Friday, September 19, 2014

Blood Promise - Richelle Mead (#4 - Vampire Academy)


“I know how devastated you must be to miss me, but leave a message, and I'll try to ease your agony.”  -Adrian Ivashkov
Blood Promise (Vampire Academy, #4)







Title: Blood Promise
Author: Richelle Mead
Genres: YA, fantasy
Rate: ☆☆☆☆
Rose Hathaway's life will never be the same. 

The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters ... Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved? 

Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?


I have been rendered speechless by Blood Promise. My screaming, squealing, shouting and sobbing has finally come to an end, along with this book. This book was undoubtedly going to be about Rose and Dimitri and I wasn't too excited for it, but I was prepared. Or I thought I was. Nothing could've prepared me for this book, and by the end of it my voice was hoarse. I also lost a whole night's worth of sleep over it because my mind was still racing about the book. 

I wasn't too keen on Lissa and Rose being apart as Rose is halfway across the world from the life she left behind and you may not think that we'll see much of St. Vladimir, but thanks to Rose and Lissa's special bond, we see plenty and oh boy does it build up to be more than anyone could've ever predicted. Lissa is nearly going off the rails, needing Rose now more than ever, and drinking and partying with Avery isn't helping. However, the 'bond' was a poor asset and a complete cheat. 

The first two-thirds of the book was excruciatingly, wanting-to-pull-my-hair-out slow, and a palpable page filler. There are unseen/unread memories of Rose and Dimitri, her on the road with her new Alchemist buddy, a potential threat maybe in the name of Abe, and her wasting time at the Belikov's house. We also meet another bonded pair, Oksana and Mark, and discover a few new things about spirit magic as well. There's a completely different set of characters, and what their true purpose is, I don't know. But gradually, the pace picked up.

She finds who she's looking for (which is Dimitri, and may I add that he was a whole lot more interesting in this book than all the previous books combined) and things get more and more intense and exciting. and then you're sitting on the edge of your chair, anticipating for what is to come and then
----
It ends.

Just when you think everything's over, Mead throws in some crazy ass, jaw-dropping cliffhanger that makes reading all that eye rolling, face palming, hair pulling stuff totally worth it.

It was a DRAG for the first half, although some of the content was actually pretty interesting, and THEN the second half is where the good stuff happens. Applause to Mead again, but only for the second half, and definitely for the ending.

-C E L I N E 

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