.

Cover Musings: Compared to the other covers for the novels, I wasn’t too... impressed by this one. Why? Oh, the model. I preferred the other models they used on the previous covers. The look in this one’s eyes is a bit vacant – not something I’d expect from a book titled “Last Sacrifice”.

Memorable Quotes:

“Sometimes the greatest tests of our strength are situations that don’t seem so obviously dangerous. Sometimes surviving is the hardest thing of all.” (pg. 19)

 Too close, too close. We’re moving too fast.

Fast? Not by my estimation. I could have never handled this slow, stately pace. I felt especially bad for the pallbearers. If I were one, I would’ve said to hell with propriety and started jogging toward my final destination. Of course, that might jostle the body. If the funeral coordinator had been upset over Lissa’s dress, there was no telling how she’d react if Tatiana fell out of the coffin. (pg. 47)

The rest of the crowd and I couldn’t help but stare at the dazzling display.
So, you can imagine our surprise when the statues blew up. (pg. 47)

I’ve punched lots of guys who were kissing me but never one I actually wanted to keep kissing. (pg. 97)

“You’re Tainted because you joined the modern world and left behind their backward ways for your own messed up customs.”

“Hey,” I retorted. “We’re not the ones with overalls and banjos.”

“Rose,” chastised Dimitri, with a pointed look at the door. “Be careful. And besides, we only saw one person in overalls.” (pg. 148)

“I need a coffee shop or something.”

“I think I saw one in a cave down the road,” I said. (pg. 175)

From behind Lissa, I heard Christian say, “Worst. Timing. Ever.”

Adrian studied Lissa and then looked at Christian sprawling on the bed on the far side of the suite. “Huh,” Adrian said, letting himself in. “So that’s how you’re going to fix the family problem. Little Dragomirs. Good idea.”

Christian sat up and strolled toward them. “Yeah, that’s exactly it. You’re interrupting official Council business.” (pg. 313)

Being with him after so long, after everything we’d endured... it was like coming home. Like finally being where—with whom—I belonged. My world, my heart... they’d shattered when I lost him. But as he looked at me, as his lips spoke my name and ran along my skin... I knew those pieces could come back together. (pg. 484)

“But she made her choices, and all the charges against you have been dropped. You’re a free woman now. More than that. A hero. Abe’s bragging that it’s all his doing.”

That brought my smile back. “Of course he is. I’ll probably get a bill from him soon.” (pg. 555-556)

Overall Thoughts/Final Comments: As soon as I flipped through the last page, I was left with a bittersweet feeling. While I’m finally glad to get to the end of Rose’s story, I’m going to miss being in her perspective and reading about all of her crazy plans and adventures. I’m going to miss her interactions with Dimitri and her other friends. Over the course of the series, I’ve ranted on about how bad-ass, snarky, crazy and calculating she was; I’ve ranted about how many times I wanted to throw a book in her face or slap her. I didn’t realize until this book how much I had come to connect and love her character, her personality, and how much I’d miss it. In a way, I feel like I’m losing a friend. In another way, that’s a sign of an insanely good book, and an amazing series. If you guys haven’t read this series yet, I urge you to do so. It’s one series that has been my ultimate pleasure to read and easily surpassed the ranks of my other favorite books.

Lastly, I figured I’d rate the books on how much I enjoyed them from best to least now that the entire series is finished. (Also included are links to my reviews)

1. Shadow Kiss (3rd book)

2. Frostbite (2nd book) 

3. Vampire Academy (1st book) 

4. Spirit Bound (5th book) 

5. Last Sacrifice (6th book)

6. Blood Promise (4th book)

Rating: 5/5

Review: All Just Glass by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

All Just Glass

Author: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Publisher: Delacorte Books

Series: N/A

Pages: 256

Genre: Paranormal

Release Date: January 11, 2011

How Received: Arc Tour

Summary: Sarah Vida has given up everything for love. From a legendary family of vampire-hunting witches, Sarah was raised to never trust a vampire, to never let her guard down, and to avoid all tricky attachments of the heart. But now Sarah IS a vampire—changed by the boy she thought she loved. Her family has forsaken her, and Sarah herself is disgusted by her appetite for blood.

Aida Vida is Sarah’s older sister, the good, reliable sibling who always does her family proud. But when Aida’s mother insists that Sarah be found and killed, Aida is given the one assignment that she may not be able to carry out.

My Thoughts:

I didn’t like this book. Plain and simple. I normally enjoyed Amelia’s previous works, but this novel was a huge step down to other books she’s written.

First off, she assaulted us with tons of names that a new reader isn’t likely to remember. It’s been a while since I’ve read her Den of Shadows series; I’m not likely to remember five different families and the sub-divisions of those families. She also threw terms at us that a new reader might not have known (like bloodbond, etc). Nowhere on the book is it mentioned that this is a sort of... “sequel” or companion book to Shattered Mirror, so how is someone who has never read Amelia’s work before supposed to know everything upon first read? There are a lot of terms and ideas that are just implied and not explicitly stated.

I have no idea why the content in the book was compiled into only 24 hours. If it was originally meant that way, then there were a lot of inconsistencies. I’m almost convinced that Amelia wrote the book to cover a couple of weeks and at the end, changed it to 24 hours (and did a messy job of it). The times below the chapter titles were inconsistent and I just didn’t believe such intense scenes (involving driving across a city) occurred in 14 minutes. The 24 hour time limit was just so not believable. Some of the events in the book could have easily lasted days, like battle recovery. I don’t believe someone can attain numerous life-threatening wounds and recover in an hour, even for witches or vampires. And lastly, the pacing seemed way too slow for a twenty four hour novel. When I think 24 hours, I think fast paced. The pacing felt like it was covering weeks and not one day.

