I didn’t expect this kind of aftertaste from another bite out of the Vampire Academy series.
Genre: Y/A, Paranormal, Romance, Mystery
No. of pages: 489
From Goodreads:
Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. But she chose wrong…
After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s and to her best friend, Lissa. It is at long last graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives beyond the Academy’s iron gates to begin. But Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows 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 now he is hunting her. And this time he won’t rest until Rose joins him . . . forever.
I’ve really been enjoying my journey through the Vampire Academy series and was eager to complete the collection early this year, so I went into book five, ‘Spirit Bound’ with some high expectations.
For some reason I did not enjoy this as much as the others – maybe it was the lack of action? But there was still a lot going on in this novel… I was forced to put it down a number of times because of life commitments, but it is still has an easy flow and allowed me to pick up from where I left off with ease.
I think the biggest thing that stood out to me in this instalment was Roses indecisiveness, that and her continual flighty nature – it was getting old. We’ve seen so much development of her character throughout the series, ‘Spirit Bound’ felt like a big step backward.
I enjoyed the typical Rose/Lissa goodness in the first half, but it started to take a back seat by the end and had me asking what was going on – was everyone taking crazy pills? Richelle Mead what are you doing to me?
Besides that, I loved the intrigue and politics with the royals – you really have to keep an eye over your shoulder.
My affection for Adrian, Rose’s new boyfriend, really grew in Spirit Bound – previously I felt he was more of an annoyance, but by the end of this novel my heart went out to him. He is really a lost puppy in a barfly’s clothing.
In true Mead form, there was another plot twist at the end which floored me – I was not expecting that at all. As was the tension between Rose and Dimitri – I’ve invested a lot in the Vampire Academy books and wanted more of a win at the conclusion of this novel – but given it’s the second to last, I’m sure we needed to up the stakes for a fantastic end to the saga.
The romance with the world of dhampir, strigoi and moroi is still resounding strong in my blood, but this story was a little weaker, but I am expecting ‘Last Sacrifice’ to slay me. Looking forward to completing the series and then maybe start to tackle the Bloodlines series.
Overall reaction: Why you gotta do me like that?
© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Casey Carlisle 
It’s been a while since I’ve read these books but I still remember loving the chemistry between Rose and Dimitri (as well as Rose and Adrian!).I think Mead writes the romantic tension really well.