Several back stories were given in fragments and weren’t even explained fully. Even with a sequel, you want to include information so that your reader doesn’t feel at a loss. I still don’t know half of the back stories to half of the characters, and that left several holes in the plot. Even the plot twists weren’t explained fully – it was just so messy that I couldn’t even be all too shocked at the plot twists. And I never knew there was such a thing as too many plot twists until I read this book. I swear, every single page had a plot twist (okay, so that’s a little exaggeration, but close enough to the truth). There came a point where I wasn’t even shocked at some new revelation that made no sense anyway. The last four or five twists didn’t even faze me.

The alternating POVs made no sense to me. Sure, I understand the two main characters, Aida and Sarah, having their own POVs. But characters we rarely see? I saw absolutely no point whatsoever to Zachary’s two or three POVs. Dominique had ONE POV section, and it was at the end. Honestly, was that necessary? We could have easily had that scene from either of her daughters and I’m sure some other character would have described why she was acting so strange anyway. The character development wasn’t that great, either. There were way too many characters to get connected or see how one grows. It was pretty much, “Oh, I feel this way at the start of the book, but now I feel this way at the end of the book because I spent time during 24 hours reevaluating my opinions that were drilled into me since I was a baby, which also obviously happened off-screen because it’s mentioned nowhere in the book.” The relationships were also very weak. I’m not sure I’d even call them relationships – it seemed to me like everyone in the story was a stranger with each other, even the twins and Sarah.

The one thing I did like, however, was the reiteration that being perfect isn’t everything and that it’s okay to have faults. But the way it was executed was distasteful. To be honest, I slogged through this book. I previously loved a few of Amelia’s work, as her writing is lovely, but this book was just not up to par with anything she’s ever written before.

Cover Musings: I don’t like it so much. Crows, great for symbolism. The sword between them. But it just doesn’t pop out at me. I guess it sets a somber mood, though... so that’s a plus, right?

Memorable Quotes:

She didn’t know what might have happened between them if she hadn’t been a Vida, and if his brother hadn’t reacted violently to what he saw as a threat to Kristopher. As it was, they had never even managed a successful first date before their romance had gone the way of Romeo and Juliet’s—except that Romeo and Juliet didn’t wake up the next day, leave the crypt and say, “Now what?” (pg. 34-5)

Unfortunately, once she and Dominique were gone, he was alone with the Marinitch telepath, the human, and the tied up bloodbond.

“Anyone up for a round of go fish?” Jay asked after looking around the room. (pg. 52)

There was no law against a Vida having a relationship. It had in fact been hinted to him, strongly and frequently, that he was twenty-six years old and should get around to choosing a partner so he could pass on the Vida genes, like some kind of prize bull. (pg. 139)

Jay collapsed dramatically to the couch. “I knew your line was weird, but I never even imagined how profoundly messed up you all are. It’s no wonder Sarah had a fling with a serial killer, or that Zachary unwinds with the undead. You’re all so obsessed with being perfect, you end up hating yourselves.” (pg. 187)

Overall Thoughts/Final Comments: If you’ve never read Amelia Atwater Rhodes before, do me a favor and don’t start with All Just Glass. I really wanted to like this book – in fact, I signed up for the arc tour because I thought it’d be great. It fell short on all levels – plot twists, character development, relationships, consistency, pacing, plot, and wasn’t addicting at all. I had to force myself to finish for the tour. It’s a shame, because I loved some of Amelia’s other novels.

Rating: 1/5

**I received this ARC from Good Golly Miss Holly’s ARC tours! (Thank you Holly and Looksie!) 

Review: All Hallows Blood by Raven Corinn Carluk

All Hallows Blood

Author: Raven Corinn Carluk

Publisher: Crescent Moon Press

Series: N/A

Pages: 230

Genre: Paranormal romance

Release Date: February 22, 2010

How Received: Author

Summary: Mourning her mother on Halloween, Keila O’Broin, a psychic warrior and last of her line, isn’t prepared for dead teenagers to ask her to avenge them. Compelled by her family creed, Keila combats the vampiric serial killer, despite her atrophied powers. But defeating one killer is only the start of her adventure. Into her life walks Varick Eitenhauer, centries old undead master of Portland. The vampire tells her she will now help him defeat his rivals in a battle to control the city, and he will accept no refusals. Surrounded by her desire and danger, the only way to succeed is to rise from her past like a phoenix from its ashes.

My Thoughts:

A word of forewarning: this novel contains explicit sexual content.

All Hallows Blood surprised me, in a good way. I didn’t anticipate the novel would delve into deeper issues, such as the meaning of family, death, loss, and loneliness, but it did. In fact, this was the fore-front premise of the novel, as Keila struggles through most of these issues from the very first page. She’s lost her family, she’s pretty much alone in the world, and she’s alleviating that with alcohol (and later, from pure strength). There is a lot of internal dialogue and character development going on in throughout the books, which was enjoyable. I have to admit that Keila annoyed me a bit at first, but I loved the person she grew (back?) into. It was easy to empathize with her, losing a parent of my own a little ways back, so her depression was very relatable.

Varick was definitely my favorite part of the novel: mysterious, shielded, hunky, and hungry. I wanted to know more about him, the Portland territory he claimed, how he became a vampire, ec. He was dominant, yet gentlemanly; protective, yet possessive; he knew how to cook and do groceries and braid hair and heal. He’s like every girls dream come true.

And the battle scenes... Boy, were those awesome! Keila kicked some serious vampire butt in this novel (I think she killed a total of four? But she’s human – that’s impressive!). Keila almost always got hurt in the process, but she made speedy recoveries and was eager to get out and kick some more vamp butt.

Despite all that, there were a few things that I didn’t like about All Hallows Blood. The first is that nothing is really explained. We’re thrust into the story without any classification of story we’re in. I’m not entirely sure what a psionicist is (at least in Raven’s story), even after having read the book. I can understand a few abilities Keila has, but what a psioncist is and their essential abilities aren’t explained. The same goes with the vampires – I just wasn’t sure what limitations they had. I learned a few things via guessing, such as her vampires can’t go out during the daylight and they when they feed on humans, endorphins are released into the humans body, and that older vampires had more power. But we weren’t really given a “list” (so-to-speak) of strengths and weaknesses vampires have. Keila doesn’t even question Varick on the entitlements of a vampire; it was as if she inherently knew. 

I also didn’t like the over-use of nouns to describe Keila’s friends. It was always, “The Vampire did so-and-so,” or “The German did so-and-so,” or “The New Zealander did so-and-so”. Once, twice, or three times would have been okay, but it was like this on almost every page. There were only a handful of pronouns as opposed to the excessive use of nouns.

And lastly, the romance. I suppose I’m only mentioning this because I didn’t know what this book would be about when I first read it. I anticipated some romance, but not on the level that was given to us. The first half of the book is pretty much just high sexual tension (I didn’t realize this until later), and Keila swooning over Varick. The romance took the spotlight away from the original plot, and I felt at times that Varick’s “mission” was a second-thought and very downplayed. It would have been enjoyable if the two were interwoven seamlessly, but the romance definitely took a front seat, even in the battle scenes.

Cover Musings: I’m not a fan. The model that’s representing Keila pretty much looks bored. There were so many other poses that could have been utilized – a romantic pose with Varick, a pose that showed her battle lust, etc. But nope, she’s leaning on her palm and it looks as if she’s in class listening to a boring professor lecturing. Varick, on the other hand, looks exquisitely yummy! If the cover just had him and not the girl model, it’d be great, haha. And I like the “blood”/red-tint on the letters.

Memorable Quotes:

Vengeance was one of the forces that would keep spirits on this plane. Since it was hard to want revenge against a disease, these four must have been murdered.

He was basically keeping me hostage, but he was letting me borrow his clothes and use his hygiene products. Since when were jailers so nice to their prisoners? 

Plus, there was the simple pleasure of having another body in bed with me, not just over-sized stuffed animals. I'd never realized how much better it was sharing a bed. Maybe I'd get a cat after all this. A big cat. 

I was letting an enraged teenage ghost chase two homicidal vampires through the wee hours, and that seemed like relief to me. 

Eventually she tapered off, and chuckled weakly. "Just think, I had to die to know my dad loved me." 

Overall Thoughts/Final Comments: I thought the premise of the story was great, but the romance took a lot of spotlight away from the original plot. Keila’s an awesome character and goes through several stages of character development. There were really awesome action scenes that can appeal to anyone looking for a strong female lead kicking some serious butt. There were only a few grievances I had, such as lack of detail and barely any pronoun usage. But overall, it was a great story and I’m eager to see if there’s a sequel!

Again, for younger readers and people who screen their books, this book is sexually explicit. Just a word of forewarning.

Rating: 4/5

*This book was provided for review from the author (thank you Raven!) in exchange of an honest review.

Extras: 

Guest Post by Raven Corinn Carluk
Raven's Website
Raven's Blog
Raven's Twitter

Review: Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead

Spirit Bound

Author: Richelle Mead

Publisher: Razorbill

Series: Vampire Academy #5

Pages: 489

Genre: Paranormal

Release Date: May 18, 2010

How Received: Library

Summary: After a long and heartbreaking journey to Siberia, Dimitri’s birthplace, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s—and to her best friend, Lissa Dragomir. It’s graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives outside of the academy’s cold iron gates to finally begin. But even with the intrigue and excitement of court life looming, Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri. He’s out there, somewhere.

She failed to kill him when she had the chance, and now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and she knows in her heart that he is hunting her. And if Rose won’t join him, he won’t rest until he has silenced her... forever.

But Rose can’t forget what she learned on her journey—whispers of a magic too impossible and terrifying to comprehend. A magic inextricably tied to Lissa that could hold the answer to all of Rose’s prayers, but not without devastating consequences. Now Rose will have to decide what—and who—matters most to her. And in the end, is true love really worth the price? 

My Thoughts:

Spirit Bound definitely makes up for my disappointment in Blood Promise – it delivered. Rose returns to St. Vladmir’s Academy and resumes her normal (if you can call it that) life as a guardian-in-training. But once that two-month mark until her graduation passes, she’s determined to embark on a crazy adventure that will bring back her lost love.

Richelle has this way of drawing you so into the story that you’re tightly caught in this tale she weaves. This installment was intense, portraying so many emotions at the same times – jealousy, anger, determination, yearning, grief, despair, elation, fear. There’s a lot of action, as well. Rose has nothing but crazy ideas this time around, and she gets stuck in precarious situations that leave the readers breathless. From breaking into prison, to escaping Strigoi in Vegas, to a Strigoi hunt, to sneaking into parties and jails – Rose has no boundaries this time around, and Spirit Bound will definitely have you in for a crazy ride.

Rose is back to her usual self (sort of), trying to take everything that’s been going wrong in stride. She still annoyed the hell out of me, and I was still wondering where my strong, kick ass Rose was. But this time I didn’t condemn her weak moments, because I knew what she ultimately strove for. Lissa was... pretty annoying again. I dislike it when girls try to appear nonchalant when their boyfriends are with other girls, and then to make their bf’s jealous, they go after other boys. It’s ridiculous. I hated when Lissa did that. But I also had a new respect for her stepping up to the plate and wanting to achieve things that no other Moroi had before.

I knew what their crazy plan was. Did I think it was going to happen in this book? No. I assumed because the last book is called “Last Sacrifice”, that was when Rose and Lissa’s hard work would be paid off. When the scene actually happened, I didn’t believe it. I kept re-reading, wondering if there was a catch. Richelle hardly writes anything happy. I still think I’m a little shocked that it did happen, and I’ve found myself wondering what’ll happen in Last Sacrifice – because I’m dang near sure something is going to happen to one of them.

As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, I feel so sad for Adrian. It reached its peak in this book, though. Adrian is nothing but nice to Rose, and he’ll go through extreme measures and sacrifice whatever he can to make sure she’s safe. But once she has Dimitri, she can’t even give Adrian the time of day. I felt like it was Mason all over again, and Rose even admitted it in the book. That whole aspect of their “relationship” disappointed me.

I’ve also mentioned this before, but hot damn is Richelle the queen of plot twists. She gives you no warning whatsoever; everything’s all happy and nice and we’re all hand-holding friends, and then BAM! Tragedy strikes.

The ending is such a huge cliffhanger. It makes me glad that I waited so long to read this series – I would NOT have been able to handle a longer wait than this!

Cover Comments: I actually really love the cover (even though it isn’t the same model as the first three – I complain about random stuff). I love that they’ve stuck to the bottom portion of the cover on all 5 books. But I have to ask – who is the guy?! Is it Adrian? He has brown hair. Or Dimitri? Wish we had a larger shot of the guy! :/

Memorable Quotes:

You never really realize how many people care about you until they all turn out to support you. It made me feel humble and almost a little teary. I kept that to myself, though. I could hardly start crying at my own victory party. (pg. 40)

Christian seemed torn between smugness at my discomfort and his own unease at watching a woman he regarded as a mother get hit upon by a pirate mobster guy. (pg. 43-44)

"Adrian!" chastised Nathan, turning bright red. It occurred to me then that I could have based a drinking game around how many times he exclaimed his son’s name disapprovingly. (pg. 74-75)

"So you’re off with Lissa?" he asked when we reached my room.
"Yup, sorry. You know—girl stuff." And by girl stuff, I meant breaking and entering. (pg. 80)

It was like a bad game of Twister. The trunk was large enough for some luggage but not intended for three people. We were squeezed together, and personal space was nonexistent. We were all up close and personal. (pg. 106)

We came to a stop before a high, barbwire fence with an enormous PRIVATE PROPERTY—NO UNAUTHORIZED PERSONEL ALLOWED sign on it. The lettering was red, apparently to emphasize how serious they were. Personally, I would have added a skull and crossbones to really drive the message home. (pg. 112)

Oh, for the love of God. I would give them some lessons about fighting—starting with a punch to Christian’s face. (pg. 218)

Back in my room, I was totally aghast. Lissa was going to attempt to learn to stake a Strigoi—behind my back—and she was going to get Christian to help her. Those two had been snarling at each other since the breakup. I should have felt flattered that sneaking around me was bringing them together, but I wasn’t. I was pissed off. (pg. 219)

I’ve given up on you. Love fades. Mine has.
I backed up, the sting of those words hitting me as hard as if he’d slapped me. (pg. 431)

He was almost naked too, but I hadn’t quite gotten to his boxers yet. (They were silk because, honestly, what else would Adrian wear?). (pg. 439)

  

Overall Thoughts/Final Comments: Spirit Bound wasn’t as up-to-par as Richelle’s first three installments in this series. It sort of went downhill from Blood Promise, but it was definitely better than Blood Promise! I used to have so much respect for Rose, but that dwindled a bit, especially with the whole Dimitri/Adrian thing. There’s a lot of action and so many events that occur I can barely remember them all. And the ending will leave you wanting Last Sacrifice right now!

Rating: 5/5

Review: Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Blood Promise

Author: Richelle Mead

Publisher: Razorbill

Series: Vampire Academy #4

Pages: 503

Genre: Paranormal

Release Date: August 25, 2009

How Received: Library

Summary: How far will Rose go to keep her promise?

The recent Strigoi attack at St. Vladimir's Academy was the deadliest ever in the school's history, claiming the lives of Moroi students, teachers, and guardians alike. Even worse, the Strigoi took some of their victims with them... including Dimitri.

He'd rather die than be one of them, and now Rose must abandon her best friend, Lissa—the one she has sworn to protect no matter what—and keep the promise Dimitri begged her to make long ago. But with everything at stake, how can she possibly destroy the person she loves most? 

My Thoughts:

At the end of Shadow Kiss, I hated the decision Rose made – I think it was rushed and that she didn’t think her plans through. She’d been through guardian training, so she should have known to not rush in.

Rose, my favorite character, disappointed me in this book. Yes, that Rose, the one I’ve been going on and on about; the one who practically bleeds epic-ness. I watched her mature in Frostbite and Shadow Kiss, so I expected more from her than this. She had no plans, didn’t know where the hell she was going – she could have been blindly stumbling around Russia for months, for goodness sakes! Nonetheless, I know why she did it, so I had some sympathy.

The separation between Rose and Lissa was flawless: both girls yearned for each other (not in that way), and kept wanting to check up on each other. I think this is one of the things that Richelle executed almost perfectly. There are a lot of new characters in the book, including an Alchemist, Dimitri’s family, and the mysterious Abe Mazur. I think the Alchemist really didn’t bring anything to the plot other than helping Rose around, but the last two I mentioned became essential roles in Rose’s “quest”. 

The flash backs in Rose’s memories of Dimitri were like adding salt to a wound. I love Dimitri, I’m already depressed, and Rose insists on lingering on memories that will hurt her (and me).

I cried near the end of the book. I cried so much, as if I was experiencing Rose’s loss myself. I had no idea how much I actually felt for that character, or Rose’s struggle, until I found I had to quit reading for a while to cry it all out. But despite the Plan B we find out about for Rose’s happily ever after, I can’t help but want Rose and Adrian to get together. I feel like Adrian keeps getting the short end of the stick, ever since he was introduced in Frostbite.

A lot of the writing could have been cut out – there were a lot of unnecessary scenes that weren’t even essential to the main (or even secondary) plot. I’m so used to Richelle keeping up with that fast-paced progression, so I was actually shocked when I noticed about 100 pages could have been cut to make this a shorter read. And at the end, we were basically where we began at the end of Shadow Kiss. The only difference is that now Rose has a Plan B she can fall back on.

Cover Musings: I liked it. It wasn’t great, but it’s just Rose solo. What do I get from the face? Well, to me, the model looks desolate, which is exactly what Rose is feeling. She has to do something she doesn’t want, and that shows.

Memorable Quotes:

Once when I was in ninth grade, I had to write a paper on a poem. One of the lines was, "If your eyes weren’t open, you wouldn’t know the difference between dreaming and waking." It hadn’t meant much to me at the time. Now, three years later, I understood the poem perfectly. (pg. 1)

"No one had ever called me unnatural before, except for the time I put ketchup on a taco. But seriously, we’d been out of salsa, so what else was I supposed to do?" (pg. 38)

"Yeva sat in a rocking chair and appeared to be the world’s most stereotypical grandmother as she knit a pair of socks. Except more grandmothers didn’t look like they could incinerate you with a single glance." (pg. 111)

"Of course I like her. She’s a great person."
"No, I mean like. Not like."
"Oh, I see," he said, rolling his eyes. "We’re dealing with elementary school definitions of ‘like’." (pg. 197)

"Why did you come here?" he asked at last.
"Because you hit me on the head and dragged me here."  If I was going to die, I was going to go in true Rose style. (pg. 291) 

Okay God, I thought. Get me out of this and I’ll stop my half-assed churchgoing ways. You got me past a pack of Strigoi tonight. I mean, trapping that one between the doors really shouldn’t have worked, so clearly you’re on board. Let me get out of here, and I’ll... I don’t know. Donate Adrian’s money to the poor. Get baptized. Join a convent. Well, no. Not that last one. (pg. 412)

"We can retreat and retreat and let ourselves get backed into corners forever," she’d said once. "Or we can go out and meet the enemy at the time and place we choose. Not them."
Okay, Tasha, I thought. Let’s see if your advice gets me killed. (pg. 415)

I nearly dropped the plate I held. "You’ve asked me out tons of times."
"Not really. I’ve made inappropriate suggestions and frequently pushed for nudity. But I’ve never asked you out on a real date. And, if memory serves, you did say you’d give me a fair chance once I let you clean out my trust fund." (pg. 494)

Overall Thoughts/Final Comments: Out of the four books, this has to be my least favorite. I still loved it completely, but I didn’t love it as much as the first three. My emotions were every which way in this book, and I think that’s reflected in my haphazard, random review. Personally, I think a lot of what happened in the book could be cut; we basically end up where we left off in Shadow Kiss – the only difference is that now Rose has a crazy Plan B to fall back on. Some of the new characters didn’t even seem essential to the plot. And Rose was a huge disappointment because she showed way too much weakness for all the growing up I saw her do in the first three books.

Still, I’m very, very excited to see how the turn-of-events in Blood Promise turn out in Spirit Bound!

Rating: 4/5

Review: Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead

Shadow Kiss

Author: Richelle Mead

Publisher: Razorbill

Series: Vampire Academy #3

Pages: 443

Genre: paranormal

Release Date: November 13, 2008

How Received: Library

Summary: Rose Hathaway knows it is forbidden to leave another guardian. Her best friend, Lissa—the last Dragomir princess—must always come first. Unfortunately, when it comes to the gorgeous Dimitri Belikov, some rules are meant to be broken. 

But since making her first Strigoi kills, Rose hasn't been feeling right. Something dark has begun to grow in her mind, and ghostly shadows warn of a terrible evil drawing nearer to the Academy's iron gates. And now that Lissa and Rose's sworn enemy, Victor Dashkov, is on trial for his freedom, tensions in the Moroi world are higher than ever.

Lying to Lissa about Dimitri is one thing but suddenly there's way more than friendship at stake. The immortal undead are on the prowl, and they want vengeance for the lives that Rose has stolen. In a heart-stopping battle to rival her worst nightmare, Rose will have to choose between life, love, and the two people who matter most.. but will her choice mean that only one can survive? 

My Thoughts:

Can I start off my review with a holy shit without offending anyone? I can? Okay. HOLY SHIT. That’s all. I’m actually unsure how I can review this without spoiling something, but I’ll try my best.

This series continually gets better and better the more I read it. Each book is even more amazing, more action-packed, more suspenseful, and more epic than the last. Shadow Kiss made me fall in love, HARD, with this series all over again! I didn’t think it was possible, after Frostbite became one of my favorite books.

Shadow Kiss’s entire plot spans only 31 days, but a lot occurs in those 31 days. The novice guardians are taking their field experience with different Moroi. Rose, who is still dealing with death, gets assigned to Christian instead of Lissa.

Rose, as always, steadily matures from the out-of-control girl she was into a controlled, rational (well, at times) young woman. She’s also dealing with grief on top of all of the secrets she’s forced to keep from the two people she trusts the most. However, she starts to crack under the strain of pushing her feelings aside for Lissa’s mental well-being – she starts to resent Lissa. But she’s still bad-ass. She kills so many Strigoi in this series that she earns a special molnija mark signifying that she killed too many to count.

I enjoyed the progression of Rose and Christian’s friendship in this novel. While Rose is maturing and becoming increasingly sadder, Christian remains his usual snarky self – reminiscent of Rose from the first book. Christian’s a primary source of humor, and seeing how sad the events turn, it’s a welcome relief. I loved how the two were able to come together yet again at the end. Lissa downright annoyed me in the novel, and we were doing so well in Frostbite. I felt sorry for Adrian – he was always taken for granted. And Eddie, poor, poor Eddie. Everything happens to Eddie. It’s like he’s Richelle’s toy to beat up!

The romance in this book finally picks up, and when it does, it’s downright electrifying. After two books of them having to keep away from each other, I was almost bursting from giddiness at their coming together!

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

But at the same time, as soon as the romance culminated into Dimitri’s decision to leave Lissa and re-assign somewhere else, I knew something was going to happen. I knew it. I didn’t know that he’d turn into a Strigoi (though I did think about it), but something was just so foreboding about that moment. Everything was going too well. And it was too far away from the end of the book. So when I found out Dimitri turned, my shock was lessened a bit because I thought he was going to die, but holy shit did I not expect him to turn into a Strigoi (which is pretty much death in itself)!

There’s a surplus of emotion in this book: grief, despair, guilt, loneliness, suspense, happiness, anger, etc. I was on sensory overload, going from happy to sad in a matter of a chapter. I love Rose so much, but I think her decision at the end was a little premature and hasty, and that she didn’t think of the consequences. She let her emotions guide her, which is what she’s been learning not to do for the past six months or so.

Cover Musings: The edition I had had Lissa and Christian on the cover. Where’s my Rose-model?! Why are Lissa and Christian on the cover?! (I’m assuming that’s Christian). They aren’t even really main characters anymore! It's called shadow kiss, and Lissa is NOT shadow kissed. Go away I want my Rose-model. D:

I like THIS rendition of the cover a lot better. ->

And WOW does it make a foreshadowing statement.

Memorable Quotes:

"I can’t wait until this show gets on the road,’ he said. ‘You and me are going to have so much fun, Rose. Picking out curtains, doing each other’s hair, telling ghost stories..." (pg. 41)

"If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you just defended Christian’s honor. Isn’t he a pain in the ass?"
"Yes," I said, licking icing off my fingers. "He is. But for the next six weeks, he’s my pain in the ass." (pg. 44)

One of the guardians distracted Ryan while the other—Dimitri, I now saw—grabbed Camille. She screamed, not faking her fear. She apparently didn’t find being in Dimitri’s arms as thrilling as I did. (pg. 47)

"I’m always crazy around you, Rose. Here, I’m going to write an impromptu poem for you." He tipped his head back and shouted to the sky:

"Rose is in red

But never in blue

Sharp as a thorn

Fights like one too." (pg. 91)

"Was it weird having a witch grandma? Scary? Was she always, like, threatening to cast spells if you were bad?"
"Most of the time she just threatened to send me to my room." (pg. 240)

I told Adrian goodbye and cut through the cafeteria with Christian. "What’s up?" I asked.
"You tell me," he said. "You were the one about ready to start making out with Adrian."
"It was an experiment," I said. "It was part of my therapy."
"What the hell kind of therapy are you in?" (293)

"If you’re too eager to fight the undead, you may find yourselves joining them. Then you’d never see us again, and we’d be very sad."
"Yes," said Christian. "I’d cry into my pillow every night." (297)

Overall Thoughts/Final Comments: The Vampire Academy series is, without a doubt, my newest favorite series, right behind Harry Potter. Yes, it moved up past all my guilty pleasures and books that I thought were fabulous. This book is full of surprises, twists and turns, and an ending that will leave you shocked. It’s addicting, with a main character that bleeds bad-assery, and will have you screaming for more. I know I am!

Rating: 5/5 (++++++++)

Review: Frostbite by Richelle Mead

Frostbite

Author: Richelle Mead

Publisher: Razorbill

Series: Vampire Academy #2

Pages: 327

Genre: Paranormal

Release Date: April 10, 2008

How Received: Library

Summary: Rose Hathaway’s got serious guy trouble. Her gorgeous tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason has a huge crush on her, she keeps getting stuck in her best friend Lissa’s head while she’s making out with her boyfriend, Christian.

Then a massive Strigoi attack puts St. Vladmir’s on high alert, and the Academy crawls with Guardians—including the legendary Janine Hathaway... Rose’s formidable, long-absent mother. The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy’s not taking any risks. This year, St. Vlad’s holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only provide the illusion of safety. When three students run away to strike back against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. Only this time, Rose—and her heart—are in more danger than she could have ever imagined.

My Thoughts:

*I tried keeping this spoiler free, but I’m sure I slipped up. =x Also, I gushed more about the characters than the book itself. xD

Frostbite resumes where Vampire Academy leaves off. For the first 50 or so pages, Richelle gives us a prologue and re-invites readers into her books – a very effective way to slowly adjust readers back into the plot. Since it’s been two weeks since I had read VA, I found it very helpful.

Where Vampire Academy was balanced between a suspenseful and humorous read, Frostbite produced a darker, grimmer mood throughout the entire novel. Humor was still interlaced in the book, but it had been remarkably less than the first novel. Within the first chapter, Richelle launched us into the first grievance: a brutal murder case that should not have been possible.

As the story progresses, it goes from light to the burning emotions of jealousy, despair, bitterness, and loneliness. To group together with the thought of “safety in numbers”, the vampire society, including St. Vladmir’s students, assembles in a ski resort in Idaho. The only problem? Three students escape in an irrational attempt to hunt down the Strigoi, and it’s up to Rose to “save” them.

I still hold by on my first impression of Rose: she is one of the strongest female protagonists I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Rose is still feisty, snarky, and stubborn as heck, but when Lissa becomes too consumed in her new romance and Dimitri finds another love interest, she becomes alone and it takes a toll on her. But instead of giving in to the loneliness (as I would have), she endured it. She tried to manage it as best as she could – she slipped a couple of times, naturally, but she handled herself so well. The thing I liked best about Rose is that you could visibly see her growing as a character. Through various events, she learns a lot of restraint in this novel. She was able to constrain her own feelings and let someone go so that they would be happy – she finally placed someone else’s feelings (besides Lissa’s) before her own.

There aren’t enough words I could say to convey how amazing Rose was in this novel. Sure, she makes mistakes, but she learns from them. Her fierce determination to protect those she loved towards the end of the novel, as well as the fact that she wouldn’t leave without them, was almost heartbreaking. She’s the strongest character I’ve met so far, yet what is truly remarkable is that you see her flaws flourish. The events at the end really shook her up – she always wanted to be cool and bad ass, and join the “grown-ups”. Then when she finally had, she realized it wasn’t as glorious as she expected. I enjoyed seeing that side of Rose, because it portrayed her flaws so perfectly.

Lissa is not so annoying in this novel! She’s on depression meds, has a new romance, and all is well with her. She pretty much ditches Rose because she spends all her time with Christian (which is only too realistic to “real world” relationships). I was surprisingly pleased with Christian’s involvement in this novel. I loved his attitude, and how he cast aside his personal feelings when the time called for it.

Dimitri kind of pissed me off this time – he was so bipolar in regards to his sort-of-relationship with Rose. I do, however, love the explanation for why at the end. I didn’t know I could get so giddy after such a heart-breaking scene. Their romance was more sweet and languid than the first time around. It would build up to a point, then go back down when Dimitri realized he has to put duty first, and back up again, etc. Finally, it culminated at the end during Dimitri’s final decision.

Mason... I couldn’t help but compare Mason to Eric from House of Night. He was the doting, adoring love-sick puppy that follows the main character around. He’s the generic perfect boyfriend, complete with jealousy issues and an assurance that they’ll get emotionally hurt, that NO main character ever chooses. I’m actually looking forward to getting to know Mia more in the up-coming novel. (I’m just taking a wild guess and assuming Rose and Mia are going to be sort-of-friends now). There was a lot more to Mia this time than her one-dimensional unwarranted anger towards Rose. She was an equally lonely soul and was way more vulnerable than I would have imagined.

Rose’s mother makes an appearance! Since I was so absorbed into Rose’s mindset, I didn’t enjoy her mother as much as I wanted to. But of course, when they finally had their mother-daughter moment of bonding, I cried. Yes, I cried. I can’t wait to see what happens with Adrian – I’ve read a couple of reviews before I even started this series and saw his name thrown around a lot, so I’m guessing he becomes a more prominent character.

Suspense still plagues the plot in the first half of the novel, because we’ve never really been introduced to a full-fledged Strigoi. When Moroi start getting attacked by groups of Strigoi (which is unheard of), I was pretty much on the edge of my seat the entire time. The pacing was good – nothing lagged too much, and there was always something vital happening every other chapter or so.

My predictions for this novel were so off. There’s really only one twist (I think so, anyway – everything else was given to us), which involves the Strigoi. I was placing my bets on what character would be involved with the event, but I never in a million years would have guessed Richelle picked the character that she did.

This is a spoiler:

I could have SWORN it was going to be Eddie that died! Authors hardly ever kill off secondary-sort-of-main characters (JK Rowling excluded)! My jaw was pretty much hanging WIDE OPEN when Isaiah snapped Mason’s neck! She kills off Mason and now it could pretty much be a free for all! Any characters can go. No one is safe anymore. =s

Cover Musings: THERE IS A STRIGOI ON THE COVER! I didn’t notice it until I got to Isaiah’s part! I thought it was another love interest! =x How is that for foreshadowing? Once again, I love the female model for the cover. I also love how they incorporated a more somber color scheme to fit with the mood of the novel.

Memorable Quotes:

I said earlier that dead things don’t always stay dead. Well, I’m one of them. Don’t worry—I’m not like the Strigoi. But I did die once. (I don’t recommend it.) (pg. 4)

He’s hot—like, the kind of hot that makes you stop walking on the street and get hit by traffic. (pg. 6)

The rest of us just sort of stared. I don’t think anyone had expected Adrian to suddenly take an abrupt trip to Crazyville. (pg. 203)

I grabbed the Maglite and clocked him on the back of the head. He grunted and crumpled to the ground. He’d barely seen me coming, and despite the horribleness of what I’d just done, I kind of wished one of my instructors had been there to grade me on such an awesome performance. (pg. 244-245)

"So, how do we find them?" asked Christian.
I shrugged. "Maybe if we act like Strigoi, they’ll try to stake us." (pg. 249)

By all accounts, if you got all your blood sucked out of you, you also got enough endorphins pumped in during the process to dull most of the pain. It was like going to sleep. Of course, that was all speculation. People who died from vampire bites didn’t really come back to report on the experience. (pg. 289)

When a person can see into your soul, it’s hard. It forces you to be open. Vulnerable. It’s much easier being with someone who’s just more of a casual friend. (pg. 326)

Overall Thoughts/Final Comments: I loved this book more than I loved Vampire Academy. Is that even possible? Frostbite sinks its teeth into you with a vice like bite and absolutely refuses to let go until you’re completely absorbed into the story. The plot is gripping, intriguing and mysterious; it compels you to turn those pages faster to get to the “main events”. The characters this time around were even better than the first time (again, is that possible?). Rose does a lot of growing up in this novel, although she does most of it solo.

If you’ve not picked up the Vampire Academy series yet, I strongly urge you to go do so. This is an amazing series that I regret putting off reading for so long.

Rating: 5/5 (can’t I give it a 5+++?)

Extras:

Official Book Website

Richelle's Website

Richelle's Twitter

Richelle's Blog

Review: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Vampire Academy

Author: Richelle Mead
Publisher: Razorbill

Series: Vampire Academy #1
Pages: 332
Genre: Paranormal, YA
Release Date: August 16th 2007
How Received: Library

Summary: (via Goodreads) St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger...

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

My Thoughts:

I LOVED Vampire Academy. I could easily see it surpassing my guilty pleasure, House of Night by PC Cast and Kristin Cast. I normally have trouble getting into a book and staying in it, but I didn’t have that problem with Vampire Academy. I was hooked from the very first chapter.

One brief annoyance involved the plot twists. They were awkwardly placed, I think. The twists were every which way in this novel – it made me wish the explanations were more linear. The way the flashbacks are depicted also needed some work on, or at least a line break between present and past! One moment we’d be in the present with Rose, and the next, we’d be in the past with no distinction that a time jump occurred. It was frazzling.

Now, on to my giddiness. The storyline barely lagged at all. Actually, I don’t think it ever did. There was a continual chain of events that led on to the next event almost immediately. It was fast-paced, and there was hardly a dull moment in Rose/Lissa’s lives – there was always some tragedy, joy, or murder.

The characters were bad-ass. Our main character, Rose, was a strong woman – she’s feisty, snarky, and packs a punch! Not to mention she’s loyal and has no greater wish than to protect her best friend. I’ve never came across such a strong female lead until I met Rose. Dimitri was also pretty awesome – the mysterious, broody type, but with a lot more awesomeness sprinkled in. Lissa was... unique. She was pretty two-dimensional until her “darker” side came looming out. She’s kind, gentle, and caring. Everything about her screams comfort and safety. Although, I have to admit... I’ve never heard of a vampire cutting themselves. It was a nice contrast. Mason was lovely for comic relief, and I fell in love with Christian through sympathy for him. Poor kid.

And the ending. WHOA. Who saw that one coming?! I sure as heck didn’t!

Cover Musings: I’m in love with whoever modeled for this cover! The alternating VA is pretty cool, and I love that the school is looming in the background.

Memorable Quotes:

“‘Hey Mason, wipe the drool off your face. If you’re going to think about me naked, do it on your own time.’” (pg. 28) 

“He was a royal Moroi, and he was so hot, he should have worn a WARNING: FLAMMABLE sign.” (pg.50)

“Setting fires was apparently a new sign of affection. Christian had done it and now Mason.” (pg. 201)

“The prospect of shopping can brighten a lot of dark situations—even animal murder—and I put my own worries on hold.” (pg. 231)

“‘I was taken down by a bench,’ I groaned.

‘What?’

‘I survived the whole day guarding Lissa, and you guys said I did a good job. Then, I get back here and meet my downfall in the form of a bench.’” (pg. 248)

“And then, suddenly, he was there, charging down the hallway like Death in a cowboy duster.” (pg. 322)

Overall Thoughts/Final Comments: Freaking A, I LOVE Vampire Academy. The romance was sweet, progressing slowly instead of a “oh-my-god-you’re-the-one” at first glance, and the depth of love Lissa and Rose had for each other was heart-warming. The characters were pretty awesome, and there was a LOT of humor in the book to balance out the darker events. Humor, high school gossip, romance, snarky comments, and fights galore. What more can you want in a novel?! :)

Rating: 5/5

Extras:

Richelle’s Official Website 

Richelle’s Livejournal 

Richelle’s Twitter  

On the origins of Vampire Academy

Pretty awesome book trailer

**This review is an entry for the September Challenge!